Pictorial Sampler, English, circa 1810
Price: $2800, Sampler size: 16½" x 17½"

Unlike most English samplers we find, which are precise and symmetrical, this is a delightfully folky sampler with a wonderful landscape across the bottom. A deep orange house sits atop a golden lawn of long silk threads and amidst full fat trees and pastoral animals. A shimmering rose on thorny stem was worked central above the countryside scene, flanked by large birds perched on branches. A fine basket of flowers was stitched above a short verse with fruit, floral sprigs and butterflies completing the frame, which surrounds it. As with the landscape, which grounds the sampler and the pictorial motifs, our needleworker used primarily the satin stitch with utmost expertise, giving an attractive luster and vibrancy to the sampler. A floral vine was cross stitched to frame and complete the work.

It is unusual to come across a sampler that isn't signed by the maker, especially one that required a great deal of fine needlework. Worked in silk on linen, this sampler is in very good conditioning with slight overall darkening. It has been conservation mounted and is in its fine, original gold leaf frame.