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
This letterndoek (lettering) form of Dutch sampler appears from the late 17th through the early 19th century. It is easy to recognize by its horizontal shape, and beautifully illuminated lettering, interspersed with various symbolic shapes and Biblical motifs. The color scheme used on so many of... 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
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
Fanny Hancock's father, Ebenezer Hancock, was cousin to the famous John Hancock. Born in 1785, Fanny sewed her sampler at age 11. She married Nathaniel Parker of Boston in 1803, and died in 1834. The colors on the back side of her sampler retained much of their original brilliance, and are... Read more
Note from the designer: "The characteristic that readily identifies the origin of this sampler is the distinctive vine and rose border, configured such that a leaf on one side and a rosebud stem on the other give the illusion of a double vine. It is almost always found executed in cross stitch... Read more
What makes this early Victorian English sampler so intriguing are the wonderfully naive figures of Adam, Eve and St. Michael flanking the Tree of Life. St. Michael's sword is drawn to slay the serpent, but he hardly looks formidable with his large feet and doughy body. Playskool-like Adam and Eve... Read more
Note from the designer: "This sampler was probably made in Rhode Island, a poor sister, perhaps, to the magnificent creations coming out of the girls' schools in Newport, Providence and Bristol at this same period, but bearing some similar "signatures". The squat, long-tailed bird at the... Read more
This sampler features two uncommon verses taken from the book Sentences and Maxims Divine, Moral and Historical, in Prose and Instruction of Human Life: and Particularly for the Improvement of Youth in Good Sence and correct English by George Shelley, published in London in 1712.
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: "Hannah Mosher was born March 12th, 1786, in Hollis, New Hampshire, the fourth and last child of Abijah and Hannah Mosher. On March 7, 1813, she married the Rev. Walter Chapin of Woodstock, Vermont. Apart from this sketchy biographical information, found in the History of... Read more
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: "The flight into Egypt is a biblical event described in the Gospel of Matthew. Soon after Mary and Jesus were visited by the Magi, who had learned that King Herod intended to kill the male infants in that region, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee... Read more
Note from the designer: "This Scottish sampler features many distinguishing characteristics of samplers made in that country, most notably the arcaded pansy band across the top third, the four-sided floral border with double running stitch flourishes, and the famous mansion house. Of this large... Read more
Displaying the traditional color scheme of Scottish samplers, this beautiful and delicately stitched piece also employs a variety of interesting counted thread stitches including queen, doublerunning, four-sided, back, counted satin filling, cross, Algerian eyelet, and cross over one (petit... Read more
This is a very finely stitched classic Scottish sampler featuring three complete rows of beautifully illuminated letters, an arcaded floral band as well as other traditional motifs including peacocks, birds drinking at the fountain of life, feather trees and family initials. A four sided berry... 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 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."
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 wonderfully symmetrical English sampler features a pair of silky floating swans and large twin sunflowers, executed in a rich natural palette of color. Birds fly over the tops of three flower-trees in the top third. A sumptuous basket of fruit is stitched between the golden swans, and towering... Read more
This is a reproduction of an English sampler made in Bradford, Yorkshire, that shows distinct influences of Scottish needlework traditions, particularly in the illuminated alphabets. The bold primary colors were reproduced from the front of the original sampler, which retains its amazing... 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
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 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
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
"Happy would it be for me, if in the rising bloom of youth, I did devote my life to thee, O thou the God of love and truth."
Jane Freebairn is another colorful Scottish sampler from approximately the same time period. Neither of the girls dated their samplers, but we can tell from... Read more
Ada Mary Hornsey of Wellingborough, England stitched her sampler at age 10. "My father, my mother I know I cannot your kindness repay, but I hope that, as older I grow, I shall learn your commands to obey."
The model was stitched over 2 threads on 40 Ct Light Sand linen with Needlepoint Inc Silks. Stitch Count: 184W x 238H. Finished Size: 9 1/8" x 12".