E. Sills
Band sampler with alphabets, floral baskets, etc.
1812
Scroll
E. Sills
Band sampler with alphabets, floral baskets, etc.
1812
Physical Qualities
Wool ground, silk embroidery threads, 8 5/8 x 6 1/4 in. (21.3 x 15.8 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Dena S. Katzenberg, Baltimore, MD.
Object Number
1997.205
Small rectangular sampler featuring upper and lower case alphabets, numerical series, and floral and bird motifs worked in multicolored silks (wine red, rose, lt. green, pale green, olive green, lt. and medium blue, pale yellow, gold, cream and white) on an ivory colored fine woolen (tammy) ground. The sampler is divided into bands of stylized floral vines alternating with alphabets and numbers worked in various stitches. These include: --A 7/8' wide band featuring five-bloomed stylized floral designs --An alphabet of 1/4' upper case letters worked in blue threads including 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRS' --A 5/8' wide band featuring tulip-shaped floral designs --the continued 1/4' upper case alphabet in blue threads including 'TUVWXYZ' followed by an additional old style 'A' worked in cream threads and an alphabet of 1/4' lower case letters 'abcdefghijkl' --A 1/2' wide band of stylized blue floral motifs --the continued 1/4' lower case alphabet 'mnopqrfstuvwxyz' [diamond shape] followed by 1/4' numerals worked in white threads '1234567' --A 3/8' wide band of stylized strawberry motifs --the continued 1/4' numerals: '890' followed by a 1/4' upper case alphabet worked in blue threads in box stitches: 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQ' --A 1/2' wide stylized floral vine with five-petalled flowers --the continued 1/4' upper case alphabet in blue threads worked in box stitches: 'RSTUVWXYZ' [diamond motif] followed by the name 'E. Sills' worked in upper and lower case letters in gold threads and the date '1813' flanked by diamond motifs. --A band of 1/2' numerals worked in Algerian eye or eyelet stitches '12345678910' finished with a crown design and flanked top and bottom by two different versions of a wave or Vitruvian scroll motif. Below these bands at the bottom of the sampler is a potted tulip motif flanked by small birds and floral basket designs. The sampler is finished at the bottom with a 1/2' wide stylized strawberry vine. Stitches used in include: cross, eyelet, and box or four-sided stitch. The sampler is framed in a small dark wooden frame.
Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1997; Dena Katzenberg, Baltimore, MD.
Inscribed: Embroidered in silk threads approximately two-thirds of down from the top of the sampler: 'E. Sills 1813'. See DESCRIPTION for other embroidered inscriptions.
