Eleanor Jenks

This very fine English band sampler is signed “Finish October The 16 1706 Eleanor Jenks” and includes a large and unusual depiction - the Pelican in her Piety. The large blue Pelican is shown with a stream of blood connecting her three chicks to her breast, imagery that refers to a story from the Middle Ages in which a pelican was thought to pierce her breast to feed her blood to her young, evoking Jesus Christ who shed his blood in a similar fashion. This image appeared in medieval heraldry and can be found occasionally on early samplers and needlework. 

The large crown in the lower band is flanked by the initials “AR” which stand for Anne Regina; Queen Anne’s reign only lasted from 1702 to 1714. We rarely find this Queen specifically honored on a sampler. 

The large recumbent stag, another motif central to this sampler, has a long tradition as a design on needlework, originating at the beginning of the 17th century with pattern books published in Germany. The geometric bands near the top of the sampler are of classic English design and very similar to those which influenced American sampler design, and which began to appear on Philadelphia samplers as early as the 1740’s.

Worked in silk on linen this sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into a black painted frame with a gilt liner.