Sampler (USA)

Gertrude M. Oppenheimer; Emily F. Cooley

ca. 1830

silk embroidery on linen foundation

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

A sampler with a verse surrounded by a strawberry vine border and a blue frame, bequeathed by Gertrude M. Oppenheimer. A sampler with a verse surrounded by a strawberry vine border and a blue frame, bequeathed by Gertrude M. Oppenheimer. The field contains a verse, surrounded by an elaborate strawberry vine border which twists around a straight blue frame. The verse reads: Virtue Virtue, the strength and beauty of the soul, Is the best gift of Heaven's happiness That, even above the smiles and frowns of fate, Exalts great nature's favorites a wealth The ne'er encumbers, nor to base hands Can be transferred. It is the only good Man justly boasts of, or can call his own. Bequest of Gertrude M. Oppenheimer