Silk on Linen Needlepoint Sampler, Betsey (Gould) Killam (1793-1827), Boxford,...

Silk on Linen Needlepoint Sampler,
Betsey (Gould) Killam (1793-1827), Boxford, Massachusetts, 1804.
Large plain-woven linen canvas worked in plied silk threads, composed with cross-stitched hills and trees ornamented with satin- and stem-stitched flowers and birds, below side margins of intricate floral vines arranged around vertical serrated bands, which flank a central reserve framed by checker and chevron borders, inscribed "Sweetly blooms the rose of may / Glit'ring with the tears of morn / So insideous smiles betray / While they hide the treach'rous thorn" above four lines of alphabets and numbers in cross-stitch and broderie anglaise, above another verse reading, "Thrice blest is he who through life thorny road / Can pafs with pleasure and without a sigh / Who views unmov'd this frailty of abode / Who lives in peace and never fears to die / Who craves but little and bu little wants / Whose aims are nobles and his vices few", signed "Betsey Gould. aged Eleven years / Boxford August ye 7 1804" in bottom register, (sight) 21 1/2 x 26 1/2 in., (framed) 24 3/8 x 29 1/2 in.
Provenance
The collection of Eric van Rooy.
Stephen & Carol Huber, Old Saybrook, Connecticut, 7 April 2000.