Phebe Esther Copp's Sampler

Description:

Three block alphabets of 26 letters and numbers to 13; simple geometric crossbands separate these rows. Below verse, centered tree flanked by rose bushes and two framed texts. In verse, words colored alternately with name and date worked in black; in two framed texts, all lettering worked in black. Width of sampler full fabric width, selvedge to selvedge. Border of geometric strawberry-vine and cross-stitched zig-zag, with single rows of cross-stitch on all four sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, Algerian eye, long-armed cross, petit point, rice. THREAD COUNT: warp 28, weft 30/in.

Inscriptions:

"Let the f[s]weet work of prayer and praif[s]e employ my
Youngef[s]t breath Thuf[s] im prepared for longer dayf[s] or
Fit for earlier death Phebe Ef[s]ther Copp aged 8 1822

Better it is to be
of an humble Spirit
with the lowly
than to divide the
Spoil with the proud

This work I did
To let you See
What care my
Parents took of me"

Background:

Phebe Esther was born on November 9, 1813, to Samuel and Phoebe Haight Theall Copp in Stonington, Connecticut. The design of this sampler, made in 1822, when Phebe Esther was eight years old, is obviously based on a similar sampler made fifty-seven years earlier by her great-aunt Esther Copp. Phebe never married and died on February 3, 1837, in New York City. See Esther Copp's sampler.

Date Made: 1822

Maker: Copp, Phebe Esther

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: United States: Connecticut, Stonington

Depicted: Alphabets

Subject:

See more items in: Home and Community Life: Textiles, Samplers, Textiles

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Gift of John Brenton Copp

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: TE.H06591Catalog Number: H06591Accession Number: 28810

Object Name: sampler

Physical Description: linen (ground fabric material)silk (embroidery thread material)Measurements: overall: 16 3/8 in x 21 3/8 in; 41.5925 cm x 54.2925 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746aa-9af3-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_639710

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