Antique Samplers

Mary Hillyer was born in 1816, the daughter of Hannah and George, who was a rent collector near Winchester. In 1823, the final year that Mrs. Ventham’s school was open, Mary made this sampler. The Ventham/Venton family might have been prominent in the area, with a John Ventham becoming Mayor in the 1850’s. The family…

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: Make much of precious Time while in your PowerBe careful well to husband ev’ry hour:For Time Will come When you shall sore lamentThe unhappy Minutes that you…

Another wonderful Scottish “mansion house” sampler, this piece begins with a beautiful stem and satin stitched freehand vine and ribbon upper border above a verse: Tell me you knowing and discerning fewWhere I may find a friend that’s firm and trueWho dares stand by me when in deep distressAnd then his love and friendship most…

This is a beautiful late eighteenth century English sampler featuring horizontal rows of alphabets and numerals above a verse: Labour not only to know what you ought, but to Practice it; and be always ready to make others better By your good advice, at least, be very careful not to Make them worse by your…

A very finely stitched English sampler in excellent condition, minor fading, few losses. It features a four sided honeysuckle border with a horizontal pattern band of crowns, a depiction of “Solomon’s Temple” flanked by a stag and a doe, flying birds and windmills. The attribution in the lower register is flanked by beautifully executed swaying…

This English samplers was made when Elizabeth was only eight years old. There is an unusual coat of arms in the top quarter depicting a crowned lion and a unicorn flanking a large crown, with this verse below it: Range where you please in WaterEarth and Air. God is in everything and every where A…

The story of Harlequin and Colombina (Columbine) originated in Italy in the early 17th century in the Commedia dell’Arte. Colombina’s father, Pantaloon, a greedy and foolish merchant of Venice, tries to separate the lovers, and Harlequin, in a black mask, spends most of his time plotting mischief. By the end of the 18th century the…

An English Adam and Eve sampler This wonderfully busy sampler is filled with many traditional and some quite unusual motifs including a coat of arms at the top, an oversized shepherd and shepherdess, woodpeckers, stylized gazebos, fluttering cherubs, squirrels, crows, and Adam and Eve beside the Tree of Life. A four sided meandering floral border…

Possibly from New York, and formerly in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Whitman sampler collection). The sampler is executed in cross stitch on linen, with a four-sided meandering floral border in shades of gold, red, brown, blue-green, ivory, black and dark red. A large naturalistic flower basket is at the center. The…

Sweet English sampler with a four sided berry border centering an eight line verse and various spot motifs including parrots, butterflies, geese and potted plants, with a curious little building at the bottom center that could be a chapel, a gatehouse or a folly. The verse comes from “Hymns for Children” by Charles Wesley (published…

An English sampler featuring an elaborate building, “Sheffield General Infirmary” flanked by a nicely outfitted couple, standing on grassy lawns and a driveway. There is a four sided floral border, and a verse: O that my load of sin were goneO that i Could at last submitAt Jesus Feet to lay it DownTo lay my…

Elizabeth Graham stitched her sampler on homespun linen. and apparently the sampler was never framed but safely stored away. The colors of the silk on the back of the sampler are the same as on the front. The sampler has been float mounted on linen in a period style frame. The stitches used in the…