Sarah Jane Burnham,
Ipswich, Massachusetts,
circa 1833

Sampler size:
16" x 16½"

Sale Price:
$825
Original Price:
$1150

Enlarged and Printer Version

At the age of ten, Sarah Jane Burham stitched her sampler with alphabets, numbers, verse, and inscription. Although muted in color, every stitch remains; and after the alphabets and numbers, the verse reads: "Jesus Christ my lord and saviour / Once became a child like me / O that in my whole behaviour / He my Pattern still might be." A second verse, divided by the basket of flowers encompassing the inscription, reads: "Should sorrow o'er the brow Its darkened shadows fling / Turn thou away from earth Theres rest for thee in Heaven." The first verse is the first stanza is from a children's hymn entitled "The Example of Christ," and the second is the first couplet and the last couplet of the first stanza of an American Melody entitled "Should Sorrow O'er thy Brow" by J.H. Bright.

The same blue checkered band that divides each line of lettering forms the basket around the inscription, as well, and fine flowers and leafy sprigs sprout from the top of the basket. The inscription reads: Sarah Jane Burnham aged 10. Sarah Jane was born March 29, 1823 to Deacon Francis and Mina (Andrews) Burnham. Francis was a sixth generation Burnham in Ipswich, Massachusetts. In 1856 Sarah married Francis Cogswell of Ipswich as his second wife, and they had no children. She died in 1864, followed three and a half years later by her husband.

The sampler is accompanied by a letter written in 1930 by a descendant of Charles Berry, Francis Cogswell's son from his first marriage to Lois Bowditch. A handsome Greek key border frames the sampler, as well as a line of drawn-work beyond that on all four sides.

Worked in silk on linen, Miss Burnham's sampler remains in excellent condition; and it has been conservation mounted in a molded and painted frame.

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