Sampler
1786 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The original purpose of a sampler was to record all the different stitches that the maker knew. But from the 18th century samplers emphasised the maker’s ability to embroider words and pictorial motifs. Mary Hall’s sampler is a mixture of old and new fashions. The Montgolfier Brothers’ hot air balloon, the first recorded example, had taken off in France only three years earlier, in 1783. The verse ‘Fragrant the rose is’, however, is in a melancholy poetic tradition that dwelt on the brevity of mortal life and was particularly popular in Britain in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Wool and silk blend fabric, embroidered with silk threads |
| Brief description | Sampler, embroidered in coloured silks by Mary Hall in England in 1786 |
| Physical description | Sampler embroidered in coloured silks on a wool and silk blend fabric. The sampler is embroidered at the upper edge with two verses in blue thread above the maker's name and date, and the rest of the sampler is worked with spot motifs, mainly containers of stylized flowers, in coloured silks. A hot-air balloon with a flag hanging over each side of the basketis stitched just below the maker's name. |
| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions |
|
| Credit line | Given by Miss Emma Monteith |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | The original purpose of a sampler was to record all the different stitches that the maker knew. But from the 18th century samplers emphasised the maker’s ability to embroider words and pictorial motifs. Mary Hall’s sampler is a mixture of old and new fashions. The Montgolfier Brothers’ hot air balloon, the first recorded example, had taken off in France only three years earlier, in 1783. The verse ‘Fragrant the rose is’, however, is in a melancholy poetic tradition that dwelt on the brevity of mortal life and was particularly popular in Britain in the 16th and 17th centuries. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | CIRC.45-1922 |
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| Record created | February 20, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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