NANCY TAYLOR (LOUDOUN CO., VIRGINIA, 1807-1850) PICTORIAL NEEDLEWORK SAMPLER, silk on linen, format featuring flowering vine border, short verse above signature "Nancy Taylor", over a large double-chimney Federal house surrounded by lawn and cast-iron fence, ducks on lawn and other birds perched in background trees. Old typed note applied verso, "This sampler was made by Nancy Taylor, great grandmother of the present owner while she was away to Quaker school in Philadelphia. The building shown is the Friends Meeting House at Lincoln, Va. Still standing. About 1824". Circa 1818. 13 7/8" x 15" object.
Provenance: Property of a Shenandoah Valley private collector.
Catalogue Note: Nancy Taylor (1807-1850) was born at Goose Creek Mountain, Loudoun Co., Virginia and appears to have remained in the area for her entire life. While the note attached to this sampler indicates it was worked in Philadelphia, it is also possible that Nancy Taylor attended school in either Washington, D. C. or Baltimore, MD. Other documented samplers of similar format employing similar pictorial devices are associated with these last two urban centers as well, and, as they are physically closer to Nancy's home in Loudoun Co., remain strong possible candidates for the present lot's place of creation.
Condition
As-found condition with significant toning, fading, wear, and losses. Currently mounted on a thin board (with associated edge losses).