WILLISTON, VT. — It was early American and country at Merrill’s Auction on August 1, and, fittingly, an early American needlework sampler stitched up top lot status, bringing $34,500 inclusive of buyer’s premium. Dated 1786 and wrought by Pene Plum, the whip and stump work on linen featured a bird, berry, vine, leaf, thistle and bow surround. There was ABC, 123 work over the motto “Virtue’s the chiefest Beauty of the mind. The noblest Ornament of human kind Virtue’s our Safeguard and our guiding Star. That stirs up Reason when our senses err. Pene Plums Sampler mark’d in the 12th year of her age 1786.” Over the landscape design of trees, a Federal home has smoke rising from the chimney, is surrounded by fences and is situated by a river with sailboat and ducks. The sampler descended in a Saybrook, Conn., family and measures approximately 18 inches square. For information, 802-878-2625 or www.merrillsauction.com.