22 
SAMPLERS and NEEDLEWORK of 
AMERICAN COLONIAL DAYS 
House & Garden 
Their Designs and Inscriptions Record Their Own 
History and Guide the Collector in Her Choice 
M. H. NORTHEND 
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i uwtfcout ar^u*Ko>.t Prefer 
'ThivT u/rouShi . rear 
T HE revival of old- 
time cross stitch and 
the coming into vogue of 
& the 20th Century sampler 
worked out to meet modern 
themes has brought into 
the limelight many hidden 
I bits of 17th Century nee¬ 
dlework, much of which is 
I exquisite in design and 
workmanship. The origin 
of this movement can be 
traced back for more than 
two hundred and fifty 
years. We can well im¬ 
agine the worker of these 
iainty stitches becoming fascinated in her 
landiwork as from the Orient, France, Italy 
md Spain trophies were sent to her relating 
;o important events in the wars. 
A memorial sam¬ 
pler used as fire¬ 
screen. Embroid¬ 
ered by Lucy Gould 
in 1803 
Samplers as Pictures 
When our country was young many of these 
specimens were hung on parlor walls together 
with heraldic coats of arms. In those days 
pictures were a rarity, needlework 
taking their place,' exhibited proudly 
as specimens of the worker’s skill. 
Printing being expensive, many of 
these samplers were designed with 
mottoes and memorials of important 
events. This gives them a definite 
place in history. 
To the collector they are a never- 
ending source of delight. They pic¬ 
ture the educational austerity of 
Colonial days. In these faded, al¬ 
most illegible records of the past, we 
find quaint and lugubrious verses 
almost as gruesome as those shown 
on the headstones in old burying 
grounds. 
The working of a sampler was by 
no means a thing to be entered upon 
lightly, since it was designed to be 
passed down to posterity as the proof 
of the ability of its maker. Often 
eleven i 8 2 £ 
virtue le a to tWe 
were they wrought by clev¬ 
er and skillful women who 
took great care and used 
discriminating taste in 
A firescreen sam¬ 
pler once in the 
possession of 
President John 
Quincy Adams 
their formation. 
Our grand dames were 
noted needlewomen. The 
art was taught in school, 
it being considered as 
much a part of education 
as the three “R’s,” and one 
afternoon each week was 
set apart for instructing 
both boys and girls in the 
craft. It was not a fad, 
but a necessity. In those 
days both men and women wore hand-embroi¬ 
dered trimmings. This took the form of ruffled 
shirts that showed copious embroidery and 
curious stitches with open, seams, the designs 
being copied from samplers, for books of de¬ 
sign were scarce and families had to preserve 
them on samplers. 
Personal adornment was not the only thing 
that demanded its use for there was linen to 
be marked and numbered for identi¬ 
fication. The task was assigned to 
expert needlewomen, and it was this 
that produced the ornamental letters 
such as we frequently find on old- 
time samplers. 
Sampler Shapes 
The shape varied, being either 
square or oblong, for the looms of 
the 17th Century produced very nar¬ 
row widths of linen. These were 
used either bleached or unbleached 
as the worker desired. They differed 
in firmness, ranging from the coarse 
canvas-like material to a fine, closely 
woven texture r -“mbling pillow case 
linen. About 1725 broader liner 
came into vogue, thus giving greater 
scope for originality, and towards the 
end of the 18th Century, was re¬ 
placed by an ugly moth-attracting 
Sally Proctor Field, aged eleven, embroidered her sampler at the 
Dames School in Salem. It is a typical sampler with the edifying 
admonition at the bottom which marks the work of this period 
.4 large sampler worked by 
Clarissa Emmerton, aged 14. 
Bless her! She did beautiful 
work on the border 
Betsy Sawyer in 1798 finished 
her stint, embroidering a quaint 
lady with birds which look 
remarkably futuristic 
The purely pictorial embroidery generally represents 
outdoor scenes or figures. This example is in the 
original maple frame 
