M.A. Brearey, Quaker Darning Sampler, England, 1816
Price: $1600, Sampler size: 8" x 8¼"

An excellent book, Quaker School Girl Samplers from Ackworth (2006), by Carol Humphrey of the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, presents the enormous breath and depth of the samplers made at the Ackworth School, which was founded in 1779 in Yorkshire. Amongst these are darning samplers, classified by Mrs. Humphrey as "Useful & Beautiful" in the chapter of her book that includes many examples dating from the 1780s through the late 1820s.

This 1816 darning sampler, made by M.A. Brearey, bears a strong resemblance to Ackworth School darning samplers. The four darns and the Quaker block lettering that forms the name are quite similar to published examples; however, a search of the Ackworth archives reveals no scholar of that surname. It is possible that Miss Brearey attended another Quaker school whose teachings emulated those of Ackworth. Another possibility is that the maker is Mary Ann Brearey who was born in 1802 and lived in Dewsbury, a small town just less than twenty miles from the Ackworth School. Could she have taken lessons from an Ackworth scholar and learned to replicate a darning sampler? In fact, there are samplers that are in the collection of the Ackworth School whose makers did not attend the school, and which remain mysterious to scholars; two of these are similar darning samplers made in 1820 and 1822.

While we cannot know specifics about this darning sampler, we can appreciate it on many levels. Worked in silk on linen, it is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a later frame.