Sampler

Mary Jones’s richly embellished sampler belongs to a distinctive group of late eighteenth-century Philadelphia area samplers known as “Dresden-work,” characterized by delicate drawnwork and needle-made lace patterns, with additional embroidery. The technical skill and ornamental refinement of Dresden-work suggest an advanced level of embroidery instruction. While the earliest examples from the 1760s and 1770s were stitched using only white thread, Mary’s sampler is one of five known pieces dating to 1790s also stitched with colored silk floss. Like the others in this group, her work features a central rondel backed with light blue paper and gold leaf, which is encircled by six lace-filled medallions entwined with a delicate floral vine. Below, a basket of darned-lace blossoms is flanked by parrots with colorful intricately stitched plumage. A wide meandering floral vine frames the sampler on three sides. (For a closely related example by Jane Little dated 1793, see Winterthur Museum 2013.23)

Although Mary inscribed her name and date, she omitted her age, but she was likely Mary Jones of Chester County born in 1783 into the Quaker family of Joseph Jones and Rachel Miller Jones who married Mark Fell (1779-1839) in 1804. The overall composition of Mary’s sampler also relates to an earlier Chester County embroidered picture by Elizabeth Jefferis (59.20) in The Met’s collection. Both display designs related to eighteenth-century English and American embroidered bed hangings inspired by the exotic plants and animals found on Indian palampores.