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(Description taken from Betty Ring's auction catalogue Januarary 2012 at Sotheby's)
LOT 629
RARE NEEDLEWORK SAMPLER, JANE SHEARER, DELAWARE VALLERY,
PENNSYLVANIA, DATED 1806
Worked in silk on linen; inscribed Jane Shearer her work, 1806. The backing with two slips on paper with pencil
inscription: worked in 1806.
Height 21 3/8 in. by width 21 1/2 in.
PROVENANCE
Theodore H. Kapnek, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.
EXHIBITED
American Needlework Treasures: Samplers and Silk Embroideries from the Collection of Betty Ring at the Museum of
American Folk Art (p. 40, fig. 65)
CATALOGUE NOTE
A tree-decorated stepped terrace surmounted by a castle or an impressive house occurs repeatedly on Delaware Valley
samplers worked between the 1780s and 1830, and this piece belongs to a recognizable group from an unknown school.
As yet, only one group of stepped terrace samplers may be assigned to a specific teacher, and it was worked at
Mary Zeller's school in Philadelphia between 1789 and 1808. Examples often include the stag seen here, but typical
is one or more renditions of the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), and both animal motifs are identical to the patterns
first published in Johann Sibmacher's pattern book, Schon neues Modelbuch, ill. 1601. For an example of that type,
see Sotheby's American Folk Art, Furniture and Related Decorative Arts, Sale 5156, January 27, 1984, Lot 494. The
well house seen here is not just a Pennsylvania motif but occurs on German and Pennsylvania German samplers as
well as Moravian work of Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
ESTIMATE with 25% buyers premium $43,750 - $62,500
Special Offering: Sold
To discuss or purchase this item call (860) 388-6809 or email: Hubers@Antiquesamplers.com
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