Sampler
In 1793, Margaret Mutter stitched motifs such as reclinings stags, apple trees and concentric hearts that are sometimes found on German samplers. The strong red, green, and brown palate may indicate a Scottish influence as well. Margaret’s sampler measures 16 1/2″ x 17″ and features a shepherd and his dog with six sheep ascending and descending a green hill. A flowering border frames her composition with the biblical message “LOOK UNTO ME ALL YE ENDS OF THE EARTH AND BE SAVED I45”. The proclamation is quoted from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, Chapter 45, verse 22. With faded silk thread, the sampler is inscribed, “MARGRET MUTTER AGED 9 YEAR”.
Margaret Mutter was one of four children born to Thomas and Elizabeth Mutter. Margaret’s brother, John Moore Mutter (1782-1819) became a successful merchant in Richmond, Virginia. Portraits of John and his wife Lucinda Armistead (Gillies) Mutter by Cephas Thompson are in the MESDA Collection. mesda.org
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In February of 1801 Margaret married John Bonner Blount (1777-1825) from Edenton, North Carolina, where she lived the remainder of her life. Margaret and her husband had five children before her death at age thirty-three. She is buried at Beaver Hill Cemetery in Edenton.
Margaret’s sister, Elizabeth Mutter (1778-1822) stitched a similar sampler which was documented in Bolton and Coe’s “American Samplers”, published in 1921. It records Elizabeth’s sampler made in Granville County, North Carolina and having the exact dimensions (16 1/2″ x 17″) as Margaret’s work, also with a floral border. Elizabeth Mutter was twelve when she stitched her sampler which would date it 1790. The location of this sampler is unknown.
Elizabeth Mutter married Thomas Blount Littlejohn (1773-1854), a founder of the town of Oxford in Granville County, North Carolina. In 1819, Thomas sold land to Joseph Blount Littlejohn, his brother and mercantile partner. Joseph designed the house which stood on this land. This is the same home which MESDA owns and exhibits woodwork from the parlor, chamber, passage and staircase.
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