Lexington County Museum's Artifact of the Week: Nov. 11 - Nov. 17

This week's artifact is a sampler, which is a work of embroidery used to demonstrate a young female’s sewing skills.  This sampler was completed by Martha Jeffcoat, a native of Lexington County in 1806 when she was ten years old.  It features silk on linen and has many characteristics of English needlework.  The poem, "Vice and Virtue," is stitched in the style of English embroidery as the lower case letters are stitched in Roman style, which was a favorite of English schools.  Because of the fine materials used and the quality of the stitching, it is possible Martha’s mother may have received formal training in embroidery.  Martha Jeffcoat later married Frederick Livingston and died in 1841 after delivering her 11th child.

See this artifact and more at the Lexington County Museum, located at 231 Fox Street in downtown Lexington. Visit www.lex-co.sc.gov/museum for more information.