untitled sampler

Rosa Andreu, artist

1800s

untitled sampler, 1846

Where object was made: Guatemala

Material/technique: peyote stitch; buttonhole stitch; embroidering; French knot; satin stitch; cross-stitching; cotton; cutwork; silk thread; needle lace

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 72.39 x 54.61 cm
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 28 1/2 x 21 1/2 in

Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial

Accession number: 1928.6829

Not on display

Add to portfolio

If you wish to reproduce this image, please submit an image request

Images

Label texts

Spencer Museum of Art Highlights

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the creation of samplers as educational exercises became a common practice among girls from wealthy families in Europe and the Americas. Many young girls were taught to sew by the age of five, and needlework was part of their studies at school. 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. Therefore, samplers demonstrated a young woman’s knowledge as well as her sewing abilities. In this example, Rosa Andreu reveals her needlework skills with the range of patterns, techniques, figural and other decorative elements that she includes.

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.