Lydia I. Marden's Sampler

Lydia I. Marden's Sampler

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Description
This sampler features a monument, rendered in perspective, flanked by two small trees and a flowering plant. On the top of the sampler is the inscription:
“So fadef[s] the
lovely blooming
flower

Cut of in lifef[s]
erlief[s]t hour.”
On the monument is the inscription:
“In Memory
of
Sarah Pervier
who died 16th
of April 1826
aged 8 monthf[s]”
The monument represents death and Lydia’s inscription on the top comes from two different sources. The first line is by Anne Steele (1716-1778) from a poem entitled “On the Death of a Child” and the second line is from a hymn that is part of the Catholic liturgy for the feast of Holy Innocents (December 28). The sampler is stitched with silk and cotton embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 44, weft 44/ in. The stitches used are cross, satin, chain, and detached chain.
Nothing is known about the life of Lydia Marden.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
sampler
date made
1826-1836
maker
Marden, Lydia
Physical Description
silk (embroidery thread material)
linen (ground material)
brown (overall color)
grey-green (overall color)
black (overall color)
pink (overall color)
tan ground (overall color)
embroidery (overall production method/technique)
Measurements
overall: 8 3/4 in x 6 3/8 in; 22.225 cm x 16.1925 cm
ID Number
TE.E388181
catalog number
E388181
accession number
182022
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Arthur M Greenwood
See more items in
Home and Community Life: Textiles
Samplers
Textiles
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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