The TRC in Leiden houses a fascinating colletion of samplers. They all have a story to tell. This time I want to look at TRC 2014.0075, which dates to the early twentieth century. Yes, it could be called a sampler, but if so, it is an unusual one. I don’t think I have ever seen one like it.
Sampler from the early 20th century, with stamped outlines for embroidered motifs (TRC 2014.0075).
It is about the size of a typical school sampler of the time (30x30 cm), but it is worked with cotton threads on ordinary cotton. It has a variety of flowers, birds and other motifs. These are worked in stem stitch, herringbone stitch, satin stitch, French knots, eyelet stitch, buttonhole stitch and detached chain stitch.
The patterns appear to be printed onto the material. The stitches are placed over the ink of the pattern, but in many places the patterns are still visible. Some of the patterns are in blue ink and some in black, so I think the material cannot have been bought with all the patterns printed on. I think the patterns were stamped one at a time. In any case, the patterns appear completely unconnected, and if the material was sold printed, one would not expect that.
Although this embroidery does not look like the usual school samplers, I do think it was done in school. The stitching does not look like it was worked by someone experienced. In fact, it looks like practice work by a fairly young girl. Also, it belongs to a collection of work marked JZ or JvdZ, and most other pieces are obviously school work. I think JZ must have had an adventurous teacher, who taught not just cross stitch, hemming and darning, but also a collection of other stitches, to be used creatively. Probably this teacher prepared her own materials by printing them herself.
Detail of sampler TRC 2014.0075, showing the lines of the original stamps.
When I was a child, in the sixties, my teacher had a collection of stamps; if I had done my work well, she would stamp one of them in my exercise book. Did teachers do this around 1910? And did this teacher use these stamps to make patterns for children to embroider?
Nelleke Ganzevoort, 25 August 2021
