Artist/Maker
Ruth Titus
(1801-1850)
Verse sampler
1820
Place madeNew York, United States, North America
Silk on linen
Overall: 16 1/8 x 17 1/4 in. ( 41 x 43.8 cm )
Gift of Stephen Taber Willets
1941.910
Schoolgirl needlework helped indoctrinate girls into the cult of domesticity, and sampler verses selected by teachers often reinforced feminine roles. The verse selected for Ruth Titus's embroidery, "Woman," instructed Ruth Titus that her future role as a wife was "to give domestic life its sweetest charm."
Ruth Titus (Mrs. Isaac E. Haviland, b. 1801) came from a Quaker family, and the motifs surrounding her verse, such as the potted flowers, fruit baskets, and acorns, are associated with Quaker samplers. This sampler is similar to examples made at New York City Female Association Schools betwen 1815 and 1826.
DescriptionNearly square silk-embroidered linen sampler with various colors of silk floss; verse in upper two-thirds, inscription in bottom third, floral designs, floral border on all sides; cross and satin stitches; inscribed "Ruth Titus 1820".MarkingsSignature and date (embroidered): bottom center, black floss: "Ruth Titus / 1820"
ClassificationsTEXTILES
