Augnes Boyd

Scottish samplers as a whole form a highly appealing group – they can be filled with splendid pictorial motifs and are often very colorful. Many Scottish samplermakers included the initials of their parents - and Scottish women kept their maiden names after marriage – and those of other family members. This allows for successful research into the genealogy of the families.

Augnes Boyd’s fine sampler includes many excellent motifs – Adam & Eve under a large and spreading apple tree with the serpent winding around its trunk, a fine three-masted ship with little people aboard, two couples in detailed dress of the period, a milkmaid, heralding angels, and many deer, dogs and birds. The biblical quotation, “Hold thy hand,” comes from Isaiah 41:13.

A popular religious passage, “Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain but a woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praised,” is worked inside the enclosure that contains her name and date. This is from Proverbs 31:30 and contrasts outward traits with lasting spiritual character.

Augnes (actually a medieval spelling variant of the name Agnes) stitched the initials of her parents in large letters worked in the characteristic Scottish font. While the initials seem to be GB and CG, a close look at the large alphabet along the top indicates that her C and E are identical. We are grateful to the collector behind antiquesamplers.org for help with genealogical research and assistance in the overall, as that collection includes the finest Scottish samplers, worldwide. 

Augnes’ parents were George Boyd and Elspeth Geekie and the family lived in Dundee, where Augnes was born in 1800. Sibling initials are for Barbara, Isabella, and Susan. In 1839, Augnes married James McDonald; she died in 1879. 

The sampler was worked in silk on wool and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a burl frame with an inner gilt liner.