Embroidered Sampler 1792 - 1795

Curator: What a charming scene! This is an embroidered sampler created by Mary Waine between 1792 and 1795. It's currently part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection. Editor: It’s quaint. Almost naive in its depiction. I notice the composition is divided into horizontal registers, like a layered landscape. And it appears to be painstakingly crafted. Curator: Indeed, the labor involved would have been considerable. Think about the sourcing of the textiles, the dyeing process, and then the hours spent stitching. It wasn’t merely decorative; it was an act of making and a demonstration of skill, all within a strict set of cultural expectations. Editor: I’m struck by the image of the demure female figure at the bottom of the scene and I wonder, what kind of education did she receive and how was art employed? How were women viewed in that social hierarchy? This needlework provided an avenue of expression but how complicit was it in the broader social structure? Curator: Excellent points! These samplers often functioned as both a practical exercise and a display of accomplishment for young women. We see elements of drawing, weaving, and what we now call fibre art all in one piece, blurring those lines between "art" and "craft". Editor: The little figures have a primitive, folky quality, and they present genre scenes. We have this idyllic rural life represented with a horse, cows and sheep which gives us some insight into society’s values in late 18th-century United States, doesn’t it? Curator: Precisely! It offers us a window into the aspirations and visual culture of the time. This piece straddles the personal and the societal, giving glimpses of individual expression deeply intertwined with a cultural aesthetic. Editor: Absolutely. I'm leaving with a newfound appreciation for these supposedly simple creations and their ability to reflect society in such profound ways. Curator: And to also remind us that these samplers, despite their scale, invite conversations that are much larger than the textile itself.