Esther Copp's Sampler
date: label: Date made
content: 1765
name: label: maker
content: Copp, Esther
notes: label: Description
content: Three block alphabets; two alphabets colored in pairs, one all black; no "J"; numbers 1 through 0. Simple geometric crossbands framed by flowering vine and rose bushes. At base of sampler, centered tree flanked by two framed inscriptions, with tulips and strawberries. Single row of cross stitch forms border on all four sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, petit point, Algerian eye, rice, queen. THREAD COUNT: warp 34, weft 38/in.<br>
label: Description
content: <B>Inscriptions:</B><br>
label: Description
content: "Better it is to be<br>of an humble Spi<br>rit with the low<br>ly than to divide<br>the Spoil with<br>the proud"<br>
label: Description
content: "Esther Copp her<br>Sampler made in<br>the eleventh<br>year of her age<br>august AD 1765"<br>
label: Description
content: <B>Background:</B><br>
label: Description
content: Jonathan Copp was born on June 12, 1694, and married Mrs. Sarah (Dennis) Hobart as his second wife on June 30, 1742, in Stonington, Connecticut. Their daughter Esther was born on October 23, 1754, in New London, Connecticut, and she never married. She died September 21, 1829. (See sampler by Phebe Esther Copp, her grandniece. A tree, rose bush, and one text are the same on both samplers.) Esther's sampler is part of an extensive collection of 18th- and 19th- century household textiles, costume items, furniture, and other pieces belonging to the Copps, a prosperous but frugal Connecticut family. The collection was donated to the United State National Museum in the 1890s by John Brenton Copp, offering the nation the opportunity to preserve and study the everyday possessions of a New England family.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Connecticut, Stonington
topic: label: depicted
content: Alphabets
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Samplers
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Textiles
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content: Domestic Furnishings
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Kendrick, Kathleen M. and Peter C. Liebhold. Smithsonian Treasures of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of John Brenton Copp
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.H06590
label: catalog number
content: H06590
label: accession number
content: 28810
objectType: label: Object Name
content: sampler
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: linen (ground fabric material)
label: Physical Description
content: silk (embroidery thread material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 3/4 in x 11 1/8 in; 34.925 cm x 28.2575 cm