Darning Sampler,
Northern Europe,
1788

Sampler size:
12½" x 13"

Price: $5200

Enlarged and Printer Version

As part of their needlework training, one of the most practical skills at which a young woman could become proficient was darning, allowing her to extend the life of costly household textiles and clothing. To teach this skill, instructresses cut square holes in the ground fabric of samplers and required students to reproduce particular weave structures to mend the area. Today, the darning samplers created by these accomplished needleworkers are considered very desirable as they exhibit both refined techniques and stunning graphic qualities.

This darning sampler is a particularly splendid example and an impressive demonstration of the stitcher's skill. As is often the case on Dutch samplers, the maker's name was not included but various sets of initials appear on the sampler, likely those of the needleworker, her parents and, perhaps, her teacher. The date of 1788 is earlier than that of many darning samplers and the size and complexity of the darned squares is consistent with this early date. Note that the needlework covers the great majority of the sampler. A wonderful assortment of patterns and weaves are duplicated on this sampler worked in a varied and handsome palette. However the square that dominates the sampler is the large whitework checkerboard darn in the center; whitework may have been in fact the most practical of darns as so many household fabrics and clothing would ultimately benefit from this type of repair. The maker of this sampler clearly learned this lesson well.

Of particular interest is the original beige silk zigzag binding on this sampler. Very few darning samplers indeed appear to have had this treatment and even fewer retain their binding. We know of two published examples of darning samplers that share this binding, one of which appears in Patterns and Motifs from the St. Gallen Textile Museum, an 1802 German darning sampler, catalogue # 186.

Worked in silk on linen with a silk binding, the sampler is in excellent condition with a minor repair within the whitework. It has been conservation mounted into a fine gold leaf frame.

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