Sampler made at the Westtown Quaker School

Sampler made at the Westtown Quaker School

Sarah Thomas

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This sampler is one of two (see 2005.19) made by Sarah Thomas (1786-1826) in the Museum’s collection. Sarah completed both during the time she attended the Westtown Quaker Boarding School in Chester County Pennsylvania from December 1800 to December 1801. Both samplers are accomplished examples of a distinctive type of embroidery made only at Quaker schools. The Quaker emphasis on simple, yet careful and precise sewing, enabled students from such schools to become some of the best needleworkers in the nineteenth century who often went on to teach embroidery to other young women. The samplers by Sarah Thomas are related to another Westtown sampler in the Museum’s collection, 2005.463.2 made by Rebecca March in 1802. This sampler includes floral spot motifs and the initials of her classmates at Westtown. It is the type of work that Sarah would have completed after mastering a more basic sampler (see 2005.19) but before moving on to even more demanding embroidery projects.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sampler made at the Westtown Quaker SchoolSampler made at the Westtown Quaker SchoolSampler made at the Westtown Quaker SchoolSampler made at the Westtown Quaker SchoolSampler made at the Westtown Quaker School

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.