Mehetable was born in Bethel Hill, Maine on April 13, 1819. She was the last of five children born to Robbins Brown and Hannah Lovejoy. She married Eli Grover and between them they had 4 children. Mehitable died on March 9, 1900 at age 81.

A close look at her sampler gives every indication that it was worked when she was a very young girl. The alphabets, which were most likely copied from a sample book, appear to be fairly well presented and true to form in spacing as well as execution. The house, birdhouse and trees are very nicely done, lending a charmingly naive element to the pictorial aspect of the sampler. The verse, however, appears to be done by someone of an age who had not yet learned to read or write . . . i.e.: a very young child.

Verse:
May my young genius as I [w]rite
Seek the fair fount where knowledge lies
On wings sublime trace heavens abode
And learn my duty to my God.

Mehetable's sampler contains many elements of that body of work produced in the Portsmouth, NH area between 1810 and 1840.  The striking similarities are too convincing to ignore and of a type and subject matter not found on other samplers of that time . . . in Maine or anywhere else!  The stylistic format of Mehetable's sampler with its distinctive birdhouse and pyramid shaped trees is worked in the characteristic Portsmouth tradition which also gave prominence to a federal-style house, often in perspective. The birdhouse is on a tall pole high above the roofline of the house or sometimes a barn. These elements are unique to Portsmouth samplers in that combination. On Mehitable's sampler the Birdhouse is next to the house as she forgot to allow space for it on the far right when copying in her verse. See Girlhood Embroidery, Vol. I, by Betty Ring, p.238-243. Also the inclusion of the month, day and year in the date is just one more link to Portsmouth.

It is very possible that even if Mehetabel had never attended a Portsmouth school, an older family member may have and she used their sampler as a guide - or she may have been taught needlework by an instructress who had attended school in Portsmouth and thus taught in the Portsmouth style. Mehetables' sampler is charmingly unsophisticated - almost naive` when compared to most other samplers we have seen. It is worked in silk on linen with alphabets, verse, house and birdhouse and trees and it is in excellent condition.
Sight size: 15 3/4" x 11 3/4"
Price:  $2450.00
F5G205901

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