A test of skill
Samplers from the Jersey Heritage Collection
As well as being Registrar with Jersey Heritage, Val Nelson is also a well regarded costume
maker. In this article she casts a well trained eye upon the needlework skills of yesteryear.
A sampler is essentially a piece of embroidery that was produced, usually by young girls, as a demonstration or test of their
skill in needlework. They often include the alphabet, numbers, motifs, decorative borders and sometimes a verse and the name of the
person who worked it and the date. Today, samplers are often simply seen as nostalgic decorative pieces associated with interior design, but in reality their historical role is much more than that.
The name ‘sampler’ is derived from the Medieval French word
essamplaire, meaning a kind of model or pattern to copy or imitate.
Before printed pattern books became available, the only way embroidery designs could be transmitted was by being passed from
hand to hand. Whenever a woman saw a new or interesting pattern
she would sew a small copy onto a piece of cloth as a reminder,
and in this way patterns spread throughout Europe and the Middle East. This method of recording patterns and motifs on fabric for
future use was an essential method of storing information, which
meant that new patterns were collected and exchanged with successive embroiderers adding their own colours and interpretation.
This collecting of patterns accelerated in the late 15th and 16th
Centuries, when there was a strong interest in all forms of decoration,
and it became fashionable for needlework to decorate clothing and
furnishings. The growing interest in travel and exploration resulted in
exchanges of techniques, materials and dyes. The introduction of the
printing press and the substitution of vellum or parchment with
cheaper paper meant that it was possible to create printed pattern
books. There was obviously a demand for these, as the first printed
pattern book arrived in 1524, published in Augsburg, Germany by
Johann Schönsperger. Similar books then appeared in France and
Italy and finally, in 1587, in England; however, these were relatively
expensive and not readily available. Because the craft of embroidery
was time-consuming and costly it was restricted to the wealthier
classes. By the end of the 16th Century, needlework had gained importance as it displayed wealth and status, and samplers continued
to be made as practice pieces and for reference.
The earliest reference to a sampler in England appears in 1502
in the household expense accounts of Henry VII’s wife, Elizabeth
of York. The records show that on 10 July of that year, Thomas Fisshe was paid for ‘an elne of Iynnyn cloth for a sampler for the
Quene’. The earliest surviving sampler is in the V & A collection,
and was signed by Jane Bostocke, dated 1598.
These early English samplers were worked in long narrow ribbons of linen, which varied in width between 6 and 9 inches (15 23 cms). The selvages (the edge of the cloth woven in such a way
as to prevent it unravelling) became the top and bottom edges. We
know that these ‘band’ samplers were valued because they were
often mentioned in royal inventories and bequeathed in wills. Although modern samplers are usually worked in cross-stitch alone,
these early examples show many varieties of stitch and thread that
often combined different traditions - Hungarian, Florentine, blackwork, whitework, openwork and the like. They display such a high
standard of work it is believed that they were created by expert
needlewomen.
By the early 17th Century, a very simple border was added to
the sampler, sometimes surrounding a number of randomly placed
motifs - commonly referred to as Spot Samplers. These could be
pictorial, such as buildings, figures, plants and animals, or stitchand-pattern motifs. By the mid 17th Century, alphabets were being
added, and from the Commonwealth period in the 1650s religious
inscriptions were also added. Samplers were becoming signs of
virtue and achievement, and the teaching of needlework was actively encouraged.
From the 18th Century onwards samplers lost there random
nature, and in complete contrast to the ‘spot’ and ‘band’ samplers
of earlier times, samplers began to take on the proportions of paintings with symmetrically placed motifs of birds, small animals, flowers, and trees, all arranged to produce a balanced picture. As the
cost of printing had come down considerably, pattern books were
no longer prohibitively expensive, and so samplers lost their original utilitarian function and became ornamental and a display of
womanly achievement. They were considered an excellent way of
teaching, and so schoolgirls produced needlework exercises of almanacs, mathematical tables and maps, as well as numbers and
letters. A long way from the original mediaeval craft of embroidery,
which was practiced by both men and women and was the equal
of painting and sculpture as an art form.
Jersey Heritage has over 90 samplers in its textile collection, the
oldest of which dates from 1736 and the most recent 1944; the
vast majority of the collection dates from the 19th Century. Most
have been worked by girls between the ages of 5 and 11, but unusually there are four worked by boys, three of whom were from the
Gossett family. Many have the same border pattern of roses and
leaves, suggesting the same needlework teacher, but show some
very different levels of skill and, I think, interest. There are obviously those for whom needlework is natural and those who must
have shed a few tears over their canvases.
Because in most cases the samplers are signed and dated, they
can be an interesting addition to family history research. Finding a
still existing piece of embroidery that was worked by a child more
than 200 years ago can be very exciting, and it can bring our ancestors to life in a very different way.
Elizabeth Anna Marett, aged 7 years in 1736, 290 x 190mm.
This sampler worked by Elizabeth Anna Marett, who proudly declared that she was 7 years old when
she did this peice (sic) April the 22 1736, is in coloured silks on a backing of fine even-weave linen. There
are examples of Florentine stitch and cross-stitch while the larger letters have been worked in eyelet stitch.
Although showing signs of wear, even after two-and-a-half centuries, the colours are still bright and the
stitching is remarkably fine and even.
Esther Boudier, aged 11 years in 1781, 470 x 390mm.
This verse and motif sampler worked in silk on a backing of
fine even-weave linen by 11-year-old Esther Boudier was made in
1781, the same year as the Battle of Jersey. This sampler has been
damaged and then darned at some point in its long life and has
therefore lost some of the lettering in the verse.
On voit da….a chute de ces deux personnes combien il est dangereux de ne pas croire ce que Dieu…..t preter loreille aux tentations
et de suivre les desirs de la chair et avec quel …oin nous devons veiller
sur nous mêmes et obeir a toute les loix du Siegneur name (?) dans les
choses qui paroissent de la moindre importance ce qui arriva a Adam
at a Eve apres leur pechê et la punition que Dieu leur infligea en les
a….ttaisant (?) aux miseres de cette vie at a la mort et en les chaisant
(?) du jardin d’heden fait …oir que les menaces de Dieu ne sont jamais
vaines et quil ne peut laiser la desobeissance de l’homme impunie
The verse translates as We see from the fall of these two people
how dangerous it is not to believe what God . . .. and to lend an ear
to temptation and to follow the desires of the flesh and with . . . . we
must keep watch on ourselves and obey all the Lord’s named laws in
the things which seem of the least importance. That which happened
to Adam and Eve after their sin and the punishment that God inflicted
on them in . . . . them to the miseries of this life and to death and in
chasing them from the garden of Eden makes us see that the threats of
God are never idle and that he never leaves man’s disobedience unpunished.
Surprisingly this is one of only two samplers in the Jersey Heritage collection on which the verse is in French. There is a series
of holes around the hemmed edges of the sampler where it would
have been nailed to a wooden frame, while the tell-tale dark marks
from fire smoke and the very faded colours of the silks indicate
that this sampler would have been proudly displayed on a wall in
the living area.
Elizabeth Hamptonne, aged 10 years in 1826, 760 x 650mm.
This large and beautiful sampler worked by 10-year-old Elizabeth Hamptonne in 1826 has been sewn completely in crossstitch. The wide border has been worked out mathematically as in
all cross-stitch patterns, and the shading in the rose petals is very
skilled. The verse pays homage to John Wesley, the Methodist
preacher, who made such an impact on Jersey. The religious theme
continues with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with the tree
of knowledge taking centre position. The small rocket-like men figures are actually angels carrying horns of plenty.
Jane Mary Barreau, aged 5 years and 8 months 1826, 310x 315mm.
Mary Laffoley, aged 10 years in 1829, 575 x 520mm.
A beautiful verse and motif sampler worked in silk thead on fine
even weave linen and completely in cross stitch. The edge motifs
are all placed symetrically on either side of the central motifs of a
house and the tree of knowledge. The verse is titled ‘On Youth’
and reads:
‘Fragrant the Rose is, but it fades in Time;
The Violet sweet, but quickly past the Prime;
While Lilies hang their Heads and soon decay.
And white Snow in Minutes melts away;
Such and so with’ring are our earthly Joys;
Which Time or Sickness, speedily destroys;’.
Writing each noun with an initial capital letter appears quite
strange to us now, and the message of the verse is quite a
harsh one.
Jane Mary Barreau, aged 6 years in 1826, 203 x 202mm.
These samplers were worked by Jane Mary Barreau and are two
of five samplers worked by her in our collections all of which are
dated 1826, three of which state that she is aged six, and the other
two that she is aged five years and eight months. It is an extraordinary body of work for such a young child. The samplers are all
very neatly done, three are simple band samplers of alphabets and
numbers, while the other two are more pictorial.
Jane Mary Barreau was born in 1820, the daughter of a Barnabé Barreau and a Jeanne Gallichan. Jane Mary Barreau’s brother
Francois seems to have married another one of the sampler girls,
Elizabeth Hamptonne. They were the parents of Emmeline Augusta
Barreau, of the legacy and Société art gallery fame. So our 1820
Jane Mary was Emmeline Augusta’s aunt and her godmother!
10-year-old Mary Ann Vautier’s band and motif sampler is a
fairly complex and colourful design, worked in fine wool on a
course even-weave linen. The motifs in the lower section are randomly placed, but the alphabets and lettering in the upper section
are very carefully worked out. It is quite large for a sampler and
the lettering and stitches get progressively bigger towards the bottom, giving the impression that Mary Ann discovered quite early
on in the process just how long it would take to complete if she
continued with the same small letters that are in the very first row.
There are a great variety of stitches in this sampler, cross stitch,
eyelets, Hungarian stitch and straight stitch. The simple border
does not quite work out in the corners and small extra motifs have
been used as fillers.
Top left - Ada H Lucas , aged 11 years, 260 x 260mm.
Below left - Ada H Lucas, aged 12 years, 270 x 205 mm
Sampler worked in 1943 by Patricia Bell b.17/02/1914
These two samplers were worked by Ada H Lucas who was
born in St Ouen on 20 January 1883. The first made in 1894 when
she was 11 years old, is a typical alphabet band sampler design
but with a fantastic use of colour. Worked in fine wool yarn on
course linen, it clearly shows her abilities as a needlewoman. There
is a good variety of stitches, cross stitch, satin stitch and eyelets
used in lots of different combinations to form borders and lines
between each row of letters.
In the second sampler made in 1895, Ada works only in cross
stitch on an open even weave linen canvas and uses only a bright
pink wool yarn. She signs and dates it, but also stitches Standard
VII at the end, so perhaps this was a piece done for a leaving exam
that she could use to show potential employers?
Patricia Bell was one of the deportees sent to the internement
camp at Biberach in Germany during the Occupation. Patricia - internee No.51 - would have made this as a way of passing time as
much as anything else. This sampler depicts trees, flowers and a
deer hunt which are all very English scenes, and I am sure would
have been reminders of home. This sampler also reflects the trend
in the last 100 years or so for samplers to be worked by adults as
commemorative pieces.
Val Nelson is the Registrar with Jersey Heritage
Tel: 01534 633324
E-mail: [email protected]