Page 28 - JOA August 2020

Samplers

An Evolution of Purpose & Design

by Melody Amsel-Arieli

amplers are pieces of fabric worked to demonstrate mastery of ornamental embroidery stitches
and motifs. This fine art arose in the late Middle Ages when English nuns and needlework
S professionals created exquisite, gold and silver-gilt embroidered ecclesiastical and secular
textiles. From about 1350, however, their quality declined. Materials became less lavish, techniques
became less complex, and appliquéd motifs replaced allover designs.
Ornamental needlework flourished anew from around 1534, when Henry VIII, on dissolving
ties with the Catholic Church, appropriated its luxurious, embroidered chasubles, copes, and altar
hangings, as his own. As this elaborate style became fashionable at court, men and women,
professionals and amateurs alike, adorned vests, sleeves, gowns, handkerchiefs, pockets, pin pillows,
linens, and table carpets with arrays of colorful embroidered stitchery. Their craft was not simply a
pleasant pastime, however. Due to the exorbitant cost of fine linen and silk thread, it also indicated
wealth and social status.

British darning sampler, signed: Frances Boyce/1780, silk on linen, 20 ¹⁄8 x 20 ¹⁄8” framed, courtesy www.metmuseum.org
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British band sampler inscribed ”Mary Pots wrought this sampler and this date/1648,” silk on linen; double running,
satin, detached buttonhole, Montenegrin cross, herringbone, and chain stitches, 34½ x W. 8¼”, courtesy www.metmuseum.org