Mission School Presentation sampler; Jane S. Purviance; Ceylon; 1848
date: label: date made
content: 1848
notes: label: Description
content: Ceylon 1848, Jane S. Purviance, Oodooville Female Central School (ABCFM mission school). Jaffna Province, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
label: Description
content: Presentation sampler, wool on embroidery canvas, worked in English and Hindi lettering by a Tamil girl student of the American missionary school at Oodooville, Ceylon in 1848. This is a visually appealing Berlin work sampler in excellent condition with nice color. It has a sight size of about 15 x 12 inches and was mounted in a 20th century frame by a previous owner. Ex Brunk auction, then ex private collection. The sampler has inscriptions in both English and Hindi dealing with the 19th century equivalent of "born again" Christianity. It is dated and signed with the Tamil girl creator's sponsored given Christian name. Below the inscriptions is a Berlin work floral arrangement. The whole is surrounded by a floral border.
label: Description
content: The dealer found an old inscription on crumbling paper on the back of the frame (missing words in brackets supplied by the dealer): This sampler was worked by Jane S. Purviance [a student at] a Boarding School at [Oodooville] & a Beneficiary of the Female Mite Soc. Bal. Md. This sampler is designed as a small memento from J.S.P. to Miss Margaret Purviance of Baltimore Md.
label: Description
content: The dealer’s investigation confirmed that there was a Jane S. Purviance (1805-1835) who lived in Baltimore. Jane had a younger sister Margaret S. Purviance (1808-after 1870), also a lifelong Baltimore resident. The publication of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the Missionary Herald, listed Margaret Purviance as a donor of $20 per year - giving her the right to give a Christian name to one of the Hindu speaking Tamil girls at the Oodooville school. The crumbling paper inscription suggests that Margaret requested that the girl be given the name of her deceased sister and that the mission school select a girl born the year her sister Jane died. This sampler is a remarkable connection between the worldwide missionary movement of the 19th century and donors in the USA.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Sri Lanka: Northern, Jaffna
topic: label: Subject
content: Needlework
label: Subject
content: Christianity
label: Subject
content: Protestantism
label: Subject
content: Missions, Foreign
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Religion
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2016.0181.02
label: accession number
content: 2016.0181
label: catalog number
content: 2016.0181.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: sampler
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wool (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: embroidery (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: image: 15 in x 12 7/8 in; 38.1 cm x 32.7025 cm