Mahala Tarr,
Gloucester, Massachusetts,
1831

Sampler size:
16½" x 13"

Price: $8400

Enlarged and Printer Version

Two fashionably dressed ladies provide the focal point for this remarkable 1831 sampler made by Mahala Tarr of Gloucester, Massachusetts. They wear pale blue silk dresses with the puffed sleeves that became popular by 1825 and which, according to Linda Baumgarten in her extraordinary book, What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America (Colonial Williamsburg, 2002), became huge by 1830. Gloucester, a delightful maritime community on the northern cape of Massachusetts Bay, was known even in the early 19th century as a summer retreat for Bostonians; it is not surprising that a Gloucester schoolgirl would have depicted such stylish attire on her work. Other details were included: the dresses have sashes at the waist and banded hemlines. The ladies sport ruffled bonnets, stand on low platforms and hold flowering branches.

The sampler is inscribed, "Mahala Tarr's sampler wrought in the 11 year of her age Gloucester Oct. the 1 1831." Born on July 3, 1820, Mahala was third of the seven children born to Francis and Hannah (Knights) Tarr who had married in Gloucester in 1815. The roots of the Tarr family go back to 1690, when Richard Tarr became the first permanent settler of Rockport. Tarr family members were active in civic affairs of the town for many generations; specifically, for example, Benjamin Tarr drilled the Sandy Bay Soldiers who marched in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Much has been written about this family and their history in Rockport and Gloucester. Mahala died young, at age 18, and is buried in Gloucester.

The sampler, worked in silk on tan linen, is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a mahogany veneer frame.

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