Kandy School Missionary Sampler, Ceylon, 1884
Price: $6800, Sampler size: 21¼" x 18¾"

Missionaries from England and the United States maintained a strong presence in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) throughout the 19th century, establishing missions and schools to introduce the Hindu population to their religion, language and culture. The fascinating samplers made by the young girls at these schools exist, but are quite rare and we offer this example, a recent discovery and addition to the known body of work. These samplers can present alphabets in English and Tamil language, and their makers used their baptized, given English names.

The town of Kandy is in central Ceylon, and the British developed it as an important part of their colonial and missionary efforts. The Kandy School is mentioned in the late 19th century publication, The History of the Church Missionary Society, which documents that 3200 schoolchildren were under the auspices of the Ceylon Mission by the late 1860s. An Irish clergyman, Rev. J. G. Garrett was principal of the Kandy School in 1884 when this sampler was made. It is signed, "Kandy School. This samplar was made by Jane. 1884." A period note that accompanies the sampler indicate that it was, "worked by a Tamil girl in the Tamil Cooly Mission School Kandy."

It is, of course, not surprising that religious quotations would appear on samplers; and the quotation from Proverbs, chapter 20 verse 11, "Even a child is known by its doing," is most appropriate in the given setting. Worked in wool on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a beveled cherry frame.