I Had a Father Kind and True, Alice Clark 1844

Fabric: 46 count Old Sheep by XJude Designs Floss: Au Ver a Soie 100/3 silks in 18 colors Stitch Count: 491 wide x 486 high Model Finished Size: 21.34 x 21.13 inches Original: 21.5 wide x 21. 5 inches high on 48 count linen over two threads, silks on linen Stitches: cross stitch over two threads throughout This amazingly beautiful sampler was purchased from an auction dealer in Yorkshire, England. Since only the name and year are provided, it is unfortunately difficult to find out anything about the original stitcher. The beautiful red and green tones and many motifs of florals and fruitful trees symmetrically surround Adam and Eve, a snake and the Tree of Life. The stitcher tells us she was fourteen when she stitched her sampler and charmingly misspelled several words. The religious verse reads: “I had a father kind and true, Whose face no more I see, Ye who have father kind to you, a moment think on me. Why should we morn departed friends, or shake at deaths alarm, tis but the voice that Jesus sendes to call us to his arms. And set the Lord still in my sight, And trust him over all, for he doth stand at my righ hand, Therefore I shall not fall. Alice Clark work aged 14, In the Year of Our Lord, 1844.”