Maria Spence-1813

Maria attended Ackworth school from 1812 to 1816 as did numerous of her relatives. She was born in Birstwith. There are two dates on the sampler MS to AS 1815 and MS to RS 1816. It was common for Quaker girls to stitch for friends and family members and I beleive Maria worked her sampler for family members.
Her sampler is a quintessential Quaker sampler in it’s use of the full and half medallions and the sprigs of flowers. There were a number of samplers worked at Ackworth which are similar to this one which also include the eyelet alphabet letters scattered throughout the sampler. See page 95 in Carol Humphrey's Quaker School Girl Samplers from Ackworth.

Stitches used are cross-stitch,cross over one and eyelet.

Size: Worked on 40 count (16thr/cm) linen it measures 15.75