Antique Samplers

Possibly Scottish, this adorable little sampler in very good condition features the phrase FEAR GOD, worked in eyelet stitch as its main focal point. Stitched on linen with fine wool threads, it is executed in shades of green, gold, red, rose, beige and brown with four rows of alphabets above the foreboding verse, with her…

Droughtville Forest 1807 This is a very unusual Irish sampler. The top third could pass as Scottish with the illuminated alphabets and beautiful, delicate double running stitch motifs. An unusual band of ten lozenges is stitched under the alphabets, each with a different petit point motif within in. The lower half of the sampler is…

This is a very unusual English sampler, extremely finely worked, but with considerable losses. Nonetheless it is a fascinating study piece. Many astonishing sections remain in reasonably good condition. It begins with five rows of alphabets done in eyelet, cross and counted satin stitches. The thread count approaches 60. The next section is a horizontal…

This sampler, from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and cleaned and conserved by their staff, features six pattern darns surrounded by a four sided floral border stitched freehand with stem and satin stitches, including French knots, centering a floral cartouche stitched free hand on a very fine linen tiffany ground. Excellent color,…

English sampler stitched with wool on linen depicting two large cats, a parrot, a cockatoo, a duck, a stag and a dog, worked mostly in cross stitch with eyelet lettering. There is a geometric four sided border. There are some small holes, minor fading, it could use a good cleaning but otherwise in very good…

Unframed English sampler stitched with silk on very fine linen. Paired cherubs flank the tree in the upper register, followed by a pious verse, and the attribution with potted flowers and trees. There is a four sided floral border. Stitches used are cross , eyelet and petit point.z The verse is: Heaven’s choice is safer…

An English Sampler This beautifully preserved sampler retains its original, intense color, and exhibits a wide variety of stitches in its rendering of floral sprays and a bucolic scene, complete with a thatched cottage with mullioned windows, a garden folly, and fields of ripened grain. There is some minor wear to the background, but it…

Three horizontal rows of alphabets and numerals are stitched above a vibrant lower register featuring potted flowers, crowns, initials, and intricate geometric spot motifs, finely executed on linen with silk in cross, petit point, queen, and eyelet stitches over 32 ! Very good color, but poor condition. It has been conserved by and deaccessioned from…

Very finely stitched English sampler with the theme of the four seasons. A four sided strawberry border surrounds tendrils with flowers, leaves and birds springing from a large vase. Beneath the vase is a solidly satin stitched area, with trees, dogs, grasses and potted plants. The color remains vivid, and while there are areas of…

Possible Scottish band sampler stitched with fine wool on linen with a lovely geometric pattern band at the top followed by rows of alphabets, numerals, a verse and family initials. Stitches used are cross and eyelet. Very good color and condition, with some minor losses to the wool in some of the letters. 7-1/2″ x…

So many unusual and enigmatic features were left by Ann Carbutt on her sampler, made when she was sixteen years old, very likely in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The surname “Carbutt” is first found in Cheshire after the Norman Conquest. Variations of the name include “Garbutt” and “Garbit” and remain fairly common in the…

This is a spectacular English sampler elegantly executed in fine silk, containing a variety of finely worked motifs and text both in counted and free form techniques. The counted motifs are worked only through the wool tammy ground, the free stitching is worked through the cotton backing cloth as well. Motifs include birds in branches,…