RARE 1820 Antique NEW YORK FEMALE QUAKER SCHOOL Needlework FOLK ART SAMPLER

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RARE 1820 Antique NEW YORK FEMALE QUAKER SCHOOL Needlework FOLK ART SAMPLER:
$5995.00

Shipping | POLICIES AND INFORMATIONRARE! 1820 Antique NEW YORK FEMALE QUAKER SCHOOL Needlework FOLK ART SAMPLER
Fresh from the estate of a very advanced collector. One of two exceptional samplers I am listing tonight.

The Quakers were the first group to believe that female education should equal that of males, and that children of all classes and races should be educated. To this end, in the early years of the nineteenth century, they formed the first schools for non-elite girls in New York City—the Female Association Schools. These schools became the seed from which New York City’s public school system grew.

This example is an extremely rare sampler made in 1820 by a fifteen-year-old girl named Martha Dunlavey who attended the second Female Association School.

*** For Deborah Cauldwell / Worked by Martha Dunlavey, Aged 15 / Female Association school No 2, 1820 / New York

This exact sampler was previously in the Theodore H. Kapnek Collection, and is pictured on page 55 in the book "A Gallery of American Samplers, The Theodore K. Kapnek Collection." (A hardback edition of the book is included with this sale.) This sampler is referred to as figure "77" in the collection.

This description is from the book:

"Martha Dunlavey, New York, New York, 1820... Stitch: Cross. Colors: red, pink, lavender, yellow, yellow-green, black, viridium, chrome green. Silk on fine gauze, 7 3/4" high x 7 7/8" wide."

Further described in the "notes" section at the rear of the book:

"The Female Association School No. 2 was located on Henry Street in New York..."

Verse reads:

PRAYER / Oh! While I breathe this vital air, May I for endless life prepare / Til at the close when going hence, My soul may drink of joy immense

For a very similar 1815 example from the same school, see Sotheby's January 2012 sale: Important American Schoolgirl Embroideries: The Landmark Collection of Betty Ring. (The 1815 example brought $17,500.)

For a another very similar example, see the 1820 New York African Free School Sampler by Rosena Disery, (now in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.)

Wonderfully wrought, with two wreaths, one enclosing "PEACE" and the other "AMITY", and various flowers and plants, including two vases with lavender flowers.

An exceptional work, certainly worthy of further research.

Condition: Exceptional. Fabric is sound, with no holes, thinning, loss of ground, or repairs. No color run. Archivally mounted to linen with tiny edge stitches, as shown.

Provenance: from the collection of Theodore H. Kapnek. Later to collector Marsha Carson, to present owner.

Guaranteed to be antique circa-1820, and not a reproduction.

This sampler is part of the important group of samplers described in Betty Ring's book (Vol ll,page 318) as The New York Female Association School group. In his book on the New York Free School Society, author William Bourne traces the Society "to a number of Quaker women....members of the Society of Friends who were engaged in charity and education for the poor" children of New York City. Betty Ring notes that "the first school(school #1) under the direction of the Female Association opened for boys and girls...but the enrollment later was limited to girls". The second school "commenced classses in the Henry St. schoolhouse on Feb.18,1812". William Bourne also adds that "The (Female) Association having for some time occupied in school #2...the Henry St. building". He goes on to say on page 683 that "the building was 2 stories high with a basement; with the Female Association (School #2) occupying the first floor". The Female Association Schools were acknowledged to be a model for the African Free Schools, and it is generally accepted that their samplers served as models for some of the African Free School samplers as well. Shipping & HandlingBack to Top

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$49.95 USPS Priority Mail®

International Shipping

$200.00 USPS Priority Mail International (Worldwide)POLICIES AND INFORMATIONCOMBINED SHIPPINGBack to Top

SAVE ON SHIPPING! I am happy to ship multiple items together for discounted shipping. To take advantage of shipping discounts, items must be paid WITH ONE PAYMENT TRANSACTION. If you are purchasing multiple items, and 's invoice does not automatically calculate the correct discounted shipping charge, then PLEASE request a combined shipping invoice with all your purchases listed BEFORE making payment. BOOKS & LARGE ITEMSBack to TopSome unusually large or heavy items require their own shipping box, and do not qualify for combined shipping. Also, in most cases, books will be shipped via Media Mail, and cannot be shipped with glass or pottery items.FAST SHIPPINGBack to TopAs you can see by my response, I am known for extremely fast packaging and shipping. Normally, paid items are shipped the next business day. I understand that buyers are sometimes anxious for receipt of their purchases, but during unusually busy periods, please allow up to two business days for shipping. ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONBack to TopAll items are from a smoke-free home. I take extra care in packing, and you will never find inked newspaper touching your new treasures.International Buyers Please Note:Back to TopPlease do not ask me to falsify customs documents.

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