Sampler by Margaret Kurtz

Date1798

Maker Margaret Kurtz (1787-1879)

Maker Ann Margaret Weaver 1804 - 1878

Maker Margaret Jane Baker (1834-1908) 1834 - 1908

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania

MediumSilk and wool embroidery threads on linen of 29 by 28 threads per inch (fiber identification by eye)

DimensionsOH: 15 1/2" x OW: 12 1/2"

Credit LineGift of The Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA

Object number2023-92

DescriptionThis is a rectangular sampler worked in shades of pink, blue, green, cream, and brown silk and wool embroidery threads on a slightly darken linen ground. The top two fifths of the sampler consist of four uppercase block alphabets and one lowercase block alphabet separated by bands. One alphabet row is finished with an undulating strawberry vine. The second two fifths of the sampler consist of family names separated by bands with some rows ending in small, isolated motifs: "George Kurtz Margaret Kurtz/ [Jo]hn Befant Mar[y] Sailo[?]/ Catherine [f ? ck] George Kurtz/ Elizabeth Kurtz Margaret Kurtz/ Margaret Kurtz Her Work Done [In]/ The Eleventh Year Of Her Age And In/ The Year Of Our Lord 1798 23". The bottom fifth of the sampler contains two houses (one unfinished) flanking the inscriptions "Margaret Wever Was/ Born in The [?]econt/ M Day of Jun/ Margaret Jane Baker". The sampler has raw edges at top and bottom and a 3/8" hem at sides.
Stitches: cross, eyelet, satin, herringbone, queenInscription(s)"George Kurtz Margaret Kurtz/ [Jo]hn Befant Mar[y] Sailo[?]/ Catherine [f ? ck] George Kurtz/ Elizabeth Kurtz Margaret Kurtz/ Margaret Kurtz Her Work Done [In]/ The Eleventh Year Of Her Age And In/ The Year Of Our Lord 1798 23"
"Margaret Wever Was/ Born in The [?]econt/ M Day of Jun/ Margaret Jane Baker"Provenance1798 - ?, made by three generations of family members, Margaret Kurtz [1787-1879], Ann Margaret Weaver [1804-1878], Margaret Jane Baker [1834-1908] (Pennsylvania); ?-1975, unnamed family member of makers who was born and raised [1920-2013] (Philadelphia, PA and Williamsburg, VA); 1975-2023, given to the Valentine Museum (Richmond, VA); 2023--present, transferred to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)