Samplers

Every sampler is a historical record of one girl’s educational training and the type and value placed on that education.
~Valerie J. Davis

For Art Thursday, historic needlework samplers.

The Victoria and Albert Museum explains, "Needlework skills were important for the future management of a girl's household, and the personal adornment of herself and her family. Alphabets allowed girls to practice the marking of linen (sheets, undergarments and other personal items were named so they came back to their right owners after wash day), while spot motifs and border patterns could be used to decorate both clothes and domestic furnishings."

The sampler below by Alicia Lawrence was made when she was 12 and records the births (and one death) of her parents' children.

People are still making samplers today to practice skills and commemorate events, etc. A sampler my mom made when Ben and I got married gave me the idea for this week's topic.

Sampler, 1701

Sally Jackson sampler, 1760

Sampler, 1750-75, England

Alicia Lawrence, 1798

Mary Jones sampler

Jane Wilson sampler