Following on from my last post about the two images I found in Hardy's Cottage on the National Trust Collections website, the second was a sampler which I had seen in situ many years ago.
Though I have been concentrating on quilts for the last twelve years, prior to this I was working on my first book which was on samplers and I continue to be extremely interested in their history. It's a very frustrating form of research, because so many of our British samplers are sold and resold through dealers and auction houses and each time they change hands vital information is lost, so it's an uphill struggle trying to make sense of it all.
As in the USA, the majority of our British samplers were made in schools, which means that there are groups of samplers very similar in form and substance because they were based on the same design. If just one sampler can be identified as coming from a certain school in a certain place, it usually means that all the rest in that group were made there too.
Lets start with this one, it's quite well known as it's in the V&A collection.
It was made by Sophia Stephens, around 1830 and I hope you will be able to see that the house is named as Horse Hill House near London. This sampler is quite large in comparison to the others below, though no size is given.
Now here's another -
This sampler was made by Mary Davis in 1825. It has many of the same ingredients including the same border though the house is different and is named as Newton Cottage. It like all the others is much smaller than the first one by Sophia Stephens, though all share key ingredients.
Here's another made by Jane Mortimer in 1822
Again it has the same border and many of the same motifs but this time there are two houses - Horse Hill House and Newton Cottage!
Now we come to my discovery at Hardy's birthplace -
It was made by Esther Ann Turner aged 11, in 1839 and again shows Newton Cottage.
My book "House and Garden Samplers" features yet another one lent to me by a friend
It was made by Eleanor Roberts in 1835 and this time, though it isn't named, the house is Horse Hill House and again it has the same border and other identical motifs.
Well what do you make of it all? Are the houses real houses, which wasn't usually the case with houses depicted on samplers and if they were, were they near London? These two aren't the stereotyped sampler house and do have a look of real houses and both are named, but why did all the girls use the same two houses over a period of years. Did they have two house patterns to choose from and Jane Mortimer being ambitious decided to do both?
We shall probably never know, but wouldn't it be nice to find out more? All we need to discover is a village near London with a Horse Hill House and a Newton Cottage - easy peasy! Answers in comments box please!
Though I have been concentrating on quilts for the last twelve years, prior to this I was working on my first book which was on samplers and I continue to be extremely interested in their history. It's a very frustrating form of research, because so many of our British samplers are sold and resold through dealers and auction houses and each time they change hands vital information is lost, so it's an uphill struggle trying to make sense of it all.
As in the USA, the majority of our British samplers were made in schools, which means that there are groups of samplers very similar in form and substance because they were based on the same design. If just one sampler can be identified as coming from a certain school in a certain place, it usually means that all the rest in that group were made there too.
Lets start with this one, it's quite well known as it's in the V&A collection.
It was made by Sophia Stephens, around 1830 and I hope you will be able to see that the house is named as Horse Hill House near London. This sampler is quite large in comparison to the others below, though no size is given.
Now here's another -
This sampler was made by Mary Davis in 1825. It has many of the same ingredients including the same border though the house is different and is named as Newton Cottage. It like all the others is much smaller than the first one by Sophia Stephens, though all share key ingredients.
Here's another made by Jane Mortimer in 1822
Again it has the same border and many of the same motifs but this time there are two houses - Horse Hill House and Newton Cottage!
Now we come to my discovery at Hardy's birthplace -
It was made by Esther Ann Turner aged 11, in 1839 and again shows Newton Cottage.
My book "House and Garden Samplers" features yet another one lent to me by a friend
It was made by Eleanor Roberts in 1835 and this time, though it isn't named, the house is Horse Hill House and again it has the same border and other identical motifs.
Well what do you make of it all? Are the houses real houses, which wasn't usually the case with houses depicted on samplers and if they were, were they near London? These two aren't the stereotyped sampler house and do have a look of real houses and both are named, but why did all the girls use the same two houses over a period of years. Did they have two house patterns to choose from and Jane Mortimer being ambitious decided to do both?
We shall probably never know, but wouldn't it be nice to find out more? All we need to discover is a village near London with a Horse Hill House and a Newton Cottage - easy peasy! Answers in comments box please!
