EMBROIDERY SAMPLER COMMEMORATING WWII SERVICE In The ARMY NURSE CORPS
West Chester, Pennsylvania. Ca late 1940s? Sampler made weavy tan burlap backing, with embroidery in blue, red, green white and tan, now housed in a glass-covered simple brown wooden frame. NB. Not examined out of the frame. Framed: 15-3/4" x 15-1/4". Sampler [visible]: 14-7/8" x 14-1/4". Minor scuffs & rubs to frame, Vg - VG+. Sampler - no wear, colors remain vivid & vibrant. Item #50796
A compelling piece of folk art in which Ms Baily has juxtaposed traditional sampler subjects -- the alphabet, numbers, trains, toy soldiers, animals -- with those of her personal military experience. Baily was a nurse by training before the war began [per the 1940 census], who then served in the Army Nurse Corps from March 15 - December 30, 1945. She did not see action during her short miliary career, which involved training first at Camp Lee and then being discharged at Ford Dix as the war came to a close. Nevertheless, as this sampler suggests, her time in the Nurse Corps made a powerful & lasting impact on her.
A remarkable, and no doubt unique, artifact documenting one woman's WWII military service, an artifact which employs a folk art-form displaying traditional subjects, as well as [the then available] role of women contributing to the war effort.
Price: $795.00