Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission plaque for the DeTurk House, built in 1767 by John de Turk, son of Isaac de Turk, a Huguenot who settled in Berks County in 1712 and was one of a number of French Protestants who were pioneers in this part of Berks County.
Pocket of bleached plain weave linen, embroidered with pink and blue cotton thread, brown two-ply silk thread and red, pink, yellow, white, and brown handspun wool.
Front is two panels joined across the midline with needlelace; the back is two panels seamed in the selvage (9" x 18" and 14.5" x 23.5"). The pocket is open at the left side to a depth of 11.5". The pocket, once bound with cream silk twill ribbon, has little ribbon remaining except at the right side of the waist; a tuft of silk ribbon stitched to the right side may be the remains of the tie.
The design centers larger motifs and uses others in a mirror image fashion. The upper portion is ornamented with a stylized heart containing initials flanked by pairs of flower blossoms, flowering plants in pots, and a filled diamond at the top center. The signature and date lie below the mid-line row of needlelace surmounting a very stylized flowering tree flanked by flower arrangements in baskets. The entire piece has a straight line border with inwardly turned sprigs.
Cross-stitched in upper section: "M P"; and in bottom half: "Maria Peterin, 1801."
Tandy & Charles Hersh note this is one of the largest pockets found.
Made by Maria Peter(s), Oley Valley, Berks County.
Provenance
Purchased by donor from Fred Weiser in 1997.
See "Samplers of the Pa Germans" by Tandy & Charles Hersh, p. 216.
Conserved Nov. 1997 by Dorothy McCoach of Bethlehem, PA.
Age discoloration overall. Pink and blue cotton embroidery appears to be intact, but the wool and silk threads are strongly deteriorated, with many losses. Cream colored silk twill ribbon is lost except for a small portion at the right side of the waist.
Blue thread border around entire piece has severe losses.
Hole at upper right corner.
Object ID
G.97.39.10
Place of Origin
Berks County, Pennsylvania
Credit
Gift of Hampton Randolph, Sr., Heritage Center Collection
