Try as we might, we cannot find another sampler to compare with this one by Sarah Brignell. It is a sampler unto itself: truly an original piece of folk art. The tiny central cartouche with the densely stitched scene floats like a little world unto itself in the midst of the exuberant garden of... Read more
Note from the designer - "This design was inspired by an early eighteenth century English picture executed in tent stitch." The designs features a lion, a leopard and a parrot surrounded by bright flowers.
The design is stitched over one thread on 35 Ct. linen. It uses cross stitch,... Read more
The original sampler, made in England in 1848, was stitched with cross, counted satin, petit point, and eyelet stitches on an extremely fine glazed linen of approximately fifty threads per inch.
It is unusual to find such a meticulously and finely stitched sampler at this late date, when... 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
A derivative 17th-century canvas work picture. The Adam and Eve legend was a more popular theme on samplers after the early eighteenth century so this example is quite unusual. The pair are not often seen on earlier needleworks, even though most illustrated bibles of the sixteenth and seventeenth... Read more
Note from the designer - "This sweet English sampler is the first I've ever seen with a border made up of flying cherubs. It also features a "geode" (mosaic) parrot- a distinctively stylized bird that appears on other samplers made in England, New England, and the Netherlands throughout... Read more
This sampler features a lion, a camel, and large colorful flowers. The design was stitched over 2 threads on 40 Ct. linen and is suitable for all skill levels. The stitch count for each design is 244 W x 230 H. The finished piece will measure approximately 12-1/2″ x 11-1/2″.
Note from the designer - "Eleanor Parr created this amazing and unique sampler some time before 1835. The border of birds encircled by vines and leaves is unprecedented. Fleurs de lys embellish each of the four corners surrounding a central reserve containing a traditional verse, floral sprays... Read more
Note from the designer - "This picture was originally designed to be used as a cushion or footstool cover, or perhaps as a decorative vignette inserted into the top of a wooden box for storing precious objects. Executed entirely in cross stitch, its most prominent characters are a large squirrel... Read more
Note from the designer - "This finely stitched German sampler begins with a single row of alphabets above an immensely intricate collection of symbolic cross stitched motifs, including battling angels, the figure of Justice with her scales, the spies of Canaan, the crucifixion, Adam and Eve... Read more
Note from the designer - "Designed after a mid-eighteenth century New Hampshire sampler, this piece is delightfully naive with its oversized animals, insects, and birds. Around 1760, the New-Hampshire Gazette began publishing advertisements for girls' schools, placed by female instructresses,... Read more
Note from the designer - "Designed after an early eighteenth century tent stitched picture, this expansive needlework scene depicts many episodes in the life of an affluent English family including its elaborate parterre and gardens, a stately brick and stone house, domestic, exotic and wild... Read more
Note from the designer - This is the most symmetrical, balanced, counted thread sampler that we have ever charted from. It is also one of the most satisfying, challenging, and beautiful samplers in the world. Originally worked on a fine wool ground, the colors of our reproduction have been matched... Read more
Note from the designer - "This beautiful. petite, energetic sampler expressed three fine verses and, at the end, one of the truest "signatures" I've ever read on a piece of needlework:
By this ingenous Maids
may see what by the
needl wrought
may be
Note from the designer: "This finely worked sampler features pastoral scenes above and below a lovely verse about friendship. A four-sided honeysuckle border surrounds large baskets of fruits and flowers, a fenced pasture with seven large lazy sheep and an architectural folly in the background.... 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 Scottish sampler is a riot of brilliant color and intricate motifs, from the Scotsman in his kilt playing a traditional dulcimer (which looks like a butter churn) in the upper left, to an elaborate mansion house fronted by a three dimensional turkeywork lawn in the... Read more
Note from the designer: "This densely worked sampler displays exquisite detail and contains many of the most popular needlework motifs of the seventeenth century. The flowers are realistically shaded to achieve a natural look."
Finished size on 35 count linen is 7 1/4" x 25... Read more
Note from the designer - "This is a beautifully balanced, intensely stitched transitional sampler. Worked originally in brightly colored silk threads on a fine tammy (wool) ground, it features a repeating, four-sided carnation border, surrounding five horizontal bands interspersed by lines of... Read more
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