Terms and Conditions
The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
(England)
Sampler 1692
linen, silk (thread), metal (thread)
62.8 × 26.5 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1952
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Where possible, the image must be reproduced in full (no cropping or over-printing). If you wish to use a detail of the work, a full reproduction of the work must also be reproduced elsewhere in the publication.
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About this work
For young middle-class women, embroidery was a matter of learning, discipline and moral instruction; skills honed through the making of samplers. As the first items in one’s repertoire of domestic needlework, samplers followed a common linear format. This early band sampler is a compilation of practical stitches and patterns. The top half includes decorative borders and two pre-modern cross-stitched alphabets (without J and U) of the type used to mark household and personal linen, while the lower half features common whitework patterns used for decorating shirts and smocks.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
(England)
Inscription
stitched in brown silk and metal thread l.r.: 1692 / A D (in a heart-shaped lozenge)
stitched in white silk thread l.r.: A D
Accession Number
1112-D4
Department
International Fashion and Textiles
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Professor AGL Shaw AO Bequest
Physical description
Linen band sampler comprising twelve bands embroidered in coloured and white silks with formalised floral and leaf patterns and the alphabet in red-brown, green and blue.
The lower half of the sampler is embroidered in white silks.
Embroidery stitches: Holbein, buttonhole, cross stitch, needle lace