Very Naive 19th Century New England Alphabet Sampler with Zig Zag on (Equally Expressive) Homespun tattooed woman My guess is that this

My guess is that this piece dates to the second half of the 19th century--based both upon looking at a lot of other wooden pull toys

which dates sometime between 1800-1830 I believe

but it could easily be removed and reframed

perhaps covering earlier versions--original to it I am sure

Very Naive 19th Century New England Alphabet Sampler with Zig Zag on (Equally Expressive) Homespun tattooed woman My guess is that thisSo many different sorts of samplers to love, for different reasons. As far as alphabet samplers go (simple ones like this are also called marking samplers), I see a lot of lovely early examples around New England, with precisely embroidered, densely packed letters marching along perfectly straight lines, and I do very much admire them. But much less often do I come across an example as naive, and so, as expressive, as this one. And I think small ones