Sampler by Mary Milloy
DateMay 7, 1851
Maker
Mary Milloy
(b. ca. 1838)
MediumSilk and wool embroidery threads on a linen ground of 28 x 28 threads per inch; wooden frame with leather trim; Plexiglass (fiber identification by eye)
DimensionsFramed: OH: 20 1/2" x OW: 27 1/4"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, James L. Mullins in memory of Dr. Kathleen Stiso Mullins
Object number2021.608.2,A&B
DescriptionThis is a framed rectangular embroidered sampler worked in shades of red, cream, pink, green, blue, black, yellow, and purple silk and wool embroidery threads on a linen ground. Within a sawtooth inner border, from the top: “A-G” “KJL-R” uppercase script;/ wave band in cross stitch;/ “S-Z” uppercase script, “a-t” lowercase block;/ herringbone band;/ “u-z” lowercase block, “A-V” uppercase block, cross motif;/ band of cross stitch;/ “W-Z” uppercase block, “&” “1-9 0” “Mary Milloy’s Sampler”;/ band of undulating flowers and leaves;/ “wrought in her 14th year at the Sisters of providence. May the 7th Frenchtown Monroe”;/ band of cross stitch; “Michigan. 1851.” The bottom third within the sawtooth border consists of a blue church on the right with a large bird perched on the roof, a large container of flowers, and two large birds, one of which is perched on a pedestal of sorts. To the left of the church is the verse: “The name above is mine/ Frenchtown is my dwelling place/ And ireland [sic] is my native land/ But Christ is my salvation.” The sampler is enclosed in an outer border of an undulating vine of flowers and leaves. It is framed in a black wooden frame that is edged with a leather trim.Stitches: cross, herringboneLabel TextMary Milloy's sampler is an extraordinary needlework project that reflects the multicultural nature of America and its diversity. The sampler was created by a thirteen-year-old Irish girl in Frenchtown, Michigan, a town populated by French fur traders. Mary worked her sampler at the Sisters of Providence School, a predominantly white school co-founded by Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin (1810-1892), the first US born religious sister of color.Inscription(s)“The name above is mine/ Frenchtown is my dwelling place/ And ireland [sic] is my native land/ But Christ is my salvation.”ProvenanceOther than vendor, there is no known provenance.
ca. 1835