Eleanor Brown, Plain Sewing Apron,
England,
1882

Framed size:
13" x 15"

Price: $875

Enlarged and Printer Version

Well into the late 19th century many English schoolgirls were expected to become proficient at a variety of dressmaking and plain sewing skills. Young ladies attending the many schools that trained one for a career as a teacher as well the thousands living in institutional orphanages (such as the Bristol Orphanages established by George Muller) turned out a variety of interesting projects that demonstrated their accomplishments. The Fitzwilliam Museum Handbook, Samplers, by Carol Humphrey illustrates one such plain sewing sampler made in 1896, on pages 134 and 135, and Mrs. Humphrey states that, "A gusset, pocket, tucks, pleats, patches, darn, buttonholes and hand-made buttons were usually included. Minutely hand-stitched seams and hems were often decorated with simple embroidery stitches…. Most samplers of this type are dated, the greatest number falling into the years 1890 – 1920."

Eleanor Brown, age 14, was clearly accomplished at these skills when she completed this delightful and carefully made miniature apron which includes tucks, darns, buttonholes and border embroidery. The apron itself measures 9" high and 10" wide in its body. We have stitched it to a mount only along the very top and there is no glass, so that the back of it may be admired as well as the front. The molded walnut frame is of the same period.

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