Note from the designer: This tiny petite sampler was acquired at an estate sale in Michigan. The simplicity of the piece is the charming "as Hannah stitched her sampler in 1822 at the Faringdon Subscription School near Oxford, England."
Over two model was stitched over 1 thread on... Read more
This reproduction sampler from Jeannette Douglas features "Let the sweet work of prayer and praise employ my youngest breath, thus I'm prepared for longer days or fit for early death. Remember thy creator in the days of thy youth. Ann Perrin finished this sampler in the 14th year of her age... Read more
I am delighted to share this antique with you. It is from 1840 of Dutch origin. The sampler had lots of great motifs and I loved the top rows of crowns and shields, but the composition did not please me, it had large blank spots on it. I saw this piece as more enjoyable in the vertical format as... Read more
Antonia Rosel y Garcia 1886 is a reproduction of an antique Spanish sampler.The Faded model is stitched on 40 ct Antique Lace by Seraphim Hand-dyed Fabrics using one strand of the silks over two linen threads. The Bright is stitched on 36 ct Affogato by Fibers on a Whim using one strand of silk over... Read more
Birds on the Temple is a reproduction of a sweet little antique sampler. While there is a set of initials and a year on the sampler, what really stood out to me was the birds sitting on the temple. I decided to use The Gentle Arts Simply Wool again for this one. It's such a joy to stitch with.... Read more
Elisabeth LeConte, 1786 is a reproduction of an antique sampler I found here in Maryland. This was a teaching piece at the 2023 Sunshine Stitchers Retreat in Florida last spring.
My reproduction is stitched on 40-Count Hawthorne linen from Fiber on a Whim using Needlepoint Silks. The stitch count is 197 Wide by 167 High.
The model was stitched over 2 threads on 40 Ct. Straw linen from Weeks Dye Works with NPI Silks. Stitch Count: 149W x 173H. Finished size: 7.45' x 8.65"
This pattern from La D D features a reproduction sampler with a large white house, flowers, birds and "Mary Collier, her work in the 9th year of her age, the year 1814."
Pattern is stitched on 36 ct Spiced Honey from Color and Cotton. Stitch count is 222 x 268.
Note from the designer - "Acquired in England, one might assume that this classic Quaker motif sampler was made at the Ackworth School in Yorkshire. However the influence of the designs promulgated by the Quaker School needleworkers stretched far beyond the confines of the school's walls. This... Read more
Note from the designer - "Rhode Island samplers were among the first American schoolgirl embroideries to be recognized by serious collectors and textile scholars as a distinctive group with extraordinary visual appeal. The Sheffield sampler is delicately worked with an unusually pleasing... Read more
Note from the designer - This needlework was designed after an English sampler in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts-Boston. The lush border flowers are similar to those on a sampler made by Sarah Brignell from around the same period, suggesting the existence of a school or teacher whose... Read more
This 19th century American reproduction sampler features a brown bird on a tree branch. Rated for beginners. Model stitched on 35 count hand dyed linen using either cotton or silk thread. Two versions of the sampler graph have been furnished: one executed with a drawn partially freehand split and... Read more
This Irish Quaker sampler features an alphabet at the tope, verse, bands, and flowers. The verse reads "Great Almighty God above plant in my heart a fund of love, that I my mercies may adore and bless and praise thee evermore."
Model is stitched on 40 ct linen using either cotton or silk floss. Stitch count is 181 x 477.
Note from the designer - "Typical of so many Scottish samplers, Elizabeth Masterton's features an abundance of initials (likely familial), rows of evergreen trees, peacocks with seven tail feathers, and the now famous mansion house fronted by a pillared fence and gates enclosing sheep. Apart... Read more
Note from the designer - "In 1779, the Quaker Friends School at Ackworth, Yorkshire, was established for the purpose of educating young people of both sexes, and instilling the values of their Society; equality, simplicity, peace. Girls received nearly the same instruction as boys. Out of this... Read more
Note from the designer - "An intensely stitched and well-planned sampler, this unusual piece probably originated in Pennsylvania. The allegorical figure hovering over the house could represent Liberty. The unconnected border of floating honeysuckle is unique, as well as the little pastoral vignettes in the lower register." Rated for beginners.
Note from the designer - "At age nine in 1818, Sarah Dutnel created this unusual "tree of life" sampler. A traditional carnation and tulip border in subtle, earthy shades of gold, brown, and cream surrounds the tree. Dogs, deer, birds, stars, potted plants, trees and flowers flank the... Read more
Note from the designer - "Mary Bailey stitched this sampler in England and finished it in 1818. It demonstrates an advanced level of skill given the symmetry of the design and its many diverse elements: a red brick mansion house with four chimneys- a sign of wealth in early 19th century England,... Read more
Note from the designer - "This little needlework was likely made as a panel of a "huswif"/aka a "housewife", which was an embroidered, double-sided vertical series of pockets made to hold needleworking supplies. It could be folded up or hung from a peg for swift access to the... Read more
This American sampler was stitched on a loosely woven homespun linen with vegetable-dyed silk threads. Despite its size and simplicity, the design is striking, delicate, and well-balanced. Eunice Morton was born in 1783 in Gorham County, Maine. Sometime in 1809-1810, she married Jesse Harding, and... Read more
A unique four-sided geometric border is the highlight of this American sampler, consisting of nine rows of letters and numerals surrounded by a counted satin stitch sawtooth inner border. The design looks like something that might have inspired the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian. I have not been able... Read more
This is a beautiful sampler from Norwich (Norfolk, United Kingdom), possibly stitched at a school run by one Mrs. Wright or her descendent (hence the initials "MW" below Elizabeth's name in the attribution). A list of teachers in Norwich in 1783 includes Wright, Massey, and Cheetleburgh. The... Read more
A RED BRICK MANSION HOUSE is at the center of this wildly engaging English sampler featuring a small
zoo/conservatory/aviary of flora and fauna as interpreted by an exceptionally talented young
woman of the early nineteenth century. The verse is common enough on nineteenth-century samplers, unlike... Read more
Note from the designer - "ANN WHITTAKER created an almost comically theatrical sampler depicting Adam and Eve, angels, pious verses, and elaborate meandering vines beneath dramatic multi-colored draperies and tassels. Hovering over the verse which is framed by large columns, are two angels with... Read more
Note from the designer - "At the age of fourteen, Mary Lee stitched this beautiful band sampler with a good assortment of flowers, birds, swans, squirrels, and other traditional motifs. Worked into the center of a band in tight, precise stitches, is the cautionary aphorism "In thy youth... Read more
Note from the designer - "Few samplers were stitched on this unusual dark green linsey woosey fabric that combines linen and wool to create a dramatic dark background color to highlight brightly colored floss. Most of these samplers were made in the coastal towns of Massachusetts up to New... Read more
Note from the designer - "Abigail Ann was born October 27, 1799, in East Caln, Chester County Pennsylvania. Her parents were Joseph and Ann (Wells) Fleming, the fourth generation of Flemings living in the East Caln area. Abigail Ann attended one of the Quaker schools in Chester County but we are... Read more
This sampler could possibly have been made in Connecticut but the surname is quite common throughout New England. Abigail was ten years old when she made her sampler. The original was stitched on unbleached homespun linen using silk threads, and the reproduction very closely approximates the size of... Read more
Note from the designer - "This sampler shows a man and a woman beneath an apple tree, reminiscent of Adam and Eve, but in contemporary dress. Possibly of New York origin (the format and background suggest this), this reproduction is stitched on linen with either cotton or silk, with the... Read more
Note from the designer - "A characteristically northern German sampler, this example from Hamburg consists of random symbolic spot motifs, with a unifying central scene and borders. Religious symbols are commonly found on almost all continental samplers, and Adam and Eve in particular is often... Read more
Note from the designer - "This sampler was made in St. Albans, Vermont. A naturalistic four-sided floral border surrounds a central reserve with alphabets and a pictorial scene. The house is so distinctive that it is probably a depiction of Amanda's own home. Made under the tutelage of B.... Read more
Amelia Boyce's pictorial sampler demonstrates two popular art forms of the early 19th century manifested in the sampler mode: the image of an architectural engraving, and the influence of Berlin patterns in the naturalistic (rather than nave or stylized) floral patterns. A widely mixed floral... Read more
Note from the designer - "Although there has not been the extensive research and study of English Quaker samplers as there has been of their American counterparts, we believe that this sampler was created under the tutelage of a Quaker sewing instructress in England. The fine bleached linen and... Read more
Note from the designer - "Samplers depicting children - particularly such large children - are uncommon. Not only the children make this an outstanding sampler, but also the multi-floral border, the charming verse, the scene at the top with its menagerie of creatures, and the beautiful... Read more
Note from the designer - "This unusual sampler is probably of Scottish origin. The distinctive French-inspired mansion house and the peacocks are commonly found on Scottish samplers. Adam and Eve are realistically stitched in the Garden, by effectively working two quite simple stitches together:... Read more
Note from the designer - "A sophisticated painterly use of perspective distinguishes this pictorial English sampler. An idealized rural scene with a thatched cottage nestled in a fertile valley, with white misted hills rising in the distance, also features a windmill, a flock of sheep,... Read more
Note from the designer - "So many unusual and enigmatic features were left by Ann Carbutt on her sampler, made when she was sixteen years old, very likely in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The surname "Carbutt" is first found in Cheshire after the... Read more
Note from the designer - "This is a very graceful and finely stitched sampler, an unusual combination for the late date. Nine ethereal female figures, like penitents in an Edward Gorey cartoon, march solemnly about the sampler, paying homage to the house. The huge house appears to be welcoming... Read more
Note from the designer - "A classic Quaker sampler from the Delaware Valley, this sampler demonstrates the style and many of the motifs that make them so easy to identify. The inner oval vine-and-leaf cartouche surrounding the alphabets probably originated at the Westtown School in Chester... Read more
Note from the designer - "This very delicate Scottish sampler with its bold color scheme was designed with a four sided stylized honeysuckle border surrounding horizontal rows of illuminated alphabets and double running stitch motifs. The extensive use of double running stitch lends the sampler... Read more
Note from the designer - "This wonderful English sampler has to be an original inspired composition by a very clever young girl with a singular artistic vision! Potbellied cherubs fly trumpeting alongside a doughy, asexual Adam and Eve, beneath whom perch an enormous plumed Bird of Paradise on a... Read more
Note from the designer - "This Dover, Massachusetts, sampler features an unusual border surrounding alphabetical and numerical tests, and a four-line verse often found on early 19th century American samplers. The colors are remarkably well preserved. The maker, Ann Harding (who was actually... Read more
Note from the designer - "As the purpose for making samplers evolved over the decades and the centuries, so did its form. This beautiful early 18th century English band sampler retains the shape of her predecessors, but has clearly changed into a form distinctly recognizable as a product of her... Read more
In the upper register of this finely stitched English sampler there is featured an unusual vignette of Adam and Eve beneath the tree of life (with a menacing black faced serpent) flanked by mirror image brick cottages, followed by a pious verse:
Note from the designer - "This Quaker sampler came from the vicinity of York, England, where a Quaker school existed at the same time as the more famous Ackworth School, not far from there. The Parnell name is still fairly common in the district, and the family was Quaker.
Linen count and finished size: 35-count 18-3/4" x 24"; or 40 count 16-1/2" x 21"
Note from the designer - "Several band samplers very similar to this one are in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London as well as in other important collections. This particular sampler came from the collection of The Scarlet Letter, and is now in a private collection. A... Read more
There is so much going on in this fascinating English sampler that it's hard to know where to begin looking. Apart from the somewhat conventional Adam and Eve at the top center, adorable flying cherubs flank them and the apple tree, bearing gold rings and sprays of flowers. The verse is as... Read more
This is a pleasantly quirky, colorful sampler likely stitched in the north of England judging by some of the Scottish influences in the design. A four sided strawberry border surrounds an alphabet and a pious verse above a geometric pattern band. Below this is a scenic register with trees, birds,... Read more