Sampler1779–178819 1/4 x 13 1/2 " (48.9 x 34.3 cm)
Frame: 21 x 15 3/4 " (53.3 x 40 cm)Silk, metallic thread, human hair on linenGift of Ralph Esmerian2013.1.4701547453901P1.2001.286Rebecca CarterAnn CarterTextilesThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.Cross stitch alphabet in 4 rows, "crown"/Honor and renown, thall the ingenious/State--House.several inscriptions verso added later by family members
'Miss Balch is still living, but infirm and in poor state of health. This sampler was begun by my eldest Sister the late Mrs. Ann Brown wife to the Honorable Nicholas brown, while she was at school in Newport at Mrs. Wilkinson, (I think.) She was then about 9 years old. Finish'd by me at Mis Balches School when I was about 16 years; I (design?0 It for my beloved Son Amos Throop Jenckes, and wish him to preserve it in remembrance of his Aunt, and his affectionate Mother' Rebecca C. Jenckes
'When this was finished my late honored Father, John Carter Esqr employed Mr. John Carlile to frame it, immediately, he was much please with it;
'The above information tho by no means important is written for my beloved absent children; one at Mareitta & one at N York. / by their anxious Mother / 1825. June 8th 12 oclk (a very warm day for the season)'lower center: 'Rebecca / Carters / work made / AD 1788'
lower center: 'R / C'State House SamplerRebecca Carter SamplerState House SamplerRebecca Carter SamplerState House SamplerRebecca Carter SamplerNewportProvidenceNewportProvidenceUnited StatesUnited StatesRhode IslandRhode IslandTextilesAdam ReichLet Virtue Be a Guide to Thee, Needlework in the Education of Rhode Island Women, 1730–1830, Rhode Island Historical Society, November 6, 1983–January 22, 1984
Traveling exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Metropolitan Museum of ArtNewportProvidenceBetty Ring, "Let Virtue Be a Guide to Thee, Needlework in the Education of Rhode Island Women, 1730-1830," Providence, 1983, ill.
Betty Ring, "Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850, Volume I, published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1993, ill.
MAD, August, 1988, p. 32A ill.Schoolmistresses played a pivotal role in the new nation by educating the young women who would be responsible for raising the first generations of independent Americans. Ornamental arts such as needlework represented creative collaborations between teacher and student and were also intended to instill moral and civic values in impressionable minds. This example is dominated by the imposing architecture of the State House in Providence, attesting to the ideals of the nation and the development of its infrastructure through the establishment of august bodies of government.
Rebecca Carter was born into an influential Providence family. Her father, John Carter, apprenticed with Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia before becoming editor of the Providence Gazette. At his death, he was honored as a disciple of George Washington and an advocate for the Constitution of the United States, which Rhode Island ratified in 1790. Though he struggled financially through the war years, Carter sent his elder daughter Ann to school in Newport, where she began this sampler. It was completed in 1788 by her sister Rebecca at the renowned Providence school operated by Mary Balch (1762–1831).
Stacy C. Hollander, “Rebecca Carter Sampler,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgRebecca Carter’s sampler provides everything any collector could seek in an eighteenth-century American sampler. Its flawless silk stitchery is exquisitely lustrous, it portrays the historically important 1762 State House in Providence, and it contains the commendable maxim “Honor and renown shall the ingenious crown.” Its six elegant and lively figures have golden blond human hair, and its maker signed it with her name and initials and dated it 1788. The back proves to be equally exceptional. There Rebecca’s adult notations reveal that it was begun by her sister Ann at the long-forgotten school of Abigail Wilkinson in Newport and completed by Rebecca at Miss Mary Balch’s school in Providence—leading to the rediscovery of Mrs. Wilkinson’s career—and that its ideally appropriate frame was provided by Providence cabinetmaker John Carlile, thus making it the only eighteenth-century Rhode Island sampler frame of known provenance.
This sampler also testifies to the superb talents of Mary Balch (1762–1831), an irreproachable schoolmistress whose forty-five years of teaching produced what is probably the largest quantity of recognizable needlework known to survive from an early New England school. The epitaph on her gravestone in North Burial Ground in Providence aptly described her as “The first who established a FEMALE ACADEMY in this Town, which by her industry and amiable qualifications attained a high reputation. She was a sincere and tender Friend and her love to God and goodwill to men were conspicuous traits of her character.”
Rebecca Carter was born on August 22, 1778, the sixth among twelve children. Her father, John Carter (1745–1814), was born in Philadelphia, and in 1767, after an apprenticeship with Benjamin Franklin, he moved to Providence, where he married Amy Crawford (1744–1806) in 1769. He soon became a prominent bookseller, town postmaster, and publisher of the Providence Gazette. Rebecca married Amos Throop Jenckes (1778–1809) in 1801. Their fifth child was an infant when he died in Havana, and only two of their children reached adulthood. Rebecca died on June 20, 1837. Alphabet sampler with pictorial elements and floral surround.Courtly figures in pastoral setting lower right and left, State House contained in central rectangular panel with female figure left male figure right behind fence. Alphabet bands above; urn and flowers bottom center with name. needleworkinscription by maker on reverse should be fully transcribed and studiedState House SamplerRebecca Carter SamplerState House SamplerRebecca Carter SamplerState House SamplerRebecca Carter SamplerState House SamplerRebecca Carter SamplerP1.2001.28617881788 2013 1 47 Schoolmistresses played a pivotal role in the new nation by educating the young women who would be responsible for raising the first generations of independent Americans. Ornamental arts such as needlework represented creative collaborations between teacher and student and were also intended to instill moral and civic values in impressionable minds. This example is dominated by the imposing architecture of the State House in Providence, attesting to the ideals of the nation and the development of its infrastructure through the establishment of august bodies of government.
Rebecca Carter was born into an influential Providence family. Her father, John Carter, apprenticed with Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia before becoming editor of the Providence Gazette. At his death, he was honored as a disciple of George Washington and an advocate for the Constitution of the United States, which Rhode Island ratified in 1790. Though he struggled financially through the war years, Carter sent his elder daughter Ann to school in Newport, where she began this sampler. It was completed in 1788 by her sister Rebecca at the renowned Providence school operated by Mary Balch (1762–1831).
Stacy C. Hollander, “Rebecca Carter Sampler,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgRebecca Carter’s sampler provides everything any collector could seek in an eighteenth-century American sampler. Its flawless silk stitchery is exquisitely lustrous, it portrays the historically important 1762 State House in Providence, and it contains the commendable maxim “Honor and renown shall the ingenious crown.” Its six elegant and lively figures have golden blond human hair, and its maker signed it with her name and initials and dated it 1788. The back proves to be equally exceptional. There Rebecca’s adult notations reveal that it was begun by her sister Ann at the long-forgotten school of Abigail Wilkinson in Newport and completed by Rebecca at Miss Mary Balch’s school in Providence—leading to the rediscovery of Mrs. Wilkinson’s career—and that its ideally appropriate frame was provided by Providence cabinetmaker John Carlile, thus making it the only eighteenth-century Rhode Island sampler frame of known provenance.
This sampler also testifies to the superb talents of Mary Balch (1762–1831), an irreproachable schoolmistress whose forty-five years of teaching produced what is probably the largest quantity of recognizable needlework known to survive from an early New England school. The epitaph on her gravestone in North Burial Ground in Providence aptly described her as “The first who established a FEMALE ACADEMY in this Town, which by her industry and amiable qualifications attained a high reputation. She was a sincere and tender Friend and her love to God and goodwill to men were conspicuous traits of her character.”
Rebecca Carter was born on August 22, 1778, the sixth among twelve children. Her father, John Carter (1745–1814), was born in Philadelphia, and in 1767, after an apprenticeship with Benjamin Franklin, he moved to Providence, where he married Amy Crawford (1744–1806) in 1769. He soon became a prominent bookseller, town postmaster, and publisher of the Providence Gazette. Rebecca married Amos Throop Jenckes (1778–1809) in 1801. Their fifth child was an infant when he died in Havana, and only two of their children reached adulthood. Rebecca died on June 20, 1837. Alphabet sampler with pictorial elements and floral surround.Courtly figures in pastoral setting lower right and left, State House contained in central rectangular panel with female figure left male figure right behind fence. Alphabet bands above; urn and flowers bottom center with name. needleworkinscription by maker on reverse should be fully transcribed and studied