Elizabeth Ott
Extract
1822
Physical Qualities
Linen ground, silk embroidery threads, 19 x 22 1/8 in. (48.3 x 56.2 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Francis White, from the Collection of Mrs. Miles White, Jr.
Object Number
1973.76.360
The poem Elizabeth Ott selected for her "Extract" expresses a disdain for earthly youth and beauty, destined to be "humbled in the dust," and emphasizes the richer life that awaits the virtuous in the hereafter. The rose spray, lily-of-the-valley, swans, confronting doves, and the medallion on Elizabeth Ott's sampler are suggestive of Quaker instruction, which tended to conform to a style consistent with the ideals of plainness, peace, and serenity.
Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1973; Nancy Brewster (Mrs. Frances White) by inheritance; Virginia Purviance Bonsal (Mrs. Miles White, Jr.).
Susan Cumins, BMA, 'Period Needlework in America 1739-1865,' 1978, cat. 22; traveling exhibition circulated to Annapolis, Elkton, Salisbury, Columbia, Leonardtown, Stevenson, and Chestertown, Md.,
Anita Jones, BMA, 'The Accomplished Stitch: American Samplers and Silk Embroideries from the Collection,' 5/11-7/20/97, no. 12.
Anita Jones, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Jean and Allan Berman Textile Gallery, "Mournful Maidens: Love and Loss in American Embroidery," (September 9, 2009-February 21, 2010), no catalog.
Anita Jones, BMA, 'The Accomplished Stitch: American Samplers and Silk Embroideries from the Collection,' 5/11-7/20/97, no. 12.
Anita Jones, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Jean and Allan Berman Textile Gallery, "Mournful Maidens: Love and Loss in American Embroidery," (September 9, 2009-February 21, 2010), no catalog.
Susan Cumins, 'Period Needlework in America 1739-1865,' Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1978, cat. 22; traveling exhibition circulated to Annapolis, Elkton, Salisbury, Columbia, Leonardtown, Stevenson, and Chestertown, Md.,
Inscribed: Embroidered in black thread in upper and lower case letters: 'Extract/ When beauty's charms decay as soon they must,/ And all its glories humbled in the dust;/ The virtuous mind beyond the reach of time,/ Shall ever blossom in a happier clime,/ Whose never fading joys no tongue can tell,/ Where everlasting youth and beauty dwell./ Elizabeth Ott/ 1823'; 'JO/MO'
