s Sampler by Shipnarh Cotton Green, Hull, 1884 - Hull Museums Collections

Sampler by Shipnarh Cotton Green, Hull, 1884

Alphabets like the one on this sampler appeared on children’s samplers from the 1600s to the 1900s. Teachers hoped that girls would improve their sewing whilst learning the alphabet. The girl who made this sampler has been very careful to fit the entire alphabet in. Others weren’t so skilful. Some girls ran out of room so the last few letters were left out. Others continued the alphabet so it overflowed into the decorative border. This sampler was made by an eleven year old pupil at Miss Fawcett’s School at 25 Grimsby Lane, Hull. Needlework was an important part of the curriculum for girls in the 1800s. In most schools needlework exercise books were kept with examples of children’s work stitched or pinned to the pages. The first page of the book nearly always contained a cross stitch sampler with numbers and alphabets. The number of surviving samplers embroidered with a school’s name shows how popular they were as a teaching method. Samplers showing maps were made to teach Geography. Darning samplers were used to teach the different stitches needed to mend clothes. Children were expected to sign their work as a testament to their needlework skills. Household linen was often marked with embroidered initials and a number. Another reason for teaching girls to sew numbers and letters on samplers was so they could help with this task. By the early 1800s girls were taught marking at school as a separate needlework class. Teaching marking seems to have become the main purpose of making samplers. In John Walter’s ‘English and Welsh Dictionary’ (1828) a sampler is defined as ‘a marking alphabet wrought by girls at school’. By the late 1800s hardly any samplers were made by adults. Most samplers were made in schools and orphanages. Unlike this decorative pattern, many had just alphabets and numbers inside a simple border pattern. Teaching needlework by making samplers died out in the 1920s.