Section 5: Slides of Paintings
To learn more about the appearance of children and their role in the family, we will examine slides of children and family portraits and visit the Yale Art Gallery and the British Art Center.
Then, as now, children in portraits reflected the ideals and beliefs of their parents. Puritan religious beliefs of the early New England colonial period governed the structure and conduct of family and community life. For example, the 1641 map show the meeting house as the center of this life; in the beginning of New Haven’s history, only those allowed to belong to the church were involved in the political process (Atwater 2). The Puritan view that all men were innately sinful is reflected in portraits of that time; children are painted as miniature adults, with stiff posture, serious expression, and often holding emblems of adult status. The wealth then displayed by children’s clothing was justified by religious beliefs: material possessions were the result of hard work and were an expression of the grace of God (Brent 1,2).
By the time of the American revolution, ideas about children had been influenced by the English philosopher John Locke, 1632-1704, who wrote, “Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas” (Russell 610). Although a clear refutation of Puritan beliefs, Locke’s theory of the
tabula rasa
, the blank slate to be educated, was not as radically opposed to the Puritans’ as that of Jean Jacques Rousseau who wrote “Man is naturally good, and only by institutions is he made bad” (Russell 688) Recognition of childhood as a separate stage is reflected in portraiture by children’s clothing, posture, and the objects they hold (Brent 4).
These portraits may be compared with present-day photos of children and families.
See resource materials packet for slides, which are in general arranged horizontally by century, and vertically to show the progression of the changing image of childhood.
See resource packet for art project (#2): self-portraits.
Section 6: Creation of a Sampler
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines a sampler as being a model, a pattern, something to be imitated, an archetype. When we think of samplers, we not only envision a pattern for stitches, but that very image of a sampler stands as a symbolic archetype of domesticity, recalling for us an age when clothes were constructed by hand, and handicrafts were a part of everyday life.
The sampler was both a process, a method of education particularly but not exclusively for young girls, and evidence of that education, a finished work (Bolton 116). It transmitted values and essential sewing skills from one generation to the next. And regardless of its changing function within the household, it was a tangible object that remained an expression of the maker.
By making a sampler, then, students are themselves following a model; they engage in a typical activity and create a typical object from earlier times. They become familiar with the main elements of samplers: ground, thread, stitches, and design. Like the children of the pre-industrial period, they create a textile that can be displayed on a wall.
A brief history of samplers.
Samplers must have been common in Elizabethan England, for Shakespeare referred to samplers in
A Midsummers Night Dream
. In Act III, Scene ii Helena says:
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We, Hermia, like two artificial Gods
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Have with our needles created both one flower
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Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion.
For Helena the reference was to the sisterhood of close friends, and evokes the harmonious image of women working on samplers together. The reference also underlines the strong initial English influence on early New England samplers. In seventeenth century England needlework decorated handkerchiefs, tablecloths, sheets, towels, napkins, etc. There were no early books of patterns, and samplers served literally as examples. The narrow, (commonly seven inches), long, (up to three feet), English samplers featured designs on the upper half, and drawn or cut work on the lower, with an occasional alphabet. English samplers were widely imitated in New England for the first hundred years.
The first extant and most famous New England sampler was stitched c. 1650 by Loara Standish, eldest daughter of Miles and Barbara Standish of Plymouth Colony. It is now in Plymouth Hall, Pilgrim Society, Plymouth Massachusetts, and a photo is included in
American Samplers
by Bolton and Coe. It has the long English shape, 27 1/2” long by 71 1/4” wide, with English designs. It is distinguished by having the first-known stitched aphorism. There are not many other surviving examples of American samplers from the seventeenth century.
American samplers of the first half of the eighteenth century developed distinct national tendencies: 1) they became more square; 2) borders became more prominent; 3) content became more pictorial; 4) the number of verses increased; 5) the visual focus was on the lower half; and 6) a variety of materials were used, including sequins, beads, and metallic threads (Krueger 19). Adam and Eve developed as a popular motif.
Along with cooking and household management, sewing skills were an essential part of a girl’s education. Very young children were being taught to sew either at home or in Dame Schools. The composition of their samplers was limited to alphabets, verses and numerals, with a name and date in cross stitch.
Samplers in the second half of the century became more free, and took their models from nature—trees, deer, dogs, and flowers. They were produced as part of the formal schooling for older girls. New Haven samplers of this time were distinguished by black-worked borders, and some of them exhibit careful attention to the architectural detail of houses and public buildings. One example of this was stitched by Lydia Church, age 13, in 1791 at Mrs. Mansfield’s School in New Haven. Worked in silk and metal on linen it is now at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford.
Samplers that are also genealogies became common after 1800. As well as being decorative, they were a record of family births, marriages and deaths. The average age of sampler-makers in the nineteenth century was eleven.
After 1830 there was a noticeable decline in workmanship and number of samplers. As other subjects, such as botany, history, arithmetic, geography and music were offered, training in ornamental arts decreased (Brant 99).
In the nineteenth century, silk thread, either floss or twist, was used most frequently, and linen was the most common ground. The majority of stitches were either cross stitch, tent stitch, satin stitch and stem.
Samplers have served different functions in different periods: as reference, as education and for display. They were a model for designs and stitches for the decoration of household linen executed by adults, an educational exercise for young children that enlarged and reinforced the sewing skills necessary to construct clothing, an exercise to reinforce limited book learning, a family record, a symbol of a young woman’s education and her family’s wealth, and an artistic expression.
Vocabulary words: aphorism, border, genealogy, horizontal, sampler, stitch, vertical.
As a class we will examine a slide of a sampler
made by Emily Clark, who was born in New Haven.
Background for a Formal Analysis
Physical Characteristics: 17 1/2” high, 18 and 1/8” wide; silk on linen ground; the stitch is predominantly counted cross stitch, but she also uses bullion, eyelet and outline stitches. She may or may not have used a hoop.
Words within the garland: “Emily Clark’s sampler wrought in the 12th year of her age under the tuition of M.C. Spencer”. On either side of the garland are verses from the Bible. Underneath the garland is a brief meditation.
The buildings on the bottom of the sampler represent Yale College (old brick row).
Field trip to the New Haven Colony Historical Society.
When first completed, samplers in museums would have had color, brightness, and a visible texture of the ground and various stitches. Although now faded and too fragile to handle, antique samplers at the New Haven Colony Historical Society retain texture and some clarity; they demonstrate a variety of stitches and levels of artistic accomplishment. Each sampler that is available for viewing is a visually powerful and unique work.
Creation of a sampler
After visiting the Historical Society to see samplers, students will design and execute a sampler that relates to their own life, depicting objects they feel are important. Creation of a sampler will be preceded by a lesson to learn three stitches and to draw an outline of the design. Students may practice stitches by using paper with evenly-spaced dots as a guide, or cardboard with holes punched out, and tapestry needles and yarn. See resource packet for a sample practice sheet, and an illustration of some basic stitches.
Samplers will be worked on burlap with colored yarn and tapestry needles.