Collection Highlights
The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant
Date:
1885-1886
Object Number:
LIB.XL.CT.G763.A3
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Verse sampler
Object Number:
1941.910
Date:
1820
Medium:
Silk on linen
Dimensions:
Overall: 16 1/8 x 17 1/4 in. ( 41 x 43.8 cm )
Marks:
Signature and date (embroidered): bottom center, black floss: "Ruth Titus / 1820"
Description:
Nearly square silk-embroidered linen sampler with various colors of silk floss; verse in upper two-thirds, inscription in bottom third, floral designs, floral border on all sides; cross and satin stitches; inscribed "Ruth Titus 1820".
Gallery Label:
Schoolgirl needlework helped indoctrinate girls into the cult of domesticity, and sampler verses selected by teachers often reinforced feminine roles. The verse selected for Ruth Titus's embroidery, "Woman," instructed Ruth Titus that her future role as a wife was "to give domestic life its sweetest charm."
Ruth Titus (Mrs. Isaac E. Haviland, b. 1801) came from a Quaker family, and the motifs surrounding her verse, such as the potted flowers, fruit baskets, and acorns, are associated with Quaker samplers. This sampler is similar to examples made at New York City Female Association Schools betwen 1815 and 1826.
Credit Line:
Gift of Stephen Taber Willets
Provenance:
Ruth Titus (1801?-1850), who married Isaac E. Haviland (1803-1885); to their nephew, Samuel Titus Taber (1814-1871); by descent to his grandson, Stephen Taber Willets, the donor.
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
