Elizabeth Mitchel circa 1780

A Scottish Sampler

This antique is SOLD.

This quintessential Scottish sampler is stitched with fine silks on linen with an industrious use of stitches including queen, petit point, back, cross, counted satin, stem and turkeywork. A four sided queen stitch border surrounds many unusual motifs including the traditional Scottish peacocks with seven tail feathers, a man in a kilt playing a Scottish dulcimer, finely stitched birds, flowers, human figures, a windmill, Solomon’s Temple, a comical Adam and Eve waving their left hands under an elaborate Tree of Life, and a beautiful mansion house filled in with counted satin stitch, with a lawn of turkey work. The colors are very good, and there are a few small holes on the right side which do not interfere with the design. Across the top is a line of family initials and Elizabeth’s name. The verse reads:

Teach me to live that I may dread
The Grave as little as my bed
Teach me to die that so I may
Triumphing rise at the last day

The photos were taken before conservation and framing. Once the work is complete I will post photos of the finished piece. The sampler will be available as a chart/kit in early 2015. The sampler measures 13″ x 15″.