Sampler
Ann was seven years old when she worked this sampler in 1798.
In 1816, Ann married Jacob Stouffer in Baltimore at First Methodist Episcopal Church. Jacob is listed in the Baltimore Directory as a merchant at 23 Howard Street.
STYLE: The eagle applied at the top of the sampler is made of paper and painted with watercolors. It is stitched directly on the linen. It depicts an eagle with a shield and outstretched wings reminiscent of the Great Seal of the United States. It is the only known example of a Maryland sampler with an applied eagle.
DESCRIPTION: Silk on linen sampler. The central area contains a verse stitched in dark brown thread: “Would you the bloom of youth should last/Tis virtue that must bind it fast/As easy carriage wholly free/From sour reserve or levity/Good natur’d mirth an open heart/And looks unskill’d in any art/These are the charms which ne’er decay/Tho’ youth and beauty fade away” “Ann Clair Tinges’s Work in the 8th Year/of her age 1798.” This verse was published as early as 1756 in a collection entitled “The Pleasing Instructor or Entertaining Moralist”.
Below the verse is a house flanked by trees, fences, and outbuildings. The border has stylized tulips and other flowers on an undulating vine. At the top of the sampler is an eagle and a shield, made of painted paper. Cross and satin stitches are used throughout the sampler. The window lights are washed with blue paint directly on the linen ground.
