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"
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
This English sampler was made in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, featuring the Sheffield General Infirmary, a verse, a fashionably dressed man and woman, and a collection of animals in the lawn in front (sheep, fox, squirrels, rabbit, dog), all surrounded by a four sided berry border.
Adapted from an English sampler dated 1783. The original sampler from which this piece was adapted measures 15 1/2" x 12 1/2", and was stitched over one thread of linen on approximately 50-thread-count glazed linen. The house on the left alone, which measures 71 by 62 squares on the graph,... Read more
Note from the designer - "Elizabeth Mansfield finished her sampler in England on 13th June 1792, during the reign of King George III (1760-1820: note the cushioned crown in the upper third, marked on either side by the initials G R for George Rex). The original sampler was stitched on a very... Read more
According to a note attached to the back of the original sampler, it was probably made near Newtown, Pennsylvania. The attribution at the center is surrounded by a typical Quaker leafy cartouche with opposing flowers and facing birds above. Other characteristic Quaker motifs include eight point... Read more
Note from the designer: "A Pennsylvania German sampler that may not be, strictly speaking, a miniature, but is nonetheless small for its type. Typical Pennsylvania German folk culture motifs - birds, trees, hearts, flowers, crowns and stars - adorn it."
This English sampler combines embroidered pictorial, alphabetic, and upholstery techniques, becoming in every sense a sampler of Ms. Topham's best work. Bargello work (also known as canvaswork, Irish stitch, flamestitch, or Florentine stitch) appeared on the earliest seventeenth century samplers,... Read more
Band samplers of the 17th century exhibit the widest range of stitches and techniques. Counted thread stitches on linen were artfully combined with panels of floral, geometric, or figural cut and drawn work- a technique where the background threads of linen are carefully bound, then cut and pulled... Read more
Note from the designer: "This northern German sampler consists of random symbolic spot motifs, with a simple zigzag border. Religious symbols are commonly found on continental samplers. On this example, we find the wreath carried by angels (the wreath as a symbol for eternal life): the ship... Read more
This sweet little American sampler features two little houses above alphabets and a short verse:
Would you be wise
Each moment prize
It is surrounded on four sides by a double sided satin stitched sawtooth border. Stitches used include cross, outline, stem filling, counted... Read more
Note from the designer: "This naive Adam and Eve sampler might have been made in Maryland around 1810. At first I believed that the sampler was either English or Irish, judging by the unusual surname, until, in my research, I came upon the gravestone of a Fanny H. Peachey, born 24 November 1799,... Read more
Note from the designer: "Who would love this world or prize whats in it
that gives and takes and chops and changes every minute.
This brilliant English traditional band sampler comes from the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Drawing on traditional sampler motifs of the 17th... Read more
"Jesus permit thy Gracious name to stand as the first effort of an infant hand. And while her fingers on the canvas move, engage her tender thoughts to seek thy love. With thy dear children, let her have a part and write thy name thyself upon her heart."
Note from the designer: "From Dover, Massachusetts, comes Harriot Boardman's sampler, originally worked on a distinctive green linsey-woolsey found only on some North Shore samplers. A three-sided sawtooth border surrounds alphabet and numeral tests with geometric cross bands, two deer with... Read more
Note from the designer: "A beautiful meandering four-sided floral border in an unusually rich color palette surrounds this traditional Scottish sampler, also featuring a beautiful arcaded floral band at the top and a substantial mansion house in the lower register. Trees, tulips and flying birds... Read more
Note from the designer: "This intricate and involved sampler features many traditional German sampler motifs dating from the sixteenth century including a large parrot, a peacock with silver tips on its wings, the Lamb of God, as well as a depiction of the Crucifixion flanked by Mother Mary and... Read more
This sampler was made in Scotland and includes many of the traditional motifs associated with samplermaking in this region. Firstly, Janet has included many initials of family members. However the initials at the center- G R 3 -refer to the then-reigning monarch, King George III. The flowering... Read more
Note from the designer: "This small and brilliantly preserved band sampler demonstrates a wide variety of stitches found on many seventeenth century samplers. The beautifully shaded flower heads and leaves are filled in with connecting tiers of trellis stitch."
Rose's unusual middle name should have provided some clues about where she was born, and where she lived, but the name "Shenamon" is elusive despite my efforts to discover its origins as well as hers. It is spelled many different ways when researched (including Shinimon and Schinnamon which... Read more
Agnes Binnie was born in Stirlingshire, Scotland, on March 22, 1808, to Robert Binnie and Mary Addie. She married James Barclay on March 16, 1832, in Falkirk, Stirlingshire. The couple had at least six sons and three daughters. Around 1870 they emigrated to Scotland Township in McDonough, Illinois.... Read more
This design was excerpted from the top of an early nineteenth-century English sampler. It features an unusual and amusing hunting scene with a solo hunter on horseback pursuing a single hapless stag with a pack of ten spotted hounds on its trail.
The verse reads:
Give me O Lord thy early... Read more
This mid-eighteenth-century Scottish band sampler features many classic seventeenth-century patterns, executed in cross, eyelet, double running, counted satin, back, and queen stitches.
The virtually unfaded color was reproduced from the front of the sampler. Six pattern bands precede... Read more
Pattern by Shakespeare's Peddler featuring an antique sampler design with the words "Virtues the chiefelt beauty of the mind. The Noblest ornament of human kind. Virtues our safeguard and our guiding star. That stirs up reason when our senses".
Note from the designer: This primitive marking sampler just captured my heart. The colors, the tone on tone, the rich patina and the whimsicalness of it. How can a marking sampler be whimsical you ask? Well, just look at the script K, L & M. They seem to be kicking up their heels and skipping along.... Read more
Not only do I love the colors Agness used to stitch her sampler but I love how she ran out of room to stitch the date 1844 so she moved the last 4 up to another line.
Pattern is stitched on 28 ct Vintage Sand Dune from Lakeside Linen using Gentle Arts threads. Stitch count is 176 x 238. Finished size is 12.6" x 17".
"Lord give me wisdom to direct my ways I ask not riches nor yet for Length of Drop. From rocks and sands And stormy weather Pray God Protect John Negus for ever". "My dear friends I will Bless and praise for giving me learning in My Early days Catherine Negus her Sampler finished... Read more
I love the simplicity of this little sampler. Eliza was 10 years old when she completed her sampler and beautifully hem stitched the edges.
Pattern is stitched on 40 ct Vintage Buttercream from Lakeside Linens using Gentle Arts threads with DMC conversion. Stitch count is 127 x 120. Finished size is 6" x 5.75".
"Lord what is life tis like a flower That blofsoms and is gone We see it flourish for an hour With all its beauty on". This sampler is dated December 24, 1834. I was told this sampler was a Christmas gift to Louisa's parents. Louisa was 9 years old when she completed this brightly... Read more
This sampler can either be done in mainly cross stitch (there are a couple of stitches in the alphabet but even those could be done in cross stitch) or have fun playing and fill in with Stem Stitch. I love the look of Stem Stitch, it is kind of like painting with thread. "Lord what is... Read more
"Why this in haste sweet boy so soon To go. And leave in tears thy weeping Friends below. Some heavenly voice Dear object of their love calld hence
Thy soul to dwell in realms above Scarce hadst thou learnt the good from
All to know Nor yet had drank the Bitter cup of woe. When heaven ordaind no... Read more
"Few to good breeding make a just pretence Good breeding is the blossom of good sense. The last result of an accomplished mind. With outward grace the bodys virtue joined". I love the bands and motifs Mary Ann used in this sampler. The colors in this sampler are beautiful... the mix of blue... Read more
This original design was inspired by many antique samplers.
Pattern is stitched on 36 ct Aspen from Weeks Dye Works using Weeks Dye Works, Gentle Arts, and Classic Colorworks threads. Stitch count is 225 x 211. Finished size is 12.5" x 11.75".
"Teach me to feel another's woe To hide the fault I see That mercy I to others show That mercy show to me." The saying on this sampler was written by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) who is considered to be one of the greatest English poets of the 18th century. Sarah stitched this sampler on... Read more
"Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul And sings the tunes without the words And never stops at all" Emily Dickinson 1830-1886. Fourth in the series of samplers with lots of fun stitches.
Pattern is stitched on 36 ct linen using Gentle Arts threads. Stitch count is 196 x 196. Finished size is 11" x 11".
This is a revised version of an old design (#113). The original 2015 design has been out of print and I decided to rework it. JABC buttons are included. A cardinal is perched atop a basket of winterberry leaves berries.
Pattern is stitched on Fog Cashel using DMC threads. Stitch count is 80 x 112.
Elsie Glennie Watt is a reproduction of a colorful late 19th century genealogy sampler stitched on Zweigart 40 ct Mushroom/Light Mocha. I love the rainbow of colors that Elsie used in stitching her sampler that is perfect for a springtime stitch! And the border - whether roses or strawberries, what... Read more
Helen Monro is a reproduction of an original sampler in our collection from Falkirk, Scotland.
"Remember thy creator and redeemer in the days of thy youth while the evil days come not nor the years draw high when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them."