Antique Needle Work - My Brinton Family Sampler - an 18th Century Sampler

The old sampler hung on my wall for years. My mother said that my grandmother probably bought it an an antique shop in the 1950's. It was simple and sweet, and rather plain. I did not really study it. But, after some time, I realized that it was old and fragile, so put it away to get it out of the light, and out of the potentially destructive reach of my boys.

Last summer, my son's girlfriend decided to take up cross stitching. We looked at patterns together and talked about the old tradition of young ladies creating needlework. How the practice fell by the wayside and how now, there is a new appreciation for that beautiful art.

Suddenly, I remembered the old sampler that I had put away. I rummaged through the press cupboard and fetched the old sampler, taking a good long look at it in the process.

"Hey, this looks really old," I said.

On it was an alphabet, numerals, and a list of names, combined with the surname, Brinton:

Eliza, Hannah, Lydia, Phebe, Joshua, and Maria Brinton.

So, I Googled all the names and the surname as well. BOOM! Up popped a Brinton Family Genealogy created by one Danial Garrison Brinton (born in 1837), put up by the New York Public Library. The genealogy itself was obviously old.

I scrolled down the lists of the descendants of William Brinton who had come to the US in the mid 1600's. And there they were, listed together, the string of names that appeared on my sampler along with their birth dates.

Elizabeth, b. April 28, 1786

Hannah, b. April 9, 1788

Lydia, b March 24, 1790

Phebe, b January 28, 1792

Joshua, b Mrch 24, 1794

Maria, b Arpil 12, 1797

Phebe, b September 2, 1798

Ferree, b October 9, 1800

Susan, b May 20, 1806

Sadly, the listing of 2 Phebe's must indicate that the first Phebe died. But both are listed on the sampler. And, unfortunately, there appears to be a cut off name at the end, perhaps Ferree, but I can't tell. Whatever, it seems apparent that the sampler was created before 1807, perhaps in the late 1700's.

When I saw those names, every hair on my body stood on end. Tears sprang into my eyes. That little girl, s long ago, had created a list of her siblings, and here it was in my hands. This was, indeed, a precious find.

I learned that it was a band sampler. Band samplers feature letters stitched along narrow bands. Part of a girl's eduacation in those days, was sewing, a significant accomplishment as sewing was a neccesary skill.

One the area that featured the alphabet, the letter J is missing, common among young ladies of Germanic descent (either the mother or teacher as William Brinton was British). The sampler was on a piece of linen, stitched with silk thread.

In fall of 2009, I was given free tickets to a Home and Garden Show. Apprearing there was Dr. Lori, a famous antique appraiser who appears on TV. Dr.Lori has a PhD in art history, and puts on a fascinating, entertaining show as she appraises the varous treasures attendees present.

Dr. Lori moved along a table of items, educating the audience  on the value and history of each item, what it had been used for, and how common it was. Each item included a lesson in collectibles, antiques, and the behavior of people in the past, what they saved, what they did not save, and the things that were important to them.

When she got to the Brinton Family Sampler, she gave the information that I had already acquired from a textile expert at a local museum. When the time came to value the piece, she claimed that it was worth $4,000.00. (That's right, four thousand dollars) My jaw dropped.

Now, Dr. Lori was talking to a person who bought all her stuff from flea markets and thrift shops. Everything else in the house came from dead relatives.

It is time to get rid of the antique sampler. It belongs in the hands of someone who understands how to care for it, who really appreciates the historic textile and would give it the home that it deserves. It needs to be properly framed and stored. The sampler is so delicate, I would never attempt to frame it myself.

I also realize that the value of any item is only what someone is willing to pay for it. You may check out values in catalogues, but that does not mean you will sell it for that amount of money.

I looked at online sales. Forget about EBay, they had nothing that approached the historic value of the Brinton Family Sampler.

I decided to approach the Brinton Family themselves, as well as an antique dealer who specializes in antique samplers.

From Dr. Daniel Garrison Brinton's genealogy, I assumed that the Brinton family had lived in south eastern Pennsylvania. Once again, Google to the rescue. There, I found a Brinton Family Association that maintains a historic site south of West Chester, Pennsylvania and includes the William Brinton 1704 House and Historic Site.

The Brinton family seemed only slightly interested in the sampler. Even though my heart said to donated it to them, my pocket book is pretty empty these days, and I would appreciate a little bit of recompense. So, it is on to Philadelphia.

Now, one of Dr. Lori's warnings is - never have a piece appraised by the person who may buy it. Unsavory dealers will appraise an item for a minimum amount of money, then turn it around and make a bundle.

This story has not ended. In a couple of days, I will visit Finkel and Daughter to see what they have to say. Can people who show such a wide selection of antique samplers be wrong? I will return with the rest of the tale as things progress.

Well, here I am, back from Philadelphia and a visit to the Finkel shop. Ms. Finkel was friendly and business like and we conducted a brief meeting. I allowed Ms. Finkel to remove the old sampler from the frame to see if the edges were intact. They were. And the sampler did not disolve into dust. As it was a very simple piece with limited information, I was offered an adequate sum of money which I accepted. After viewing the stuff they had online and on the walls of the shop, my own dear little paltry example of historic, traditional needlework  paled in comparison.

I went out to lunch and bought an egg sandwich. My husband had a hot dog. Just to let you know we didn't have a champagne lunch.