Sampler
Maker's Name
Boil, Mariah
Location
Pleasant Hill, Mercer County, Kentucky
Date Made
1844
Maker's Age
12 years old, born on May 6, 1832
Dimensions
13 x 11 ¾ inches
Medium
Silk and cotton embroidery on linen/cotton ground with cross stitches
Provenance
Made by Mariah Boil in 1833-44 at the Shaker community in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. Later purchased from a private collection by M. Finkel & Daughter, who sold it to Drs. John R. Ribic and Carla M. Kingsley. They sold the sampler and their entire Shaker collection at auction at Northeast Auctions, Manchester, New Hampshire on August 2, 2008, lot#707. This sampler was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2008.
Description
A marking sampler that includes thirteen alphabets and numeral rows. Such large numbers are rarely found on samplers. The inscription/signature line reads:
MARIAH BOIL
BORN IN LEXINGTON COUNTY OF FAYETTE
STATE OF KENTUCKY MAY THE 6, 1832
AND CAME TO PLEASANT HILL MAY THE 6 1837
She also included some very important information on her sampler:
BEGUN DECEMBER THE 19, 1843 FINISHED MARCH
THE 16, 1844
"Few samplers were made in Shaker communities. This example is a simple piece of work, finely made and laid out in a clear composition. It illustrates the well-known Shaker mission to produce architecture and decorative arts that were functional but beautiful and that depended on the bare essentials of form for their decorative appeal.” (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Pleasant Hill has no genealogy or other historical record relating to Mariah Boil. However, her initials (the "MB" in line ten) are seen on other Pleasant Hill samplers including the Mary Ann Ewing/Betsy Spaulding sampler included in AKS as well as in the "first" Lost Sampler of Mary Ann Downing completed February 16,1844 (as noted in photographs from Pleasant Hill). The other initials in line ten, (MM, VG, AD, RD, CT & SS) are other girls living in the same quarters at Pleasant Hill. Their names, birth and death dates, birth places, arrival and departure dates at Pleasant Hill are well documented in the records at Pleasant Hill.
The "second" Lost Sampler of Mary Ann Downing completed April 27,1847 (as noted in photographs from Pleasant Hill) has no such girls initials nor do the Paulina Bryant sampler (Grove Farm-Sugar Plantation-Wai'oli Mission House in Kaua'i, Hawaii or the Lost Sampler of Mary Caroline Woods (as noted in photographs from Pleasant Hill).
MARIAH BOIL
BORN IN LEXINGTON COUNTY OF FAYETTE
STATE OF KENTUCKY MAY THE 6, 1832
AND CAME TO PLEASANT HILL MAY THE 6 1837
She also included some very important information on her sampler:
BEGUN DECEMBER THE 19, 1843 FINISHED MARCH
THE 16, 1844
"Few samplers were made in Shaker communities. This example is a simple piece of work, finely made and laid out in a clear composition. It illustrates the well-known Shaker mission to produce architecture and decorative arts that were functional but beautiful and that depended on the bare essentials of form for their decorative appeal.” (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Pleasant Hill has no genealogy or other historical record relating to Mariah Boil. However, her initials (the "MB" in line ten) are seen on other Pleasant Hill samplers including the Mary Ann Ewing/Betsy Spaulding sampler included in AKS as well as in the "first" Lost Sampler of Mary Ann Downing completed February 16,1844 (as noted in photographs from Pleasant Hill). The other initials in line ten, (MM, VG, AD, RD, CT & SS) are other girls living in the same quarters at Pleasant Hill. Their names, birth and death dates, birth places, arrival and departure dates at Pleasant Hill are well documented in the records at Pleasant Hill.
The "second" Lost Sampler of Mary Ann Downing completed April 27,1847 (as noted in photographs from Pleasant Hill) has no such girls initials nor do the Paulina Bryant sampler (Grove Farm-Sugar Plantation-Wai'oli Mission House in Kaua'i, Hawaii or the Lost Sampler of Mary Caroline Woods (as noted in photographs from Pleasant Hill).
Owner/History of Owner/Credit Line
Metropolitan Museum of Art, The American Wing: Purchase, Edward J. Scheider Gift, in memory of Kathleen N. Scheider, and David S. and Elizabeth W. Quackenbush Gift, 2008.
AKS Catalog Number
2019-006
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