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Sampler by Jane Isabel Morgan

DateApril 1796 (dated)

Maker Jane Isabel Morgan 1787 - 1820

OriginAmerica, South Carolina, Charleston

MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 33 x 28 threads per inch (fiber identification by eye)

DimensionsSampler size: OH: 17” x OW: 10” Framed size: OH: 19” x OW: 12”

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2017-307

DescriptionThis is a small rectangular verse sampler worked in green silk embroidery threads on a natural color linen ground. The sampler is hemmed stitched at top, bottom and sides. The sampler consists of three verses with dividing bands: “Remember time will/ come when we must/ give account to God/ how we on earth did live”; “See how the Lilies flou/ rish white and fair/ See how the Ravens fed/ from Heaven are then/ ne’er distrust thy God/ for Cloth and Bread/ whilst Lilies flourish and/ the Ravens fed” and “Remember now thy / Creator in the days of/ thy youth while the/ evil days come not nor/ the years draw nigh/ when thou shalt say I / have no Pleasure in them". The last line reads: “I Morgan April 7 96.” The sampler is enclosed on the sides in a running wave motif border. A band consisting of a quadruple heart motif borders the top and bottom.

Stitches: cross over one and two, marking crossLabel TextEighteenth-century Charleston, South Carolina samplers are relatively rare when compared to the northern port cities of Philadelphia, Newport, and Boston. Jane Isabel Morgan's verse sampler, which is dated 1796, descended in the Charleston family of origin. It is worked in reversible stitches, a characteristic found in other southern coastal schoolgirl needleworks. The verse that begins "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth" is from the book of Ecclesiastes and is found on other Charleston samplers.Inscription(s)“Remember time will/ come when we must/ give account to God/ how we on earth did live”
“See how the Lilies flou/ rish white and fair/ See how the Ravens fed/ from Heaven are then/ ne’er distrust thy God/ for Cloth and Bread/ whilst Lilies flourish and/ the Ravens fed”
“Remember now thy / Creator in the days of/ thy youth while the/ evil days come not nor/ the years draw nigh/ when thou shalt say I / have no Pleasure in them"ProvenanceFamily notes from paper on the back:
“Sampler made by Isabel Morgan April 7 1796 Charleston, S.C.”
“Jane Isabel Morgan, adopted daughter of Mrs. Ann Waring of “Tranquil Hill”. Born Nov. 10 1787. She married Thomas Smith Sept 5, 1816. Ann Ball Smith their daughter. J. Isabel Smith died July 18, 1820.”
This sampler along with a second sampler by Polly Ann Smith descended together in the family of origin. Henry Smith, father of Polly Ann Smith and father-in-law of Jane Isabel Smith, was from an early and important family from the Carolinas. Thomas Smith (1648-1694) was Governor of South Carolina.
Jane Isabel Morgan was, as the family note states, the adopted daughter of Mrs. Ann Ball Waring (1753/4-1826) of Tranquil Hill. Ann’s husband was Richard Waring (1748-1781), who served in the South Carolina House of Representatives. He purchased the planation that he renamed Tranquil Hill in 1773.