Samplers of Sincerity

The English word 'sampler' derives from the Latin 'exemplum', or the ancient French term, ‘essamplaire', meaning 'an example'. Prior to the introduction of printing, embroiderers and lacemakers used samplers as a method to record their different stitches, motifs and patterns for future reference. Stitchers often finished their work by adding their name, date of completion and sometimes their location too. Some of the earliest samplers discovered are thought to date from the 14th or 15th centuries, and the medium remained popular right up until the mid-19th century.

In the late 1600’s, sampler-making became an educational tool, and was often completed as schoolwork for young women. The subject matter became more pictorial, including numbers and alphabets alongside elements such as architectural motifs (often the schoolhouse), landscapes, animals and large potted plants. Moral or religious texts, often in rhyme, became a popular way to practise lettering and the hours and days spent hand-stitching also served as an additional method of memorising a pertinent verse or poem. Often, the text or rhyme in the sampler designs would be noticeably serious in contrast with the naïve and dainty children’s needlework. Arrangements of delicate floral patterns would surround a grave bible verse, or an elegant scene of trees and animals would be topped with a dire moral warning. This trait, combined with a lack of accurate perspective and proportion, adds a slight feeling of unease to the samplers; each depicting its own fairy tale on the cusp of turning sour.

For this collection, I have illustrated three of my own ‘embroidered’ samplers, hand-drawn stitch-by-stitch. I have used the techniques described above to add a feeling of naivety, but the real sense of unease comes from the only ‘un-stitched’ features: the animals themselves. They are still in the ‘real’ world for now, and yet every creature depicted in this collection, from mammal to insect, is classed as endangered or threatened, their species in drastic decline. Victorian and Georgian mourning jewellery features species already lost, a stark reminder of what could lay ahead. The verses I have written and attributed within each illustration are an overly simplified moral warning for us all to heed. While the embroidered texts are conventionally religious in traditional, antique samplers, my poems follow my own form of religion; that of the natural world. Samplers have long been seen not only as decoration but also as an educative tool. My hope is that these artworks serve the same purpose.