Next Sampler Study Day 11/2/13

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Sidney Pietrak or Barbara Ward, (603) 430-7968

Sampler Study Day, Saturday November 2, 2013

Sponsored by the Moffatt-Ladd House & Garden and Museum Textile Services

The Moffatt-Ladd House and Garden and Museum Textile Services of Andover, Mass. will host a Sampler Study Day at the Moffatt-Ladd Warehouse on Saturday, November 2,  2013 from 10AM – 1:00PM.  This event is for individuals who own antique needlework samplers and pictorial embroideries and would like to learn more about the condition, significance, and proper care of these textiles. Members of the public are invited to bring their samplers to the Moffatt-Ladd and Garden Warehouse on Sampler Study Day for a professional evaluation. The fee to participate in this program is $15 for the first sampler, and $10 for each additional sampler. 

Camille Myers Breeze is a textile conservator with over 20 years of experience in the field. She is the founder and director of Museum Textile Services, a full-service textile preservation studio providing conservation, collections management and outreach for collectors and institutions. Breeze will evaluate the condition of each sampler brought to the event and provide participants with a one-page conservation worksheet. She will also discuss potential conservation issues and make recommendations for the appropriate mounting and framing of these heirlooms.

Moffatt-Ladd House director/curator, Barbara Ward, Portsmouth Historical Society Curator Sandra Rux, and Moffatt-Ladd House Museum Properties Chairman Sherry Cullimore will share information related to the age, decorative motifs, and overall style of each sampler. They will also provide resources for researching the history of a sampler's maker. To ensure the long-term preservation of these textiles.  Additionally, Museum Textile Services staff will be available to advise participants on the proper care of samplers, including optimal storage and environmental conditions.  Moffatt-Ladd House staff and NSCDA-NH volunteers will help participants complete a short survey to include their samplers in a searchable online database administered by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (www.nscda.org). The goal of the NSCDA Sampler Survey is to inventory all extant samplers and pictorial embroideries in museums and private collections to promote the preservation and study of this important art form.

Samplers and pictorial embroideries were a popular form of needlework in America between the 17th and 19th centuries, and were often produced by schoolgirls and young women as a demonstration of their skill in this domestic art. Today, these textiles provide valuable information about the social and cultural history of women during this period. Samplers may feature the alphabet; religious or moral quotations; decorative figures, motifs and borders; and sometimes the name of the maker and the date of creation.

To attend Sampler Study Day please register by contacting Barbara Ward or Sidney Pietrak at the Moffatt-Ladd House and Garden at (603) 430-7968 or by writing to us at programs@moffattladd.org before October 30, 2013.  Drop-ins are welcome and will be accommodated as time permits.  The Moffatt-Ladd Warehouse is located on the grounds of the Moffatt-Ladd House and Garden at 154 Market Street, in Portsmouth, NH.  For directions, call or see our website at www.moffattladd.org.