Documentation Day in Brentwood

Monday was a very productive day. Janet and I documented two samplers in the morning from a private collection, then planned our itineraries for more documentations trips, make a quick stop at OfficeMax (where we are well known to all the staff), documented a Williamson County sampler in the afternoon, and then I attended a seminar presented by the Tennessee Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (a very worthwhile organization) on copyright law.

We are up to 215 samplers now.

Our afternoon was somewhat marred by problems with the lighting kit. As I was preparing to shoot the gray card/first overall capture, one of the the light bulbs burst, rather spectacularly. Fortunately, I had set up on hardwood, not carpet, so a broom and dustpan cleared away the shattered glass. We decided to let the equipment cool down and then pack it up. The owner has expressed an interest in having the sampler conserved, and I will be able to get better photos when it is removed from the frame. The light kit has been performing admirably up until now, and considering the number of times I have set up and broken down those tripods...I guess we can't complain too much.

I did get some images by using the ambient light and a long exposure, though the sampler is much more vibrant and impressive in person. Here's the latest from Williamson County:



1851 Francis E. Hulme
Williamson Co.
Private Collection
© TSS 214

We are very excited about this sampler. It shows a clear relationship to the 1854 Margaret Elizabeth Kirkpatrick (TSS 010) and the 1855 Sarah Ann Brown (TSS 002). The maker, Francis Elizabeth? Hulme, was 23 when she worked it, which is ten years older than most of our stitchers. In fact, she is the oldest stitcher we have found. The Hulme family lived in District 6 of Williamson Co. Francis finished the sampler in January 1851 and married in December 1851. Sadly, she died in 1854, probably from complications of childbirth.