English Needlework Sampler dated 1768

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About the Item

We very rarely encounter a sampler, English or American, which is unlike any other known example. Mary Smith’s extraordinary sampler is comprised of eight fully-worked miniature scenes, each stitched with great proficiency and remarkable workmanship. The subject of each vignette is an idealized vision of country life, depicting gentlefolk busy at tasks and at play in a bucolic world. This genre was popular with needleworkers as early as the 17th century when imagery of everyday life in the country began to appear. Kathy Staples, scholar and author of British Embroideries Curious Works from the Seventeenth Century (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1998), discusses ladies and gentleman at leisure in the countryside, and this particular sampler reminded her of the following delightful early traditional English folk song: It’s a rosebud in June, and the violets in full bloom; / And the small birds are singing love songs on each spray. / We’ll pipe and we’ll sing, love, / We’ll dance in a ring, love, / When each lad takes his lass, / All on the green grass. / And it’s oh, to plough, / Where the fat oxen graze low, / And the lads and the lasses to sheep shearing go.

The needleworker may have intended the eight little narratives to tell one story or may have planned each to stand on its own. Some of the more intriguing portrayals include the gentleman at the upper right contemplating his reflection in a pond and, two below that, the cottage with an owl above it under the moon and stars, which were worked in couched metallic threads. A great assortment of buildings are shown, including little huts, windmills, churches, manor houses and a cathedral. Barges, bridges, gazebos, archways and many little animals and birds provide further detail, rendering this sampler a veritable catalogue of 18th century pictorial sampler design.

Fine checkerboard bands worked in the satin stitch separate the vignettes and a border of classic mid-18th century design frames the sampler well. The maker, Mary Smith, signed and dated her work in delicate red stitches worked into the border at the center of the bottom. It was worked in silk and metallic thread on wool and is in very good condition with some very minor areas of wear. It has been conservation mounted into a mahogany frame with an outer bead of gold leaf.

Samplers and needlework are our specialty. If you are interested in more of this type of work please visit our website, www.samplings.com.

Place of Origin:
England
Period:
18th Century and Earlier
Date of Manufacture:
dated 1768
Condition:
Very good with some very monor areas of wear.
Seller Location:
Philadelphia, PA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: U1003298583209

Antique Sheep Shearer