Mount Vernon sampler
Date1818
Maker
Mary Warner
(1801-1825)
After
William Russell Birch
(British, 1755 - 1834)
Geography
Made -
United States
Medium/TechniqueSilk embroidery threads on linen
DimensionsOverall (H x W): 16 1/8 in. × 18 1/8 in. (40.96 cm × 46.04 cm)
Credit LineAcquired through the generosity of the Connoisseur Society of Mount Vernon, 2016
Object numberM-5506
DescriptionSampler in nearly square format with two borders surrounding a central octagonal cartouche that features a landscape view of the east front of the Mount Vernon Mansion, after William Russell Birch’s view, “Mount Vernon, the seat of the late Genl G. Washington,” published in Country Seats of the United States (1808). The piazza and north end wall are shown from the north east, with eight pilasters, the cupola, weathervane, north cellar entrance, north window, a section of the north colonnade, and the south chimney in view. A single tree arches over the north end of the Mansion, and there are small trees visible at the south end. A white fence runs in front of the house. Above the cartouche are the numbers 1-9; below is a two-line signature band, “Mary Warner Sampler / Wrought at School in the year 1818”; and a maxim: “Youth like the spring will soon be past”. Flowering vines grow up on either side of the cartouche and on three sides of the outer border, the bottom of which is filled by a Greek key motif. Three alphabets (upper case Roman, upper case script, and lower case Roman) fill the inner border. The sampler is worked in white, cream, beige, light green, dark green, and light blue silk thread, using two over two cross-stitches; French knots; and outline, split, and satin stitches.
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c. 1850
1784
1895
