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April 23, 2013

Something so rare. . . . . .

A very good friend of mine, Michael, has come across something so rare I just had to ask him if it could be shared on my blog.  Let me start by saying that this is the same man whose ownership of the Nantucket box inspired my design, Old Nantucket.  He is an antiques dealer and comes across wonderful samplers and really good old stuff!  This find is amazing.

Have you ever heard of a "watch sampler?"  It's a tiny piece of needlework stitched with the woman's hair (yes, hair) which was then tucked into the case of the pocket watch of husbands and fathers.


The linen appears American and from what I can tell and the stitching is "over one".  How did such a fragile piece of early 1800's history survive so well??


It reads: 
"Part not with a MOMENT but for its worth."

In a letter attached to the item was a note that this little gem was made by Mary Bowden.

Anyone with any knowledge of watch samplers, please leave your comments here.  Or if you just want to ooh and aah over it, leave those comments too!

Thanks for sharing this Michael!

Diane

16 comments:

  1. That is so amazing. I had seen morning wreaths and shadow boxes made with hair, but never such a wonderful, personal & intimate piece. Thank you for sharing and thank Michael for letting you share it. Wow.

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  2. I have heard of this before though have never seen it. Thank you for sharing.

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  3. What a beautiful tribute from a wife to her husband. I would LOVE to see an LHN 'watch sampler' with this inscription on it! :)

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  4. I have heard of these amazing little samplers before, but sadly have never seen one in real life. I think they probably survived because they were protected inside the watch case. Merry Cox includes one in her Treasures from thy Heart ( I think!) project. Irene xxx

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  5. Wow amazing..thank you for sharing x

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  6. Oohing and aaaahing is well deserved for this lovely! I had never heard of such samplers before now and thank you for telling us of such a find. Such an intimate piece of art! I wonder how many others are out there and have survived?

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  7. Anonymous7:12 AM

    Diane,
    I have never heard of anything like this. This is an amazing story and I love it. How amazing to have such a memory to still exist today. Thank you for sharing.

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  8. Every now and then a piece of history comes along and just "wows" This is one of those times. I had never heard of this, much less seeing it.
    Thank you and Michael for sharing it with us.

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  9. Anonymous10:08 AM

    wow! never heard of a watch sampler.. this is really neat! thank you for sharing :)

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  10. how unique! thanks for sharing

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  11. I never heared about watch sampler... stitched with hair ? WOW .... what a treasure !

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  12. I had heard of these but never seen one, WOW. What a treasure.

    I have a Victorian mourning brooch that belonged to my g-g-grandmother - it has a woven background of her mother's hair, snips on the sides of her husband's, and a tiny braid of golden hair in the middle from their son who died at age 3. It is one of my most precious possessions and I wear it sometimes.

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  13. What an amazing precious find, I had never heard of a watch sampler before. Thank you for sharing.

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  14. Anonymous7:44 PM

    Super genial el post.

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  15. I never have heard about a watch sampler until I saw it at YouTube:
    Little Dorrit Episode 1 HD (full)
    When you stop at Minute 23:14 you can see it.

    (I love "Little Dorrit" and all those films from BBC)

    Liebe herzliche Grüße aus Deutschland von
    Anja

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  16. Anonymous10:31 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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Thank you so much for taking time from your day to drop me a line or two!

Diane