Unfinished Sampler
Period1800 - 1830
MediumPlied silk thread on linen
Dimensions5.63 × 3.63 in. (14.3 × 9.2 cm)
ClassificationsNeedlework
Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1934
Object number708.17
DescriptionA small rectangular sampler of closely woven natural linen, with the selvedge along the right edge and narrow hems along the top, left, and bottom edges. The cross stitching is done in plied silk thread in black, medium blue, medium green, pale green, dark pink, rose, pale blue, and off white. A single half-inch upper case alphabet is worked in four rows, from A to G, H to O, P to V, and W to Z. A tiny bird motif is embroidered after G as a spacer, and a small floral element serves as a spacer after V. Four narrow cross stitch bands, dividing the panel into four spaces, are worked horizontally on the linen, and what appears to be a partial letter is stitched in dark pink in the third section. An untrimmed length of black thread is visible on the front of the sampler, at the end of the row of black cross stitching.Curatorial RemarksAlthough this tiny sampler has no name or date, it may well be a little girl's first attempt at a marking sampler after having learned her plain sewing. Girls attending a boarding school or day academy for their education would have worked on a variety of embroidery projects and would have produced several practice and interim samplers before tackling her formal decorative sampler towards the end of her school years.
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