Sampler (Band or marking sampler)

Description

This is a linen band or marking sampler worked with silk threads. It was worked by Sarah Stone of Salem, Massachusetts in 1678. This rare example is one fewer than ten known 17th-century American samplers. Three of these examples were worked in the Massachusetts Colony and are now at Winterthur. Loara Standish made the earliest known American sampler about 1640. The top band on Sarah's sampler uses the same design as the top band on Loara's, and the band of grapes is identical to those found on Ruth Hawke's sampler. The second band from the top is the same as the band found on Sarah Collin's early sampler, also at Winterthur. The style and shape follows the design patterns typically used on English samplers by 1630. Though slightly faded, Sarah's sampler is in remarkable condition. The inscription reads: "That God is Mine / Assuredly I know / BECause MY BLess / ed Iesus MADe him / so Sarah Stone / 1678"