The sampler has various motifs of people, urns, birds, dogs, cats, goat, rooster, peacock, and crown. In the right upper corner are six rows of borders and just below these are the letters “MK”. This sampler was worked from four sides. (Working from four sides means that there is no orientation to the sampler. There is no top or bottom and the sampler is worked from all angles so it is truly a “sampler”; the worker tested out different designs and turned the linen around to whatever angle made the stitching easiest.)
In the upper left corner are the letters “M K L C”, as well as the letters “K C”, and “M”. Review of Margaret (Nicholls) Hines’ ancestry fails to identify any with the above initials. Please see the sampler inverse verso and the verso in the ancillary images. AKS is indebted to a Warren County, Kentucky scholar for significant portions of the above information and suggested Provenance.

"This early 19th-century example is reminiscent of Dutch samplers: the peacock with individual tail feathers; block of repeat bands at top right; row of motifs at the bottom edge; and what appears to a tasseled sewing cushion at bottom center. Many of these same motifs also are found on Scottish samplers (the Dutch and the Scots had a long trading and diplomatic history apart from their respective relations with England). This sampler may be British or European or it may have been worked in America by someone familiar with this design tradition." (Communication with Kathy Staples, June 24, 2021)