untitled sampler (Janna 1770 Faro)

Janna Faro, artist

untitled sampler (Janna 1770 Faro), 1770

Where object was made: Zeeland, Netherlands

Material/technique: linen; embroidering; cross-stitching; silk thread

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 30.48 x 33.02 cm
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 12 x 13 in

Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial

Accession number: 1928.6802

On display: Marshall Balcony

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Bold Women

This needlework sampler was made by a young girl in the Netherlands, likely as part of her school curriculum. In addition to demonstrating the stitcher’s knowledge and skill, the embroidery shows bold defiance by placing a girl in a red dress front and center—an act that was far outside the sampler rule book. Schoolgirl samplers were popular among later generations of collectors, including Sallie Casey Thayer, who donated this sampler as part of the Spencer Museum’s founding collection in 1917.

Inventing Childhood

Needlework samplers constituted an important component in the lives and education of Western women from as early as the 16th century. Young girls were taught to sew by the age of five, and needlework was part of school curricula in Europe and the Americas. Samplers helped young girls improve their needlework by teaching them new stitches and motifs, but they also reinforced other educational priorities, such as learning the alphabet and memorizing Bible verses. By the 18th and 19th centuries when these particular examples were created, samplers served to demonstrate the stitcher’s knowledge, as well as her virtue and sense of industry. Many were signed by their makers, who often specified how old they were at the time of completion.