Pictorial and Motif Sampler

Samplers made in the first half of the 18th century in some northern Europe countries, specifically Germany, Holland and Denmark, can be extraordinarily sophisticated in concept, composition and execution. Danish samplers are more rare than those from the other countries and we are delighted to offer this very fine example. The date, 1740, appears at the end of the second row from the top.

A book by Minna Kragelund, entitled Navneklude was published in 1977 by the Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen (Navneklude translates as “sample cloth” meaning of course, sampler). Our sampler shares characteristics with some samplers published in this book, as well as another fine Danish sampler that we owned a decade ago. 

The large central image is a seated female figure wearing a beautiful full-skirted dress. A small gentleman is down on one knee and presenting her with a strawberry, likely plucked from those growing on the lawn beneath them. Off to the right is a tall gentleman, walking or dancing towards them. A pair of fruit trees and a billowing cloud add to the scene. The tall structure at the left closely resembles others on other known mid-18th century Danish samplers.

Many other splendid motifs were included – the lady milking a cow, a donkey or horse, squirrel, pair of stags flanking a stylized tree, crowned lion, fruit and insects. The precise diamond and star band at top was used by other Danish samplermakers. Various sets of initials were stitched onto the sampler; typical of northern European samplers, the names of the makers were not included. 

The sampler was worked in silk on linen and is in excellent condition with some slight loss to the black threads of the donkey. It has been conservation mounted and is in a new gold frame.