Sampler

This large and impressive sampler was worked by Almira Holmes when she was 18 years old. It features carefully stitched meandering flowering plants, and vines on two sides, with a row of stalks of different flowers along the top. A dark green lawn at the bottom is filled with a central floral bouquet flanked by a large sprig of blossoms on the left and a potted plant in a basket on the right. A tree, small animals and birds populate the lawn between these larger floral displays. A central square of four alphabets stitched in black silk includes the inscription: "Almira Holmes wrought this in 1821." In its overall design, the floral displays reflect a knowledgeable rendering of a variety of flowers in shades of green, pink, blue and purple. Over some forty years from 1786-1833, samplers made in Southern New Hampshire share several characteristics including a basket of flowers and the birds in flight like those in the example.

Almira’s sampler descended in her husband’s family and was purchased by The Met from the Philadelphia dealer M. Finkel & Daughter. Accompanying the sampler, the family had kept one Almira books, The English Reader; Pieces in Prose and Poetry, that she inscribed in the front cover including a verse in her handwriting. This book was first published in New York in 1799 and designed to provide young women with selections from literature to help guide their learning and included a chapter on "The Importance of a Good Education."

Almira Holmes was born on May 19, 1803 in Compton, New Hampshire, an agrarian community in the foothills of the White Mountains where her mother had been born and raised. She was the daughter of Samuel Holmes (1779-1838) and Martha Palmer Holmes (1779-1836) and grew up with one younger sister and four younger brothers. While the school where she learned needlework remains unknown, the importance of her sampler and her book descending in her family demonstrates the value placed on her education. Almira married Tillotson Pierce (1798-1885), a farmer, from nearby Thornton on January 31, 1837, and they had a son who died in infancy and four daughters, Josephine (1839-1895), Caroline (1840-1868), Martha (1842-1927) and Henrietta (1846-1945). The Pierces’ four daughters grew up on the family farm in Sandwich, New Hampshire, where they attended school. Almira died on May 11, 1867 followed by her daughter, Caroline, a year later. Her other three daughters and their families remained in Sandwich and members of this closely knit family are interred in the Baptist Burial Ground in Sandwich near their mother.