Fine Embroidered Needlework SamplerSusan H. EnglandChester County, PennsylvaniaDated 1821 Worked in silk threads on a linen ground, containing three stanzas of poetic verse above the embroiderer's name as well as her listed family members; the whole with large birds and foliate designs.34 by 24 in.ProvenanceJames L. Price Antiques, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.Catalogue noteAs that each bird is distinctly identifiable by their different colors, Bill du Pont believed that this needlework may perhaps be thought of as the earliest "bird book." Susan H. England was daughter of David and Orpah (Buffington) England; she is related to John Townsend and Joanna England of Nottingham, Chester County, Pennsylvania, for whom the profusely inlaid 1741 chest in the collection at Winterthur Museum was made.1 Joanna England was the daughter of English Quaker immigrant Joseph England; his presumed relative (likely a brother) William England of Willistown married Sarah Pennock; their son William England Jr. married Susanna Hall in 1771.2 William Jr. was a blacksmith and his shop was in or near Marshallton. Susanna died about a month after the birth of their son David, born June 22, 1778. William died in 1813; four sons are named in his will, including David to whom he bequeathed £400. David married Orpah Buffington and they had a daughter, Susanna/Susan, who was named after his deceased mother and was the maker of the silkwork picture. Although her named is spelled Susan on the needlework, in 1809 the will of Elizabeth Buffington (either her grandmother or an unmarried maternal aunt) gives her name as Susanna. Thank you to Lisa Minardi for providing this information. 1 Wendy A. Cooper and Lisa Minardi, Paint, Patter & People: Furniture of Southeastern Pennsylvania 1725-1850, Winterthur, DE: The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Inc., 2011), p. 17, fig. 1.20. 2 J. Smith Futhey and Gilbert Cope, Pennsylvania with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches, (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1881), p. 538.
Fine Embroidered Needlework SamplerSusan H. EnglandChester County, PennsylvaniaDated 1821 Worked in silk threads on a linen ground, containing three stanzas of poetic verse above the embroiderer's name as well as her listed family members; the whole with large birds and foliate designs.34 by 24 in.ProvenanceJames L. Price Antiques, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.Catalogue noteAs that each bird is distinctly identifiable by their different colors, Bill du Pont believed that this needlework may perhaps be thought of as the earliest "bird book." Susan H. England was daughter of David and Orpah (Buffington) England; she is related to John Townsend and Joanna England of Nottingham, Chester County, Pennsylvania, for whom the profusely inlaid 1741 chest in the collection at Winterthur Museum was made.1 Joanna England was the daughter of English Quaker immigrant Joseph England; his presumed relative (likely a brother) William England of Willistown married Sarah Pennock; their son William England Jr. married Susanna Hall in 1771.2 William Jr. was a blacksmith and his shop was in or near Marshallton. Susanna died about a month after the birth of their son David, born June 22, 1778. William died in 1813; four sons are named in his will, including David to whom he bequeathed £400. David married Orpah Buffington and they had a daughter, Susanna/Susan, who was named after his deceased mother and was the maker of the silkwork picture. Although her named is spelled Susan on the needlework, in 1809 the will of Elizabeth Buffington (either her grandmother or an unmarried maternal aunt) gives her name as Susanna. Thank you to Lisa Minardi for providing this information. 1 Wendy A. Cooper and Lisa Minardi, Paint, Patter & People: Furniture of Southeastern Pennsylvania 1725-1850, Winterthur, DE: The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Inc., 2011), p. 17, fig. 1.20. 2 J. Smith Futhey and Gilbert Cope, Pennsylvania with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches, (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1881), p. 538.
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