Artist/Maker

Gould, Elizabeth

Place Made

Date Made

1807

Medium

silk on linen

Dimensions

HOA: 17; WOA 13 1/4

Accession Number

4042.2

Description

The central portion of the sampler has one partial and one complete alphabet. Also present are the inscriptions (see below), a house with trees, flowers in pots and a dog. The border is composed of separate boxes surrounding a variety of flowers.

Two-ply twisted silk on plain weave linen; stitches: chain, counted cross, outline, rice, satin, single, split

History

STYLE: The style of this sampler and the one by Ann Gould, Elizabeth’s sister, is remarkable for the use of a wide border made up of individual boxes each containing a large flower. This composition appears frequently in samplers of a particular southeastern Pennsylvania school. It is possible that Ann and Elizabeth’s teacher learned to embroider in that school. Note the unusual trees pictured in both samplers. With further research these elements may help us identify the exact school the girls attended.

Needlework researcher Gloria Allen believes that these samplers were worked at a school in Queen Anne County, Maryland on the Eastern Shore as there are six almost identical samplers from that area, between 1807 and 1811. She writes, “Elizabeth and Ann Gould were the daughters of William and Anna Gould. He died in 1817 and named his wife and children in his will. Elizabeth, the only married daughter is identified in the will as Elizabeth Alexander–so the evidence is pretty strong. The other four samplers are by Julia Ann Hardcastle [in MESDA’s files and in part of QAC that became Caroline County], Elizabeth Baggs [Bolton & Co., p. 124], and Mary and Ann Browne [owned by the historical society of Carroll County.” (Gloria Allen e-mail to Johanna Brown 10/02/03–copy in Accession folder).

Each of the six sampler feature a brick house with garden, side borders divided into compartmented filled with flowers and birds, and a verse from Proverbs 31:10 – 31. The compartmented elements on these samplers are reminiscent of work produced at Leah Bratten Galligher Maguire’s school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Perhaps the anonymous teacher responsible for this distinctive Maryland group had attended or was familiar with Mrs. Maguire’s sampler style.

Artist Biography

MAKER: Elizabeth Gould was born circa 1792. She was the older sister of Ann Gould, whose sampler is also in the MESDA collection (Acc. No. 4042.1). Elizabeth’s parents have not yet been identified, nor has the school the girls attended. It was assumed that the Goulds lived in Baltimore. However, a similar sampler in the MESDA research files (S-10809) appears to have been done on the eastern shore of Maryland. There were several Gould families in Queen Anne’s County, so it is more likely that this is the area that the girls came from. Elizabeth married a John Alexander in 1813.

Credit Line

MESDA Purchase Fund