1809 Westtown School Sampler by Eliza Matthews

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About the Item

This outstanding sampler was worked at the Westtown Boarding School, the historic American Quaker school which was established by the Philadelphia yearly meeting in 1799, and which is still in operation on its original site in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The best of Quaker needlework has long been admired for the strength and simplicity of its design and the faultless rendering of its execution. Betty Ring's Girlhood Embroidery, Volume II, pages 388-395 provides much information about the samplers of the Westtown School, and figure 429 illustrates a vine and leaf Extract sampler made by Ann Haines in 1806, which is almost identical to this choice example by Eliza Matthews, dated 1809.

The school attracted students from great distances as it offered equal education for male and female students, at an unparallel level. Eliza Matthews was from Baltimore, Maryland and was admitted to Westtown on the 11 month, 21 day of 1808: her older sister Edith having attended the school two years prior. Their parents were Mordecai and Ruth (Hussey) Matthews, Quakers who were associated with the Gunpowder Monthly Meeting of Baltimore. Eliza was born in 1793 and in 1811 married John Needles, as recorded by the minutes of that meeting. The Baltimore Monthly Meeting Western District recorded the births of their nine children between 1812 and 1834. Eliza died in 1840 and her sampler was left to her youngest daughter, Helen Matthews Needles and then to her daughter, Mary Roberts Trump, who wrote her name on the original backboard.

Eliza's sampler presents two excellent quotations, the first from James Thompson and the second from Edward Young, both are respected British poets of the first half of the 18th century. The verses that were chosen embody the Quaker philosophies espoused by the school. The legacy of samplers left by the early Westtown teachers and students remains one of the most important traditions within the field of American needlework and we are pleased to offer this exemplary piece.

Samplers and needlework are our specialty. If you are interested in more of this type of work please visit our website, www.samplings.com.

Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
dated 1809
Condition:
Seller Location:
Philadelphia, PA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: U0911238583168

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