Embroidered sampler

In the pictureInside an octagonal floral border, the sampler is divided into three horizontal tiers. At the top, the large word "FRIENDSHIP" and four lines of verse are stitched in black thread, flanked by pots of red carnations. In the middle tier, vases, cone-shaped trees, and birds are arranged in mirror symmetry, and in the bottom tier a three-story red brick house with twelve windows, a wooden fence and gate, and a black-leaved tree with a red bird stand on black ground. In the frame above the house, her name and "6 Years 1823" are worked in red thread. The thread colors are mainly red, black, green, and ocher.

BackgroundThe poem asks the discerning where a steadfast, true friend may be found, and praises the friend who stands by in hard times. The collection record gives the maker's birth year as about 1817, which agrees with the stitched "six years." Combining a large heading, a poem, and a house picture was common in pictorial samplers of the English-speaking world in the early 19th century, and the house was often a copied pattern rather than a real house. It measures 43.2×36.8cm, and in 1984 Barbara Schiff Sinauer donated it together with Mary Ann Reed's sampler, made ten years earlier. Its accession number is 1984.331.24.

Puzzle tipThe red brick house and the band of black ground are the most distinct, so the bottom is a good place to start. The vertical bars of the fence and the diagonal of the gate connect the right side of the house. Next place the large black lettering at the top and the carnation pots on either side, then run the octagonal floral border around all four sides. The vases and trees in the middle tier look alike on left and right and are easy to confuse, so check them against the preview. The gray margin outside is a single color, but the white photo number at the lower right marks one piece. 100 pieces is recommended.