Part 16 (1/2)
[Ill.u.s.tration: A SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ”SAMPLER” (ENGLISH), SHOWING CUT AND DRAWN WORK.
(_S.K.M. Collection._)]
The earliest samplers appeared to have been worked only on white cotton or silk. A favourite design, apart from the lacework samplers, was the ”damask pattern” sampler, a specimen of which may be noted, commencing with the fifth row, on the sampler ill.u.s.trated. Sometimes the sampler was entirely composed of it, and although ineffective, remains as a marvel of skill. It was worked entirely in flat satin st.i.tch and eyelet holes, known as the ”bird's eye” pattern. In the ill.u.s.tration four rows of cutwork will be noted, followed by five rows of drawn threadwork, and above are patterns worked in floral and geometric designs in coloured silks. The alphabet and the date 1643 complete this monument of skill, which may be seen in the South Kensington Museum.
The succeeding ill.u.s.tration shows a more ambitious attempt, and is considered one of the finest specimens known. It was worked by Elizabeth Mackett, 1696. It is on white linen with ten rows of floral patterns worked with coloured silks in cross, stem, and satin st.i.tches, with some portions worked separately and applied. Five rows of white satin st.i.tch, two rows of alphabet letters in coloured silks, and four rows of exquisite punto in aria lace patterns are followed by the alphabet again in white st.i.tches and the maker's name and date. The sampler is in superb preservation, the colours are particularly rich and well chosen.
This sampler is also from the South Kensington Collection. Often the worker's name is followed by a verse or rhyme having a delightfully prosaic tendency. One can imagine the poor girls, in the early days we are writing of, writhing under the infliction of having slowly and painstakingly to work the solemn injunction--
”When this you see remember me And keep me in your mind, And be not like a weatherc.o.c.k That turns at every wind.
When I am dead and laid in grave, And all my bones are rotten, By this you may remember me When I should be forgotten.”
And we can appreciate how little Maggie Tulliver (”The Mill on the Floss”) must have girded at the philosophy she was compelled to work into her sampler--
”Look well to what you take in hand, For learning is better than house or land; When land is gone and money is spent Then learning is most excellent.”
With the eighteenth century the beauty of the Samplers distinctly declined. They became squarer, and were bordered with a running pattern, and the whole canvas became more or less pictorial. Inevitably the end of this art came. Ugly realistic bowpots with stumpy trees decorated the picture in regular order. The alphabet still appeared, and moral reflection seemed to be the aim of the worker rather than to make the Sampler show beauty of st.i.tchery. Quaint little maps of England are often seen, surrounded with floral borders, but it remained to the early nineteenth century to show how the Sampler became reduced to absurdity.
One of the quaintest and most amusing Samplers at South Kensington is a 12-inch by 8-inch example in woollen canvas and embroidered with coloured silk. At the lower end is a soldier, a tiny realistic house, a dovecot, any number of flowering plants, a stag and other animals. Above is a band of worked embroidery enclosing the words, ”This is my dear Father.” The remaining s.p.a.ces are filled in with angels blowing trumpets, double-headed eagle, peac.o.c.ks and other birds, and baskets of fruit. In spite of its absurdity, this little piece is far more pleasant than the tombstone inscriptions which abound, and is, after all, delightfully suggestive of home and affection.
[Ill.u.s.tration: EARLY ENGLISH ”SAMPLER,” SHOWING EMBROIDERY IN COLOURED SILK.
(_S.K.M. Collection._)]
[Ill.u.s.tration: EARLY ENGLISH ”SAMPLER,” SHOWING BIRD'S-EYE EMBROIDERY AND CUT AND DRAWN WORK.
(_S.K.M. Collection._)]
Another quaint piece at South Kensington is a sampler worked by poor Harriet Taylor, _aged seven!_ At the top are four flying angels, two in clouds flanking a crown beneath the letters ”G. R.” In the middle stands a flower-wreathed arch, with columns holding vases of flowering plants; above are the words, ”The Temple of Fancy,” and within an enclosed s.p.a.ce the following homily:
”Not Land but Learning Makes a man complete Not Birth but Breeding Makes him truly Great Not Wealth but Wisdom Does adorn the State Virtue not Honor Makes him Fortunate Learning, Breeding, Wisdom Get these three Then Wealth and Honor Will attend on thee.”
Then follows a house called ”The Queen's Palace,” standing in an enclosed flower-garden. This masterpiece of moral philosophy from the hands of a child of seven years is dated 1813.
An exaggerated conception of the value of old Samplers is very widely spread. Only the seventeenth-century Samplers are really of consequence, and these fetch fancy prices. In the sale-rooms a long narrow Sampler of lace st.i.tches and drawn-thread work would bring as much as a handsome piece of lace. They are practically unattainable, and in this case the law of supply and demand does not obtain. It is beyond the needlewomen of the present day to imitate these old Samplers. Life is too short, and demands upon time are so many and varied, that a lifetime of work would result in making only one. Therefore, the fortunate owners of these seventeenth-century Samplers may cherish their possessions, and those less lucky possess their souls in patience, and h.o.a.rd their golden guineas in the hope of securing one. Twenty years ago a few pounds would have been ample to secure a fine specimen, but 30 will now secure only a short fragment.
During the last three years I have not seen a good Sampler at any London Curio or lace shop, and none appear in the sale-rooms. The eighteenth-century Samplers are comparatively common, the map variety especially so, and can be purchased for a pound or so, but these are not desirable to the collector.
X
THE WILLIAM AND MARY EMBROIDERIES
[Ill.u.s.tration: JACOBEAN WALL-HANGING WORKED IN COLOURED CREWELS ON LINEN GROUND.
(_S.K.M. Collection._)]