Dechado

We are delighted to offer this very large, extraordinary Mexican dechado (translation: sampler) which presents many fine, open-work patterned bands and other motifs. Fortunately, the name of the town, Miagutlan, and the date, a particularly early one, were included in the stitching. This sampler was in a highly regarded private collection and published as figure F27 in Micheal & Elizabeth Feller The Needlework Collection: 2 by Elizabeth Feller (Needleprint, 2012).

There has been excellent recent research conducted regarding Mexican samplers by two scholars, Dr. Mayela Flores and Dr. Lynne Anderson. As an introduction, we thought we would quote some information directly from an interview of Drs. Flores and Anderson that was published in September 2023 by the Embroiderers Guild of America. It can be accessed in its entirety here: Dechados and Mid-19th Century Mexican Needlework

By the 19th century, embroidering one or more dechados had become a formalized part of the educational curriculum for girls and young women. Initially this was for girls of elite social and economic status … by the middle of the 19th century, educational opportunities opened up for daughters of families with more modest means. 

In Mexico, creating a dechado that showcased a girl’s embroidery skills was an expected and essential accomplishment during her education.

Socio-economic status was an important factor and until the middle of the 19th century, only daughters born into wealthy Mexican families received the type of education that resulted in the colorful, skillfully worked, silk embroidered dechados associated with the country today.

We recommend a close reading of the entire article. 

Our sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition. It has been conservation mounted and is in a black and gold frame with a gold inner liner. The sampler can be hung vertically or horizontally.