Sarah Stewart - 1730 - The Toolbox Sampler

 

Sarah Stewart - 1730

I met Mickey Oman at a "daytreat" sponsored by Hodgepodge, my LNS, in Strasburg PA. She casually approached me with a gorgeous project roll she had made, and inquired whether The Old Man and the Bea would be interested in charting an antique sampler that she had been gifted by her father nearly thirty years ago. Unrolling the project roll, she removed the sampler, which was narrowly hemmed around the four sides, and handed it to me.

Stunning. 

It was stitched on a tiny count fabric, which we later determined was 52 count, with a single strand of silk. I scanned the long piece for a name, and quickly located "Sarah Stewart." At nine years old, Sarah had some serious focus and really good eyesight to stitch such tiny stitches with such perfection!

Mickey explained that her father had found the sampler on a vendor table at a gun show in the south - Kentucky or Tennessee, she thought - back in the 90s, and thought she might appreciate a gift. She has had it tucked in a drawer since that time, but intended to stitch her own at some point. The only thing she really knew about the piece was that the vendor had found it in an old toolbox amidst the tools, which probably explained the minimal fading or color loss of the floss. As stitchers, we were both horrified and amused at the idea of a 9 year old stitcher's work wrapped around wrenches in her father's toolbox, wondering whether Sarah had gifted it to her own father, or whether subsequent generations had decided the tools needed some cushioning.

Mickey and I chatted as I looked at the sampler, and I asked out loud "I wonder when this was stitched?" She responded by pointing at the gray numerals near the bottom. 1730.

I dropped the piece on the table, completely stunned that I was holding a piece of needlework that pre-dated the American Revolution. 

We were committed to this journey, instantly.  Within a few weeks, we had matched Belle Soire silks and decided neither of us had 52 count ability eyes. Working with Corrine Simpson from Grace Notes Fabrics, we discovered "Peau de Kiwi" linen in 40 count.

Sarah Stewart was living within both of us, in her tiny stitches that we both admired on the very first row of her sampler.

Decoding Sarah Stewart's Sampler -

It seems that 21st century reproduction sampler stitchers seek to develop a relationship with their stitcher-sisters of the past. Watch any Flosstube hosted by repro sampler enthusiasts, and you're sure to hear the name of the stitcher as the title of the project that flosstuber is currently stitching. Sarah Stewart is our "Stitcher-sister," and I began searching for clues about her with the limited information she left in the clues of her sampler.

A close examination of the piece reveals precision stitching on fabric on 50 count! There are two verses, and one, we assumed,  glaring mistake. In the first featured verse, Sarah had obviously overlooked checking her spelling.  Her work was so precise on such fine fabric, yet there it was:

ALWAY.

In the 14th century, there is evidence of the word, alway, used as an adverb. While English spelling was not formalized through a modern-day dictionary, there is enough written evidence to suggest that my 21st century presumptions of a misspelling on the sampler should not include pity for the young stitcher's presumed mistake. 

Oh all ye nations of the world
Praise ye the lord always
And all ye people everywhere
Set forth his noble praise
For great his kindness to us
His truth doth not decay
Wherefore praise ye the Lord our God
Praise ye the Lord alway

The verse appears to be some version of Psalm 117, yet didn't match the King James Version that would have been the most prevalent at that time in history. Further research led us to a hymnal in the Church of England, The Whole Book of  Psalms. Listed as the "Old Version" of Psalm 117, written by Thomas Norton (1532 - 1584),   the hymn is documented to have appeared in London in 1562.  Norton was an English Calvinist, who served as a politician, lawyer, and poet who contributed lyrics for nearly 30 sacred hymns.

The second verse also had us scratching our heads with the unusual commentary from an eight year old.

Make much of precious time while in your power
Be careful well to husband every hour
For time will come when you shall sore lament

the unhappy minutes that you have misspent

 What could this mean? And who has shared this advice with young Sarah? Indeed, 21st century interpretations can easily fall on the word "husband" as a man married to a wife. Once again, the Merriam Webster dictionary offers a less common use, as a transitive verb. Clearly, Sarah's teacher or parents were teaching her the value of productive use of time.

The verse originally appeared in a book written by William Mather, (1657-1708), a Quaker Schoolmaster, who was offering advice to young men. First printed in 1681, there were twenty-four editions of the book printed, pointing to the popularity of the advice contained within. (He's a fascinating guy to study! Several editions of the book are available online.

The sampler contains two rows of crowns, common in many countries under the reign of the British monarchy. 

Who was Sarah Stewart?

Stay tuned! We are narrowing our search, and may have a definitive answer, soon!

Where can I get the chart to stitch this sampler?

The Sarah Stewart chart will be released in an exclusive release on September 21, 2024 at the Hodgepodge Daytreat in Strasburg PA. It will be available for sale to the general public 

on November 1, 2024.