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Sampler
Unknown - Enlarge image
Sampler
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (made)
- Date:
1650-1675 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Linen worked with cutwork
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by Miss G. H. O. Chamberlain
- Museum number:
T.403-1977
- Gallery location:
In Storage
In their earliest form, samplers were put together as personal reference works for embroiderers. They were trials of patterns and stitches that had been copied from others, and records of particular effects achieved that could be recreated again. This is a type known as a band sampler. With the composition of band samplers comes the first clear indication in England of the form being used as a method of instruction and practice for girls learning needlework. This example has repeating patterns worked in cutwork (needle lace based on a woven ground, from which areas have been cut away). Along the long edges there remain a few buttonholed loops by which the sampler was attached to an embroidery frame.
