IAMEK 1801

Description

German and Dutch samplers are known for their iconography, especially the symbolic religious motifs. This piece, reproduced from the collection of the Allentown Art Museum in Allentown, Pennsylvania, portrays many of these motifs. Adam and Eve, in particular, are often the principal motif on samplers from Protestant Northern Germany. Other symbolic motifs on this sampler include the Spies of Canaan with their cluster of grapes (dressed in the fashion of 1801 rather than Biblical-era garb), the wreath conveyed by crowned angels (the wreath and crown are both symbols for eternity); the Crucifixion with the two Marys and the Arma Christi; the “Free Maiden,” also known as Justice, holding up her scepter and the scales of justice; the red carnation (symbol of maternal love, and said to have grown up from the ground where each of Mary’s tears fell along Christ’s path to Calvary); the cock (conqueror of darkness), Jacob’s struggle with the angel; the three towers and lions rampant from the coat of arms of the City of Hamburg, St. John the Baptist , baskets and clusters of fruit (fecundity), and the pelican with her young. Stitches used are cross, and a small amount of counted thread satin.