Schoolgirl needlework sampler by Caroline Very Blackiston of Indiana, dated 1850, executed in silk cross stitch and eyelet stitch on linen. Strawberry border with pictorial items at each corner including a book and lyre or harp, enclosing four alphabets and one row of numbers, over a signature, "Caroline M. Very 18 years in the Year of our Lord 1850 / 28th of January" and a final script row of numbers. Unframed. 17 3/4" x 17". Note: Caroline Very was born Jan. 23, 1832 to Lawson Very and Eliza Garretson of New Albany, Indiana, located just across the Ohio river from Louisville, Kentucky. She appears in the 1850 census as living in New Albany with her father (a farmer), mother, and seven younger siblings. Caroline married George Washington Turner in 1854 but he died in 1856. She then married Benjamin Blackiston, and they had two sons, Benjamin and Charles. Caroline may have made her sampler at the Anderson Female Seminary, which opened in New Albany in 1841 and closed in 1858. The pictorials of book and harp at two opposing corners suggest subjects a young lady would have learned at such an institution.

PROVENANCE: Descended in the family of Caroline Very Blackiston to present consignor.

CONDITION: A couple of very small holes at two corners, age related darkening to linen, a few minor light stains, overall very good condition.