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Monday, March 29, 2010

Sisters' Samplers: Sally Durham and Jerusha Durham

Jerusha Candace Durham

The Durham sisters, Sarah (Sally) Johnson Durham (1817-1849) and Jerusha Candace Durham (1825-1880), worked two very different samplers. Sally's sampler, dated 1832, is a simple marking sampler, with the two alphabets, her name, and the date worked in cross stitch. Two rows of pulled thread work run across the top of the sampler.

1832 Sarah (Sally) Johnson Durham
Warren Co.
silk on linen
5 1/3"V x 7"H ©TSS 208

Jerusha's sampler is an elaborate affair, boasting complicated stitches such as buttonhole wheels. Jerusha included 24 sets of initials, many of them representing her two half-siblings and ten brothers and sisters.

1842 Jerusha Candace Durham
Smith Co. or DeKalb Co.
silk on 26 ct. linen
16 1⁄2"V x 17 1⁄4"H ©TSS 098

3 comments:

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

WoW, Jennifer! I love Jerusha's sampler - that border is fantastic! Her name is pretty unusual, too. Gotta love those unusual names. My mom's name is Thada (with a long a) Sue which I think is also pretty and unusual. She was named for some actress of that era and until she was an adult, hated her name. I wonder if Jerusha liked her name?

the striped rose said...

I fall in love with samplers easily, but this is truly stunning! Is it (to be) charted? What a lovely motiff in the center.

Jennifer said...

I am tempted to chart this one (Jerusha's). I love all the buttonhole wheels.