A Rare Silk Embroidered Needlework Sampler, Margaret Himeback, probably Baltimore, Maryland, dated 1829

Working in silk stitches on a linen ground with characteristic country manor house, a rose garden with fruit trees and birds all within a green picket fence. Signed within a central cartouche Margaret Himeback's work done in the 12th year of her Age 1829; the whole within a deep undulating border.

Some darkening of linen and stain; small losses.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The artistic rendering of gentlemen's country seats was a conceit of the young Republic, but it was especially conspicuous in the city of Baltimore, which experienced an unparalleled surge of growth and prosperity during the early nineteenth century. Today the most famous evidence of this fashion survives on Baltimore's painted furniture, but a local preference for depicting impressive buildings also resulted in Maryland's most interesting group of samplers. Appealing samplers with colorful houses, probably of imaginary form, were being made by Baltimore girls in 1798. In 1804, however, Lydia Miller worked twin town houses that are clearly akin to decorations on John and Hugh Finley's high-style furniture, and at precisely the same time. This was evidently the beginning of a trend that would reach full flower in the 1820s, then "building" samplers became the fashion at a number of Baltimore schools.

For further discussion of building samplers of Baltimore, see Betty Ring; Girlhood Embroidery, American Samplers and Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850, (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1993) pp. 506-513.