Margaret A. Duff, Wheeling, West Virginia, 1832
We are very pleased to offer this exceptional sampler, which exhibits a great naiveté and strong folky character. It is one of a group of five known samplers, all worked in Wheeling, West Virginia in the late 1820s and early 1830s which are defined by the same bold house with side columns, large patriotic eagle, wreath-enclosed heart and many other distinctive motifs. Another of these samplermakers, whose 1831 sampler is in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum, names Wheeling and gives credit within her inscription to her teacher, who bore the initials CMT. This teacher and her pupils created a body of work that compares well to the finest American samplers created from New England down to the mid Atlantic states and it is hoped that ongoing research will reveal the identity of this talented and creative instructress.
Margaret included some details on her sampler that render it unique even within this group; note in particular the tiny figure of a woman at the opened front door of the house and the smoke emanating from its chimney. Visual strength is also derived from the many trees, baskets of flowers and pairs of birds. These samplermakers seem to have a proclivity towards verse that is maudlin to such a degree as to be humorous. Margaret predicts that, "These youthful hands I now employ / Worms of dust will soon destroy." Margaret A. Duff was likely the daughter of John and Martha (Henderson) Duff of Wheeling and Belmont Co., Ohio which is just over the Ohio River and was accessed by ferry. The Duff family had lived in southern Pennsylvania prior to settling in Wheeling.
Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and it has been conservation mounted into a fine period maple frame.
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AMERICA'S LEADING SAMPLER
AND NEEDLEWORK DEALER
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