NEEDLEWORK-SAMPLER PICTURE
OF A CAT BY A 10-YEAR OLD GIRL, 1854:
This beautiful and unusual needlework picture of a speckled brown cat lying on a blue mat, with a scarlet and blue border all-around and gold prairie point border above, is executed in wool thread on coarse linen.  Under the cat is the following text:  "AGED 10 YEARS, 1854".

The 1850's marks a transitional time for samplers.  Less vibrant silk floss was exchanged for colorful, woolen thread.  Larger images often appear, primarily flowers of various sorts which were popular as the Victorian age emerged.  But needlepoint portraits of animals were not commonplace.  They are occasionally seen on decorative covers made for footstools, but not in sampler format with a date and age of the girl who wrought the work.  The strong color and unusual subject, accompanied by an outstanding, wide, paint-decorated frame of the same period, make this a great early textile and an exceptional example of 19th century American folk art.