{"id":217,"date":"2013-12-17T00:15:42","date_gmt":"2013-12-17T00:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/?p=217"},"modified":"2016-09-22T20:45:01","modified_gmt":"2016-09-22T19:45:01","slug":"buildings-in-english-needlework-samplers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/buildings-in-english-needlework-samplers\/","title":{"rendered":"Antique Samplers, Houses and Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

Madelena Shop, Sell, Discover<\/a>
\nWorld\u2019s largest online gallery of antique SAMPLERS<\/a>
\nThe Sampler Guild (UK)<\/a><\/p>\n

Some\u00a0of us\u00a0are fascinated by those English needlework samplers that depict buildings, so much so that some collections consist of nothing else.<\/h1>\n

One collection\u00a0known to us\u00a0consists only of Solomon’s Temple samplers.
\nSolomon’s Temple<\/strong> was a teacher’s favourite as it would likely have been used as a focal point around which a variety of religious topics could be taught.\u00a0While the veracity of the depictions\u00a0would not\u00a0have been questioned by\u00a0mere children the importance of the original site\u00a0on Temple Mount (Mount Zion) in\u00a0Jerusalem\u00a0is undisputed. \"File:Vistaescorial.JPG\" Vista de El Escorial desde el Monte Abantos, twenty miles northwest of Madrid<\/em><\/p>\n

Extensive\u00a0research by numerous\u00a0historians has\u00a0resulted in varied\u00a0reconstructions of\u00a0the temple design in later centuries. That of the Spanish\u00a0Vista de El Escorial,\u00a0was possibly the most magnificent and definitely<\/em> used as the\u00a0pattern used in\u00a0some of the sampler designs including the\u00a0Solomon’s Temple sampler\u00a0on the Madelena website at time of this post (click the link to see what\u00a0we mean):<\/p>\n

1802 Solomon’s Temple sampler by Jane Batty<\/a><\/p>\n

House samplers<\/strong> depicted the homes of the girls under instruction and are hugely popular with collectors. These were their own\u00a0homes, fields, sheep, dogs and so on. The connection with the\u00a0past is palpable. We maintain a collection of great examples to purchase online. At the time of this post we have the following house samplers available for sale in our online store:<\/p>\n

1821 House Sampler by Mary Hassack<\/a><\/p>\n

1839 House Sampler by Ann Norgrove<\/a><\/p>\n

1840 House Sampler by Mary Eldridge<\/a><\/p>\n

Churches<\/strong> are of particular interest because they are most likely to be still standing. Most of the country mansions similar to those depicted in the house samplers listed above were demolished after 1945 due partly to the introduction of heavy taxation on inherited property (‘death duties’) and partly\u00a0to the demise of primogeniture (the right of the firstborn child to inherit the family estate) in\u00a0a world upside down\u00a0following the\u00a0great\u00a0war to end all wars. The online Madelena store has two great examples still available at the time this blog is published:<\/p>\n

1842 ‘Saint Marks Church, Witton’ Sampler by Alice Walsh<\/a><\/p>\n

1822 Halstead Essex Church Sampler<\/a><\/p>\n

Both churches still stand.<\/p>\n

\"Saint<\/a>
Saint Marks Church formerly in the parish of Witton, stitched in 1842 by Alice Walsh aged 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the left is an\u00a0image of Witton Church in its former glory as depicted in this wonderful sampler.<\/p>\n

A great little snippet from this wonderful sampler is this\u00a0tiny stitching error. See how ten years old Alice has stitched ‘Thou God seets me’? I am pretty sure she intended ‘Thou God seeth me’. What do you<\/em> think? Maybe she misheard her governess or misread her writing…<\/p>\n

\"Inscription<\/a>
Inscription detail from the Saint Mark’s Church sampler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I feel a connection\u00a0with\u00a0this darling girl of so many generations past. I feel<\/em> her grandmother’s delight as she willingly overlooks the mistake.<\/p>\n

\"St<\/a>
St Mark’s Church, Blackburn, photographed 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Present day pictures show\u00a0this Church of England original\u00a0much added to and frankly now become a \u00a0much less attractive shape.<\/p>\n

Alice stitched her sampler four years after the church was consecrated in 1838.<\/p>\n

World\u2019s largest online gallery of needlework SAMPLERS<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Saint<\/a>
Saint Mark’s Church, photographed 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The south transept was added in 1870, the north transept and vestry between 1881 and 1887.<\/p>\n

Various restoration work was done at the same time.<\/p>\n

The original structure was designed to seat a congregation of over 700 souls.<\/p>\n

Antique needlework samplers were made by children and every one of them unique. How wonderful is that?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

To see in reality\u00a0an actual building depicted in a sampler by a child elicits a\u00a0powerful sense of connection between past and present, reminding us of\u00a0all those\u00a0changes that have taken place in the material world since our girl skipped to church glowing with youth: life expectancy has doubled; photography, electricity, bicycle, motor car and air travel have all been invented; women’s roles and rights in society have been transformed; and lately the information revolution and a digital age has dawned making\u00a0it now\u00a0possible to share with everyone the magic of discovery. \"Halstead<\/a><\/p>\n