Betty Ring’s landmark collection of American samplers rang in $4,389,503, including the buyer’s premium, and set a record for an American sampler at public auction on Sunday, January 22, at Sotheby’s.

The top lot, #616, was this New Jersey needlework sampler by Mary Antrim, Burlington Country, dated 1807. Worked in silk and painted paper on linen, it is signed and dated and in the original frame, measuring 17 inches high by 16¾ inches wide. It sold for $1,070,500 to David Schorsch, an antiques dealer from Woodbury, Conn.

“It transcends the world of needlework,” David said, adding, “I was not able to get into the bidding by phone until about $500,000 to $600,000, and I was not totally shocked at the final price.” He had figured that morning that the piece would sell for between $500,000 and $1 million. The lot was underbid by Carol and Stephen Huber of Old Saybrook, Conn., and the provenance lists the Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbish sale at Sotheby’s, November 12, 1974.

A full review of the Ring Collection auction will be published shortly. ⁒. Scudder Smith