Ah, the sampler. It’s like sketching for needlework. Historically a sort of unofficial certificate of domestic prowess, samplers proved a young lady was a capable, hardworking, and accomplished seamstress who could adequately maintain her future household. Yet in recent years, textile museums and historians are beginning to value not only the skill of such works, but their artistic merit as well. Filled with motifs of household symbols, decorative borders, elaborate florals and crisp alphabets, the samplers provide a peek into the culture around these young women and the things they found important. As more young ladies (usually of higher status) began attending schools, samplers flourished and the art form truly took off. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History writes along with their collection of early American
samplers how these works are not only a unique insight into these women’s lives, but invaluable relics of early female education. As a fiber artist, the preservation of these artifacts of girlhood is especially precious to me. Through the dedication of museums working to bring these pieces into the spotlight, we now have a fairly complete history of the sampler, beginning with the earliest found American sampler of Loara Standish made around 1645. That’s nearly 400 years of stitch history!
The tradition of samplers is one that continues today–with a slight twist. Modern samplers tend toward clean, minimal linework and simplistic imagery. This still provides a reflection of our current aesthetics, but reveals far less about our daily lives. How cool would it be to see queer samplers a la LJ Roberts? Or childhood renditions of computer screens and phones neatly stitched in place? Motifs of protest signs, fast food, and apartment buildings? Some may argue these themes are less beautiful, less romantic, but as we know from stories like this one ascribed to Loara Standish’s work, people will find romance in anything.
Photo Credits by artist:Loara Standish, Jane Winter Price, Catalina Juliana Mason, Mary Louisa McCully, Anne Buxton, Emma Feather, Needle and Cloth, Melissa Wastney,Little Dear, Dropcloth Samplers
