Martha Knapp 1844

Good afternoon friends!  Finally, I have pictures of Martha.  I've had her home for about a week now, finally have her on my wall and enjoying every minute of her presence.  I sent her to Pennsylvania, to Van Tassel Baumann American Antiques where she was cleaned and stitched to a new acid free fabric-covered conservation mount.  She was installed into a solid mohagany reproduction frame and topped off with her old original wavy glass (which is fabulous, I might add).  Ruth Van Tassel was the woman who did the conservation work.  She was able to tell me that Martha originated in the British Isles.  The ground fabric is wool and she was stitched with wool threads which is why the colors are still so vibrant on this piece.  The original frame Martha came in was not able to be repaired, but the glass was still in fine shape and since the piece was stitched wool on wool, she suggested I use the original glass.  So fun!  I will let the pictures of her tell her story.  So sorry I'm not a great photographer.  I'm so happy she came to my house to live! 

Here is the information for those of you interested in having your antique sampler conserved:
Ruth Van Tassel at www.vantasselbaumann.com .  I sent her pictures of Martha and she told me what she could from the pictures.  She sent me information on approximately how much it would cost to conserve.  I was in contact with her for several months during the time she was conserving her.  Her work was very quick.  Her framer took a very long time to make the frame.  He actually crafted the frame itself.  All in all, I thought she did an excellent and very professional job and would highly recommend her work. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!