Sarah Hoopes' Sampler
date: label: date made
content: 1799
name: label: maker
content: Hoopes, Sarah
notes: label: Description
content: This sampler features nine rectangles that are outlined by cross-stitch and satin sawtooth bands. The center and corner rectangles contain flowers and strawberries with some worked in crinkled silk. The flower and strawberry motifs on this sampler indicate nature and a perfect fruit: the strawberry has no rind or pit to throw away. The verses and inscription are in the remaining four rectangles, reading from the top center, to the right center, to the left center, back to the lower part of the right center, and then to the bottom center, resulting in jumps from one rectangle to another where words did not fit the space. The words are worked in green and yellow thread, except for the name “Phebe Hoopes,” which is worked in the only black thread used on the sampler. The inscriptions are:
label: Description
content: <br>“Waz[s]h Lord ANd<br>PUrIFY MY Heart<br>ANd MaKe It CleaN<br>IN EVerY Part ANd<br>WheN It IS CleaN<br>LOrd KeeP It SO<br>FOr That IS MOre<br>ThaN I CaN DO<br>The LOSS OF TIMe<br>IS MUCh The LOSS<br>OF Truth IS MOre<br>The LOSS OF ChrISt<br>IS SUCh That NO<br><br>MaN CaN ReStOre<br>POOR State of JaCob<br>Here It SeeMS TO Me<br>The CattLe FOUNd<br>AS SOFt A Bed AS He<br>Yet GOd APPeared<br>There HIS JOY ANd<br>CrOWN GOd IS NOt<br>ALwaYS FOUNd ON<br>BedS OF DOWN<br><br>The Bed WaS<br>Earth The RaIsed<br>PILLar StONe<br>WhereON POOR<br> JaCOb ReSt HIS<br>Head ALONe<br>HeaVeN WaS HIS<br>CaNOPY The Shades<br>OF NIGht WaS<br>HIS DraWN CUrtaIN<br>TO EXCLUde The<br>LIGht ThIS WOrK<br><br>IN HaND MY FrIeNdS<br>MaY HaVe WHeN I aM<br>IN The SILeNt GraVe<br><br>Sarah HOOPes<br>DauGhter OF Abram<br>ANd SUSaNNa HooPeS<br>Her WOrK doN<br>IN The 14th Year OF<br>Her AGe 1799<br>ReeSe HOOPeS<br>DaNIeL HOOPeS<br>ALICe HOOPeS<br>Phebe HOOPeS<br>AP EJ(?) PH SH”<br>
label: Description
content: The four verses that Sarah Hoopes included reflect the emphasis of her time on piety and the brevity of life. Even though Sarah’s sampler came to the Smithsonian in poor condition, it is important to the study of these compartmented verse and flower samplers that were worked only in Philadelphia. The sampler is stitched with silk embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 51, weft 46/in. The stitches used are cross, satin, stem, and outline.
label: Description
content: Sarah Hoopes was born on December 25, 1785, to Abraham (1755-1807) and Susanna McNees (1752-1834) Hoopes of Newtown, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Her father was a shoemaker. She lists the names of her two brothers, Reese and Daniel, and her two sisters, Alice and Phebe, on her sampler. There are other initials under Phebe’s name. She died unmarried.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Samplers
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content: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mrs. W. H. Hoopes
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T11163
label: catalog number
content: T11163
label: accession number
content: 203959
objectType: label: Object Name
content: embroidery, sampler
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: 16 1/2 in x 13 3/4 in; 41.91 cm x 34.925 cm