Chapter II: Part III: (1) Stitchery of Embroideries in Imitation of

TAPESTRY AND THE LIKE.--BACKGROUND STITCHES.--FIGURES IN
RAISED NEEDLEWORK.--KNOT STITCHES.--PLUSH STITCH.--EMBROIDERY
IN PURL AND METALLIC THREADS.--BEAD EMBROIDERY.--FIRST STAGE
OF EMBROIDERED PICTURE 143-160

(2) THE STITCHERY OF SAMPLERS, WITH A NOTE ON THEIR
MATERIALS.--CUT AND DRAWN WORK.--BACK STITCH.--ALPHABET
STITCHES.--DARNING STITCHES.--TENT AND CROSS STITCHES.--
VARIOUS STITCHES.--MATERIALS 161-171

INDEX 173

List of Colour Plates

PLATE _To face page_

I. TAPESTRY EMBROIDERY. HENRY VIII., EDWARD VI., MARY,
AND ELIZABETH _Frontispiece_

II. SAMPLER, BY M. C. 16TH-17TH CENTURY 9

III. PORTION OF LONG SAMPLER, BY A. S. DATED 1648 16

IV. SAMPLER, BY ELIZABETH CALTHORPE. DATED 1656 20

V. PORTION OF SAMPLER, BY MARY HALL. DATED 1662 24

VI. PORTION OF SAMPLER, BY ELIZABETH CREASEY. DATED 1686 36

VII. SAMPLER, BY HANNAH DAWE. 17TH CENTURY 42

VIII. SAMPLER, BY MARY POSTLE. DATED 1747 48

IX. SAMPLER, BY E. PHILIPS. DATED 1761 56

X. SAMPLER, BY CATHERINE TWEEDALL. DATED 1775 66

XI. SAMPLER, BY ANN CHAPMAN. DATED 1779 78

XII. SAMPLER, BY ANN MARIA WIGGINS. 19TH CENTURY 90

XIII. AMERICAN SAMPLER, BY MARTHA C. BARTON. DATED 1825 100

XIV. TAPESTRY EMBROIDERY: CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE, STONING OF
MARTYRS, ETC. ABOUT 1625 123

XV. TAPESTRY EMBROIDERY. THE STORY OF HAGAR AND ISHMAEL.
ABOUT 1630 124

XVI. TAPESTRY EMBROIDERY. CHARLES I. AND HIS QUEEN. ABOUT 1630 126

XVII. LID OF A CASKET. THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS. ABOUT 1630 130

XVIII. TAPESTRY EMBROIDERY. THE STORY OF QUEEN ESTHER. ABOUT 1630 132

XIX. LID OF A CASKET. ABOUT 1660 143

XX. BACK OF CASKET IN TAPESTRY EMBROIDERY. SIGNED A. K., 1657 144

XXI. BEADWORK EMBROIDERY. CHARLES II. AND HIS QUEEN, ETC. 150

XXII. TAPESTRY EMBROIDERY. DATED 1735 158

XXIII. PURL EMBROIDERY. 16TH AND 17TH CENTURY 161

XXIV. DARNING SAMPLER. DATED 1788 164

Illustrations in Text

FIG. PAGE

1. THE VISIT TO THE BOARDING SCHOOL, BY GEORGE MORLAND xiv

2. BOTTOM OF SAMPLER, IN KNOTTED YELLOW SILK, BY MARY CANEY, 1710 1

3. UPPER PORTION OF SAMPLER, BY PUPIL IN ORPHAN SCHOOL,
CALCUTTA, 1797 9

4. SAMPLER OF CUT AND EMBROIDERED WORK. EARLY 17TH CENTURY 16

5. PORTION OF SAMPLER. 17TH CENTURY 17

6. PORTION OF SAMPLER OF CUT AND EMBROIDERED WORK. 17TH CENTURY 18

7. SAMPLERS IN THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM. DATED 1643,
1667, 1696 19

8. LONG SAMPLER, SIGNED ANN TURNER. 1686 24

9. SAMPLER, BY ELIZABETH BAKER. 1739 25

10. SAMPLER, BY CHARLOTTE BRONTË. 1829 29

11. SAMPLER, BY EMILY JANE BRONTË. 1829 31

12. SAMPLER, BY ANNE BRONTË. 1830 33

13. EASTER SAMPLER, BY KITTY HARISON. 1770 37

14. SAMPLER, BY ELIZABETH STOCKWELL. 1832 43

15. SAMPLER, BY SARAH YOUNG. _c._ 1750 53

16. DRAWN-WORK SAMPLER, BY S. I. D. 1649 59

17. SAMPLER, BY JEAN PORTER. 1709-10 61

18. SAMPLER. NAME ILLEGIBLE. DATE, 1742 63

19. SAMPLER, BY MARY ANDERSON. 1831 67

20. SAMPLER (? SCOTTISH). 18TH CENTURY 69

21. SMALL SCOTTISH SAMPLER, BY J. H. [JANE HEATH]. 1728 71

22. SAMPLER, BY MARY BYWATER. 1751 72

23. HEART-SHAPED SAMPLER, BY MARY IVES. 1796 73

24. DRAWN-WORK SAMPLER, BY S. W. 1700 76

25. BORDER OF MARY LOUNDS'S SAMPLER. 1726 77

26. BORDER OF MARY HEAVISIDE'S SAMPLER. 1735 77

27. BORDER OF ELIZABETH GREENSMITH'S SAMPLER. 1737 77

28. BORDER OF MARGARET KNOWLES'S SAMPLER. 1738 78

29. BORDER TO SAMPLER, BY ELIZABETH TURNER. 1771 78

30. BORDER TO SAMPLER, BY SARAH CARR. 1809 79

31. BORDER TO SAMPLER, BY SUSANNA HAYES. 1813 79

32. SMALL SAMPLER, BY MARTHA HAYNES. 1704 81

33. SAMPLER, BY SARAH PELHAM, AGED 6 83

34. SCOTTISH SAMPLER, BY ROBERT HENDERSON. 1762 85

35. TWO SMALL SAMPLERS, BY MAY JOHNSON. 1785-6 87

36. TWO SMALL SAMPLERS, BY LYDIA JOHNSON. 1784 87

37. SCOTTISH SAMPLER, BY MARY BAYLAND. 1779 89

38. SAMPLER, BY MARY MINSHULL. 1694 90

39. MAP OF NORTH AMERICA, BY M. A. K. 1788 93

40. MAP OF ENGLAND AND WALES, BY ANN BROWN 94

41. MAP OF AFRICA. 1784 95

42. SAMPLER, BY ANNE GOWER 98

43. SAMPLER, BY LOARA STANDISH 99

44. SAMPLER, BY MILES AND ABIGAIL FLEETWOOD 99

45. SAMPLER, BY ABIGAIL RIDGWAY. 1795 100

46. SAMPLER, BY ELIZABETH EASTON. 1795 101

47. SAMPLER, BY MARIA E. SPALDING. 1815 102

48. SAMPLER, BY MARTHA C. HOOTON. 1827 103

49. SAMPLER, BY THE LAMBORN FAMILY. 1822 105

50. SAMPLER, BY ELIZABETH M. FORD 106

51. SAMPLER, BY LYDIA J. COTTON. 1819 107

52. SAMPLER, BY HELEN PRICE 114

53. BEADWORK SAMPLER, BY JANE MILLS 119

54. SAMPLER, BY ELIZABETH CLARKSON. 1881 121

55. EMBROIDERED GLOVE. EARLY 17TH CENTURY 123

56. THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS. ABOUT 1630 129

57. TAPESTRY EMBROIDERY: THE FINDING OF MOSES. ABOUT 1640 134

58. PORTION OF A BOOK COVER. 16TH CENTURY 136

59. PURL AND APPLIED EMBROIDERY. ABOUT 1630 137

60. EMBROIDERY PICTURE. CHARLES II. AND HIS QUEEN. 1663 141

61. HOLLIE POINT LACE, FROM TOP OF CHRISTENING CAP. 1774 143

62. CUSHION-STITCH BACKGROUND: EMBROIDERED BOOK COVER, DATED 1703 145

63. EYELET-HOLE-STITCH: FROM A SAMPLER DATED 1811 146

64. TAPESTRY EMBROIDERY. ABOUT 1640 147

65. FACE WORKED IN SPLIT-STITCH: ENLARGED FROM EMBROIDERY
REPRODUCED IN FIG. 63 150

66. FACE WORKED IN SPLIT-STITCH: ENLARGED FROM LOWER PORTION
OF FIG. 63 (NOT REPRODUCED) 151

67. KNOTTED-STITCH: ENLARGED FROM EMBROIDERY REPRODUCED IN
FIG. 63 152

68. EMBROIDERY PICTURE: A SQUIRE AND HIS LADY. DATED 1657 155

69. HAIR OF UNRAVELLED SILK: ENLARGEMENT OF PORTION OF
EMBROIDERY REPRODUCED IN PLATE 157

70. GROUNDWORK TRACING FOR EMBROIDERED PICTURE. 17TH CENTURY 159

71. MOULDS FOR KNOTTED, OR LACE-WORK, WITH SILK SPOOLS AND CASE 160

72. DRAWN-WORK SAMPLER. 17TH CENTURY 162

73. CUT AND DRAWN-WORK: ENLARGEMENT FROM 17TH CENTURY SAMPLER 163

74. SATIN-STITCH AND COMBINATION OF TYPES OF OPEN-WORK:
ENLARGED FROM THE SAMPLER REPRODUCED IN FIG. 4. 17TH CENTURY 164

75. BACK-STITCH: ENLARGEMENT OF PORTION OF SAMPLER IN FIG. 5.
17TH CENTURY. TWICE ACTUAL SIZE 165

76. DARNING SAMPLER. SIGNED M. M., T. B., J. J. 1802 167

77. ENLARGED PORTION OF A DARNING SAMPLER. DATED 1785 169

English Needlework

Amongst all the Minor Arts practised by our ancestresses, there was certainly no one which was so much the fashion, or in which a higher grade of proficiency was attained, as that of needlework. It was in vogue in the castle and the cottage, in the ladies' seminary and the dame's school, and a girl's education began and ended with endeavours to attain perfection in it. Amongst the earliest objects to be shown to a mother visiting her daughter at school was, as is seen in the charming picture by Morland in the Wallace Collection (Fig. 1), the sampler which the young pupil had worked.[1] These early tasks were, very certainly in the majority of instances, little cared for by the schoolgirls who produced them, but being cherished by fond parents they came in after years to be looked upon with an affectionate eye by those who had made them, and to be preserved and even handed down as heirlooms in the family.

For some reason, not readily apparent, no authority on needlework has considered this by-product of the Art to be worthy of notice. In the many volumes which have been penned the writers have almost exclusively confined their attention to the more ambitious and, perhaps, more artistic performances of foreign nations. To such an extent has this omission extended that in a leading treatise on "Needlework as Art," samplers are dismissed in a single line, and in a more recent volume they are not even mentioned. It follows that the illustrations for such books are almost without exception culled from foreign sources, to the entire exclusion of British specimens.

It may be contended that the phase of needlework to which special attention is drawn in this volume cannot be classed amongst even the Minor Arts, and therefore is not worthy of the notoriety which such a work as this gives to it. Such a contention can fortunately be met by the authority of one whose word can hardly be challenged on such a question, namely, Mr Ruskin. Some years ago, upon a controversy arising in the press as to what objects should, and what should not, find a place in a museum, the author, in his capacity of editor of _The Art Journal_, induced Mr Ruskin to furnish that magazine with a series of letters containing his views on the matter. In these, after dealing with the planning of the building and its fitting up with the specialties which the industry of each particular district called for, he set aside six chambers for the due exposition of the six queenly and music-taught Arts of _Needlework_, Writing, Pottery, Sculpture, Architecture, and Painting, and in these the absolute best in each Art, so far as attainable by the municipal pocket, was to be exhibited, the rise and fall (if fallen) of each Art being duly and properly set forth.

Mr Ruskin did not, however, content himself with claiming for needlework a prominent position. Had he only done this, his dictum might have availed us but little as regards admission of the branch of it to which we shall devote most of this volume. With the thoroughness which was so characteristic of him, he gave chapter and verse for the faith that was in him, clenching it with one of his usual felicitous instances, which, in this case, took as its text the indifferent stitching of the gloves which he used when engaged in forestry.

Proceeding to show what the needlework chamber should contain, he designated first the structure of wool and cotton, hemp, flax, and silk, then the phases of its dyeing and spinning, and the mystery of weaving. "Finally the accomplished phase of needlework, all the acicular Art of Nations--savage and civilised--from Lapland boot, letting in no snow water, to Turkey cushion bossed with pearl; to valance of Venice gold in needlework; to the counterpanes and _Samplers_ of our own lovely ancestresses."

It might appear to be by an accident that he specifically included the "Samplers of our own lovely ancestresses," but this was not so. Fine needlework was an accomplishment which was carried to an exceptional pitch of excellence by his mother, and her son was proud of her achievements, for this proficiency had descended from his grandmother, whose sampler (reproduced on Plate IX.) was probably present to Mr Ruskin's mind when he penned the sentence to which we have given prominence.

Having, then, such an authority for assigning to English needlework a foremost place in any well organised museum, it may reasonably be claimed that our literature should contain some record of the sampler's evolution and history, and that our museums should arrange any materials they may possess in an order which will enable a would-be student, or any one interested, to gain information concerning the rise and fall (for such it has been) of the industry.

It may be said that such information is not called for, but this can hardly be asserted in face of the fact that the first edition of this work, published at the considerable price of two guineas, was quickly exhausted, and demands have for some time been made for its reissue. The publication in question was the outcome of an exhibition held at The Fine Art Society, London, in 1900, at which some three hundred and fifty samplers, covering every decade since 1640, were shown. The interest taken in the display was remarkable, the reason probably being that almost every visitor possessed some specimen of the craft, but few had any idea that his or her possession was the descendant of such an ancestry, or had any claim to recognition beyond a purely personal one. Everyone then garnered information with little trouble and with unmistakable pleasure from the surprising and unexpected array, and the many requests that the collection should not be dispersed without an endeavour being made to perpetuate the information derived from an assemblage of so many selected examples led to the compilation of the present work.

When The Fine Art Society's Exhibition was first planned the intention was to confine it to samplers, which, in themselves, formed a class sufficiently large to occupy all the space which experience showed should be allotted to them in any display with which it was not desired to weary the visitor. But it was speedily found that their evolution and _raison d'être_ could not be satisfactorily nor interestingly illustrated without recourse being had to the embroidered pictures alongside of which they originated, and which they subsequently supplanted, and to other articles for the decoration or identification of which samplers came into being. Consequently the collection was enlarged so as to include three sections: first the embroidered pieces which range themselves under the heading of "Pictures in imitation of Tapestry"; then samplers; and lastly the miscellaneous articles, such as books, dresses, coats, waistcoats, gloves, shoes, caskets, cases, purses, etc., which were broidered by those who had learned the art from sampler making, or from the use of samplers as guides.

It would, without doubt, have added interest and variety to this volume could all these classes have been considered in it, but to include the last-named would have necessitated enlarging its bulk beyond practicable limits, and, besides, it would then have covered ground, much of which has already been very satisfactorily and completely dealt with.

The work has consequently followed the lines of the Exhibition in so far as it includes "Samplers" and "Embroideries in the manner of Tapestry," which are dealt with in successive sections, and are followed by one upon the "stitchery" employed, written by Mrs Head, who has unfortunately died since the publication of the first edition.

The author much regrets having given currency on page 5 to the report of Mrs. Head's death, which he is glad to learn is incorrect.

PART I

Samplers