Page 8 - Demo

4 Elizabeth Ann Israel, circa 1830, probably Maine This exuberant pair of samplers well represents the peak of fanciful needlework reached in New England circa 1830. Obviously these needlework pictures served no purpose other than to decorate, and to flaunt the skills of the maker. They were signed by Elizabeth Ann Israel; another existing sampler made by this same young lady documents the year of her birth as 1820 and that sampler, in a more traditional marking format, was worked when she was eight years old. These samplers descended in Cumberland County, Maine which is most likely where they were made; the 1830 Maine Census records an Israel family residing in Portland, Cumberland County. Each of these has much to recommend it. The single low geometric-patterned basket with its over-scaled tulip bursting forth is tempered by the curvaceous flowers and buds that flank it. The other sampler enjoys the advantage that the two miniature baskets provide. Both pieces are worked primarily in long stitches of crinkled silk and are highly lustrous. They are both in excellent condition, worked in silk on linen and are each conservation mounted into mid-19th century frames. Size of samplers: each approximately 9\Price for the pair: $6,800. M. Finkel es Daughter. DDDDDDDD