Object Record
Images
Metadata
Accession # |
1955.20.1 |
Item Name |
Embroidery Needlework Sampler |
Description |
A sampler on fine linen, dated 1819. Around the perimeter are finely embroidered images; predominantly floral in design; each design independent of the others. Some images include animals such as birds, a squirrel, dog and a male deer. Along the bottom middle is embroidered a tree, a four-storey building, a male deer, a ship and a butterfly. The embroidery is primarily in green, brown, gold, and cream. In the centre of the sampler is embroidered the following text, in brown: "Virtue rejoice! tho' heaven may frown awhile; / That frown is but an earnest of a smile. / One day of tears presages years of joy, / For sufferings only mend us, not destroy. / Who feels the lashes of an adverse hour, / Finds them but means to waft him into power / As health to bodies, bidder draughts impart, / So trials are but physics to the heart. / Sarah Wilkinson finished this work in 1819 / Aged 11". |
Date |
1819 EQUALS |
Provenance |
The following information was received from the donor: "Sarah Wilkinson, who did this fine work aged 11, was born [1808] and raised in England. She was married to James Bateman. Their eldest son, Miles, was not two years old when they came to Canada. They settled near Brantford. Miles, their son, trained on the Great Lakes to be a sailor and he became a Captain. In 1859, he was married to Jemima ELLEN, daughter of Malcolm Wright. She was a cousin of the Harrisons from which the town of Harriston in Wellington County derived its name. Malcolm Wright was the owner of 7 or 8 hundred acres of land (crown deeds) and he and his family (including his sons and his son-in-law Miles Bateman) settled in Harriston and Minto Township. Miles ("Captain" as he was mostly called) and Ellen Bateman settled two miles south of Harriston on the No. 9 Highway. They built a large stone house (owned in 1955 by Alex Ivel)." This sampler was donated to the Wellington County Museum by the only living member of their family. She was possibly a niece of Ellen Bateman. Label information: "Virtually all 19th century samplers have an inscription of some text. Some like this sampler have poems with messages imparted to children. Exquisitely embroidered by 11-year-old Sarah Wilkinson in 1819, this sampler is an example of a style of counted-thread embroidery. Fabric threads are counted by the embroiderer to form cross-stitches, which form design motifs through the canvas background." |
Person \ Organization |
Wilkinson, Sarah |
Place |
Harriston Minto Twp. |
Creator \ Maker |
Wilkinson, Sarah |