Sampler, pictorial sampler
Susan Smith
The Balch School, Providence, Rhode Island; 1793-94
Linen, silk
Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont 1958.2879

Ten-year-old Quaker Susan Smith took six months at Mary Balch’s school to work her picture of the First Baptist Meeting House in Providence, Rhode Island. Susan’s embroidered inscription advises her to let virtue be her guide and records her birthdate and aspirations. Its richly worked surface shines with quiet wealth and social expectation.