Bird in Bough by The Scarlet Letter

This fanciful, naive example of American folk needlework was probably made around 1800, using homespun linen and a mixture of wool and silk threads. A finely feathered bird (of uncertain species- possibly a kingfisher) roosts atop a fruiting, leafy bough, that springs from a verdant clump, surrounded on four sides by a simple, symmetrical floral border. Two versions of the sampler graph have been furnished: one executed with a drawn partially freehand split and stem stitched bough and leaves, the other worked entirely in cross stitch.