Most needlework memorials are silkwork. Memorial samplers are extremely uncommon, but Amy Finkel brought this three-generational one to Deerfield. It was worked on linen and showed the tombs of a grandmother and grandson of the Smith-Humphreys family of Boston, c.1815. The middle generation, the parents of the child, were unusually expressive and stood one by each tomb, and the sampler had been worked by a member of the third generation. Amy was unable tell which of the (grand)daughters had done it, because there were many listed in the full, multi-generation family history that accompanied it.

M. Finkel and Daughter, 936 Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, (215) 627-7797, mailbox@finkelantiques.com, www.finkelantiques.com