Ruth Lemmon's Sampler

Object Details

Lemmon, Ruth

Description

Two block alphabets; letters colored alternately; no "J" or "U." Numbers to 9. All rows (including verse) separated by wide and narrow crossbands, many satin-stitched sawtooth bands. At base of sampler, spies returning from Canaan (Caleb and Joshua), wearing flared coats, wide hats, and kneebreeches, and carrying bunch of grapes on pole; letters "C" and "I" identify them, and over their heads further notation "NVMBERS C 13 V 23"; flanked by tulip plants in baskets and small trees. Border of geometric vine-and-flower on top and two sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, satin, fern, eyelet, outline, stem, straight. THREAD COUNT: warp 50, weft 50/in.

Inscriptions:

"MY GOD I NEVER LONG'D TO SEE MY FATE WI
TH CVRIOVS EYES WHAT GLOOMY LINES AR
E WRIT FOR ME OR WHAT BRIGHT SCENES
SHALL RISE IN THY FAIR BOOK OF LIFE & GRA
CE MAY I BVT FIND MY NAME RECORDED IN SOM
E HVMBLE PLACE BENEATH MY LORD THE L
AMB

RVTH LEMMON HER SAMPLER WORKED IN
THE 13 YEAR OF HER AGE 1760"

Background:

Ruth was born on December 27, 1747, to Joseph and Hannah Lemmon in Marblehead, Massachusetts. She married John D. Prentice on January 11, 1770, in Marblehead, and they had one daughter, Ruth, born in 1770. Later they moved to Londonderry, New Hampshire, where her husband was a lawyer and New Hampshire Attorney General from 1787 to 1793. Mrs. Prentice died in 1791 in New Hampshire, and John married Tabitha Sargent in 1793.

Location

Currently not on view

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. James Robert Rhodes

1760

ID Number

TE.T14112

catalog number

T14112

accession number

272420

Object Name

sampler

Physical Description

linen (ground fabric material)

silk (embroidery thread material)

Measurements

overall: 17 1/2 in x 11 1/8 in; 44.45 cm x 28.2575 cm

Place Made

United States: Massachusetts, Marblehead

See more items in

Home and Community Life: Textiles

Samplers

Textiles

National Museum of American History

subject

Alphabets

Record ID

nmah_639697

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746aa-a2aa-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa