HONEY BROOK, CHESTER CO., PENNSYLVANIA PICTORIAL NEEDLEWORK SAMPLER, silk on linen, top center signed "Sarah Stanley Brown / Born July 16 18" bordered by a floral garland and flanked by bird motifs over two four-row verses, center featuring a finely executed brick house with blue fence and two trees having "SEEK / the / LORD" above, one side with "REMEMBER thy CREATOR" and "SepteMBeR. 8. 18", lower third with floral motifs and two butterflies over "James W Brown" and "Sarah Brown", all encompassed by a stylized grapevine border. Housed under UV glass and conservation mounted in a painted frame. Lot includes genealogical research and a copy of M. Finkel & Daughter, "Samplings: XLVII", 2015. Circa 1832. 23 3/4" x 17" sight, 26 1/2" x 19 3/4" OA.
Very good overall condition with some toning along edges, linen with holes and losses along the edges probably from stretcher mounting, light fading and fugitive color on some thread, last two numbers of the dates removed, frame with minor wear. Not examined out of frame.
Published: M. Finkel & Daughter - Samplings: XLVII, p. 18.
Provenance: From the collection of Nick Routson, Phoenix, AZ.M. Finkel & Daughter (retains dealer label).
Catalogue Note: Sarah Stanley Brown was born on July 16, 1820 to parents James Wilson Brown (1782-1857) and Sarah Stanley (b. 1793). She was one of ten children, and the family resided in Honey Brook Township, Chester Co., PA. M. Finkel & Daughter notes her parents come "from prominent and well-to-do Chester County families... Sarah's father was an important attorney in Honeybrook, who inherited his grandmother's plantation in West Caln in 1818."At age 29, Sarah is listed in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census for Honey Brook along with her parents and three siblings. She married William Williams on January 20, 1853 when she was 32 years old, which was considered somewhat late for this time period and possibly the reason for the removal of the date stitches on the sampler. Sarah died on February 28, 1861 and is buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Very good overall condition with some toning along edges, linen with holes and losses along the edges probably from stretcher mounting, light fading and fugitive color on some thread, last two numbers of the dates removed, frame with minor wear. Not examined out of frame.