Pennsylvania Quaker Sampler c1826
Directory: Antiques: Decorative Art: Folk Art: Pre 1837 VR: Item # 689230
Please refer to our stock # t387 when inquiring.
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A beautifully done Pennsylvania Quaker sampler, featuring three sets of the alphabet, two bushes, an urn of flowers, birds and dogs, and the verse:
Let the most blessed be my guide
If it be his blessed will
Unto his vale into his fold
Up to his holy hill.
The sampler is signed Martha Graham Work Done in her 11th Year 182X. The last digit of the year was removed, as was often the case to hide the exact age of the maker.
Martha Graham was born in 1815, the daughter of Reverend Robert Graham of Chester County, Pa. She married David Alexander in 1834, and, after having 3 children, died in Ohio in 1850. This information was taken from a Bible given in 1833 to her brother, Walter Scott Graham.
The sampler is in very good condition, with some very minor areas of toning, which are exaggerated in the pictures. According to two experts, the bush on the left, which appears to be incomplete, was left that way to symbolize the beginnings of life, compared to the bush on the right. It is also possible that it was done to show that no object, aside from those created by God, could be perfect. Sight size is 18 3/4 inches by 16 3/4 inches.
