JANE WILLIAMS SAMPLER

“Remember man and
bear in mind a faithfull friend is hard to find and when you found him to
be true never change him for a new. Tell me ye knowing and discerning few where I may find a friend both firm and
true who dares stand by me when in deep distress and then his love and friendship most express”

Jane Williams Sampler is worked mainly in cross stitch with some half cross and a little satin stitch. I have included all of the original idiosyncrasies and matched the colours as closely as possible to the less faded threads on the reverse of the work…I was amused to discover that the dog on the bottom row was mauve. Jane Williams did not date her sampler but it is very typical of those worked by girls around 1824 and she was probably about 10 years old.

She has chosen motifs from patterns available to her and balanced them in a very formal way. Although the sampler is fairly constrained and unimaginative she has devised her own alphabet and verse arrangement and the naivety of her accomplishment gives the sampler much of its charm.

Available as a Chart-Only or Kit on 18c Aida Ecru, size 36x33.5cm. 14 ½”x 13 ½”
(UK postage included)