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This beautiful jewel toned English sampler was stitched on a very fine linen in vibrant shades of silk, using cross and counted thread satin stitches separating four verses. More about the antique sampler Elizabeth Hicks

The Scarlet Letter has six antique samplers for sale. Some of these will be reproduced in the future, but are available for purchase.

Darning Sampler

Mary Hood 1768

Susana How Whitchurch

Fanny Peachey

Unsigned Pictorial Sampler

Whitework Band Sampler

This beautiful. petite, energetic sampler expressed three fine verses and, at the end, one of the truest "signatures" I've ever read on a piece of needlework. More about Elizabeth Hicks

This beautiful depiction of the Old Testament story of Moses was likely made in the late seventeenth or very early eighteenth century. The lively mix of biblical story has been interpreted by the needle worker through her contemporary lens (note the rambling red brick late Tudor/early Stuart buildings and the fashionable clothing of the women-apart from their rather clumsy sandals) as they gather the baby from the river. More about Moses in the Bulrushes.

This English sampler features imposing, symmetrical red brick mansion houses flanking Adam and Eve and the Tree of Life in the upper register. Esther Charlton finished her sampler when she was fourteen years old.

This small textile originally made in the late 15th or early 16th century, is called a "palla" (chalice cover), stitched on a linen ground. The center show the face of Christ with a golden halo, framed by a narrow guilloche band and a large Latin inscription in Gothic lettering which translates as "Hail the holy face INRI the Redeemer." More about Palla.

Rose's unusual middle name should have provided some clues about where she was born, and where she lived, but the name "Shenamon" is elusive despite my efforts to discover its origins as well as hers. It is spelled many different ways when researched (including Shinimon and Schinnamon which suggest a Germanic origin, or perhaps even Hebrew). From the stylistic characteristics of her work, she was obviously schooled in Scotland in 1816 when she stitched this sampler. More about the Rose Shenamon Mitchell sampler.

Click on any of the pictures below for a larger image.

Camel and Lion

Saxon Alphabet Sampler

What an amazing sampler this is, with text interspersed with elaborate motifs in a wide variety of stitches. Mary Green made this sampler at Mrs Lear's school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, demonstrating a high level of skill using cross, satin, stem, petit point, queen, straight and back stitches for a variety of unusual motifs including two enormous birds flanking a Solomon's Temple, and a sailing ship. with one sailor aboard.

Rebekah Hacker(1777-1799) was the daughter of schoolmaster Isaac Hacker (1750-1818) and Anna Estes Hacker (1754-1802) of Salem, Massachusetts. Rebekah was one of ten children, and died unwed at age 22. After her death, her sampler passed into the family of her brother, Jeremiah Hacker, who lived in Philadelphia.

This beautifully detailed sampler will be available before December 15th. Stay tuned to The Scarlet Letter!

English band samplers made in the seventeenth century exhibit some of the most astonishing variety of stitches and motifs found on sampler of nearly every other era, which is why it has come to be known as the "Golden Age of sampler making." A new seventeenth century reproduction sampler is now available: SB circa 1640-1650.

The original antique sampler is also for sale.

At the age of ten years, Elizabeth Broomhead stitched this nearly pristine and colorful English sampler, which was never framed which accounts for its brilliant color and condition.

Eunice Birchard is from the Hope R. Hacker sampler collection at the Allentown Art Museum in Allentown, PA. Embodying all of the naivete, post revolutionary patriotism and charm of early American samplers, this simple piece makes use of cross over one and two threads of linen, and rice stitch.

Mary Stoppard's graduation piece from the Lea School is mounted and framed. In the 19th century, one of the most important parts of the school curriculum for young girls was the mastering of sewing and darning skills, as they were expected to be able to make and repair clothing.

We have updated our customer gallery with a picture of Amy Ball stitched by Jill Lyons.

If you want to see more items that have been recently added, check out our list of new items. It shows all items that have been added to the TSL website during the past year. You can display the list at any time by clicking on the cherub logo in the right column of any webpage.