Sampler
15/10/1840 (completed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The earliest samplers were reference works for embroiderers. They showed 'samples' of patterns and stitches and recorded how to achieve particular effects. In Europe in the 17th century samplers provided instruction and practice for girls learning needlework. Making a sampler was part of a girl's school education throughout the 18th century and into the 1800s.
Silke Strickrodt’s research has shown that Lucy Grant was a pupil at a Church Mission Society school in Regents Town, Sierra Leone. Her parents were probably ‘recaptives’, rescued by British navy anti-slave patrols off the coast of West Africa. Lucy Grant may have made her sampler for a charitable sponsor in England who paid for her education and gave her a new English name.
Silke Strickrodt’s research has shown that Lucy Grant was a pupil at a Church Mission Society school in Regents Town, Sierra Leone. Her parents were probably ‘recaptives’, rescued by British navy anti-slave patrols off the coast of West Africa. Lucy Grant may have made her sampler for a charitable sponsor in England who paid for her education and gave her a new English name.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Wool, embroidered with silk in cross stitch |
| Brief description | Wool sampler by Lucy Grant, embroidered with silk; Sierra Leone; dated 1840. |
| Physical description | Embroidered sampler |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Given by William Barratt |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | The earliest samplers were reference works for embroiderers. They showed 'samples' of patterns and stitches and recorded how to achieve particular effects. In Europe in the 17th century samplers provided instruction and practice for girls learning needlework. Making a sampler was part of a girl's school education throughout the 18th century and into the 1800s. Silke Strickrodt’s research has shown that Lucy Grant was a pupil at a Church Mission Society school in Regents Town, Sierra Leone. Her parents were probably ‘recaptives’, rescued by British navy anti-slave patrols off the coast of West Africa. Lucy Grant may have made her sampler for a charitable sponsor in England who paid for her education and gave her a new English name. |
| Bibliographic reference | Browne, Clare and Jennifer Wearden, eds. Samplers from the Victoria and Albert Museum. London : V&A Publications, 1999. 144 p., ill. ISBN 1851773096.
Strickrodt, Silke, ‘African girls’ samplers from Mission Schools in Sierra Leone (1820s to 1840s)’ History in Africa, vol. 37, Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 189–245 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.54-1934 |
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| Record created | November 21, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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