Sampler (Fancy sampler)

  • Category:

    Textiles (Needlework)

  • Creator (Role):

    Phebe Bratton (Maker)

    Rachel Bratten Armstrong (School mistress)

  • Place of Origin:

    Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

  • Date:

    1805

  • Materials:

    Silk; Linen; Paint

  • Techniques:

    Embroidered, Woven (plain), Painted

  • Museum Object Number:

    1970.0098


  • Complete Details



Object Number

1970.0098

Object Name

Sampler (Fancy sampler)

Category

Textiles (Needlework)

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Miss Elizabeth Hudson in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

Phebe Bratton (Maker)
March 13, 1783
Phebe Bratton (or Bratten) was born on March 13, 1783 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania while attending her aunt, Rachel Armstrong's School. Rachel ran the school with her husband, William from as early as 1801. Phebe was twenty-two years old when she worked this sampler and was probably living with the Armstrongs. She was the daughter of James Bratton (or Bratten) and Rachel Armstrong's sister Isabella, who later married Alexander Stalford, and died before 1804.

Rachel Bratten Armstrong (School mistress)
1764
Leah and her sister Rachel Bratten were born near Wilmington, Delaware in 1764, but by 1778, if not earlier, the Bratten family was living in Derry Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Leah and Rachel were the youngest of George and Sarah Bratten's (d. 1797) six daughters. They also had a brother named George. They must have had advanced instruction in ornamental needlework, possibly in Philadelphia, or perhaps in Lancaster. Leah and Rachel married at the ages of twenty-seven and twenty-nine. Leah married twice, first to Francis Galligher on November 10, 1791, and second to Isaac Meguier (Maguire) at a later date. As Mrs. Galligher, Leah opened Leah Galligher's School in Lancaster in 1797. In 1802, Leah and Francis Galligher dissolved their marriage. Clearly there were problems with their marriage, as Leah filed for divorce soon after this sampler was made. The reason cited for her divorce was her husband's impotency, which made the couple a focus of both gossip and slander. Shortly thereafter, Leah moved to Harrisburg to open another school. Her sister, Rachel, who had married William Armstrong, stayed behind in Lancaster to teach. Leah was in Harrisburg for many years before she married a man named Isaac Meguier, a boot and shoemaker, on June 15, 1805. In 1806, Leah Meguier's School was named on Rachel Geiger's sampler. The most elaborate samplers to name Leah's school were worked between 1806 and 1812. In the fall of 1815 Leah and Isaac moved to the country; possibly back to Lancaster or even Dauphin, Pennsylvania. The last recorded sampler naming Leah's school was in 1826. Leah died on February 1, 1830. Not much is known about what happened to Rachel and her husband, William, and only a handful of samplers from her school exist. (Ring, Betty. Girlhood Embroidery, Vol. II, pp. 410-417)(Also, see inscription on Sarah Holsworth's sampler 1957.0671 A)

Place of Origin

Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Date

1805

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Inscription; on sampler; "Phebe Bratton 1805" (embroidered thread)

Materials

Silk; Linen; Paint

Techniques

Embroidered, Woven (plain), Painted

Construction Description

Hand-embroidered, hand-painted

Dimensions (inches)

18.25 (L) , 18.5 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

46.355 (L) , 46.99 (W)

Measurement Notes

Dimensions refer to area of needlework visible within frame.

Object Description

Web - 08/25/2014

This is a silk on linen fancy sampler worked in 1805 by Phebe Bratton (or Bratten) of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Leah Bratten Galligher's twin sister, Raphel Bratten Armstrong, was also a needlework teacher in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She and her husband, William, may have taught in the Galligher School. By 1805, however, they were operating their school, after Leah and Francis Galligher had left town. This sampler was worked by Leah and Rachel's niece Phebe when she was twenty-two years old. Since that is a fairly late age to be working a sampler, Phebe might have been teaching her aunt or perhaps honing her skills to open a school of her own. Phebe Bratton's sampler remained in the family until it was donated to Winterthur by her great-granddaugther. Note the similarity to the oval designs from Ann Marsh's School.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1977 Plain & Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework, 1700-1850.
Published: p. 53, fig. 21
[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1995 Plain and Fancy: American Women and their Needlework, 1650-1850.
Published: p. 188,189, fig. 106
[Book] Ring, Betty. 1993 Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850. II.
Published: p. 421, fig. 468