Image: Esther Slate's White Dove Sewing Sampler, 1824

Description: A well known example of the White Dove style was created by a girl named Esther Slate, at the age of ten years old in 1824. There are no less than three alphabets stitched into four separate rows, the first two alphabets are in a cursive font in both upper and lowercase letters, and the third alphabet is a block type font. The sampler is bordered by green vine motives on three sides, with a geometric triangle pattern on the bottom edge. Below the alphabets, Esther embroidered a garden scene, with a blue house in the center, flanked by two trees on either side, and a white picket fence surrounding them. Underneath the fence, the titualar two white doves outlined in black stand with their wings spread. The picture is symmetrical up to the second tree on either side. On the left hand side, birds perch on sunflowers and crops, while an elephant and a monkey reside underneath. To the right, a fruit tree stands next to two of the popular white dove style fruit baskets.
Title: Esther Slate's White Dove Sewing Sampler, 1824
Credit: http://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?museum=hd&t=objects&type=all&f=&s=white+dove&record=13
Author: Esther Slate Marietta Stebbins
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No