Reproductions


Anna Rossi 1857

An Italian Sampler



Anna Rossi is my very first Italian sampler and has a special place in my collection. It is a very simple sampler but is loaded with wonderful Cristian simbols: the so-called Arma Christi ("Weapons of Christ"), or the Instruments of the Passion.
 Placed at the sampler bottom, depictions of the Instruments of the Passion are simple and powerful at the same time: Mary's initial, the pillar where Jesus was whipped in the Flagellation of Christ; the ladder used for the Deposition (the removal of Christ's body from the cross for burial); he hammer used to drive the nails into Jesus' hands and feet and the pincers used to remove the nails; the pitcher and the vessel of gall and vinegar; the Cross on which Jesus was crucified (True Cross); the purple robe of mockery; the Holy Grail, the chalice used by Jesus at The Last Supper, and which some traditions say Joseph of Arimathea used to catch his blood at the crucifixion; the rooster that crowed after Peter's third denial of Jesus; the hand which slapped Jesus' face; the lantern used by the arresting soldiers at the time of the betrayal, with a very unusual death skull; the Crown of Thorns; the Christogram"IHS", the first three letters of the Greek name of Jesus, ΙΗΣΟΥΣ, here stitched backwards, brobably a mistake made by the young Anna. Other motifs are lovely flowers and animals, like somptuous birds and vases. The sampler starts with a bicolor ABC and has a simple border all around.
The linen used by Anna was not even, so the original sampler is like a rectangle while the stitches count is more like a square.
I've used for my reproduction only DMC threads, trying to duplicate the colors at their best. Some errors and mistakes has been preserved from corrections, just to try to duplicate exactly Anna's sampler: it's up to you to decide to correct them or not.

Reproduction is stitched with DMC threads and pattern size is 250W x 202H stitches.

$ 18.00

 

M.E. Poole 1859



This lovely sampler is part of my private collection of ancient English samplers. Stitched in 1859 by M.E. Poole, aged nine, it has many beautiful motifs and letters of alphabets. The sampler was worked with wool threads on a soft open weave canvas, almost white, with just few colors and with a very feminine touch: soft pinks and cream colors, in fact, give to this piece a special meaning, considering that Miss Poole was just nine. It's like she wanted to show her young age using colors that every little girl likes and loves. The curious thing about her work is that she wanted to stitch her surname, Poole, and the motif at its right with a white silk thread: you're free to use the same touch, choosing a white silk thread, even if I've used for my reproduction a DMC thread!
There are lovely motifs, all surrounding a central Tree of Life. The original work has some stitches missing, but the holes indicated me where to place all the stitches... And Miss Poole made some little mistakes too, here and there: I have decided to preserve her mistakes so you'll find them while you'll stitch her little beauty.
It's up to you to correct them or not.

Measures of the ancient piece are 15 3/4 x 15 1/4.

Reproduction is stitched with DMC threads and pattern size is 213W x 214H stitches.

$ 18.00


Louisa Mollet 1875



This lovely sampler is part of my private collection of ancient English samplers and it has been stitched around 1875 by a lovely 9 years old girl, Louisa Mollet. Usually it's very difficult to know something about a stitched piece, unless it comes from a family who had keep it as heirloom for centuries, but this time there is one thing I know for sure about this little girl: she was blonde and she had long hair! In fact, charting her sampler, I have noticed something trapped in her stitches and I discovered it was a long blonde hair, hers for sure! Another thing I know about her is that she was a very distracted stitcher... she was young, I know, but she did so many mistakes, many misplaced stitches that it took a lot of patience charting her beauty. Anyway this sampler has many beautiful colors I've tried to bring back from the past: no letters of alphabets, but lovely birds and parrots, big pink roses and flowers and a gorgeous trellis with grapes over a bountyful Tree of Life surrounded by Adam and Eve. The sampler was worked originally with very fine wool threads on a light brown canvas, not so fine.  I've used for my reproduction DMC threads, trying to duplicate the colors from the back of the stitched piece, where the wool keeps original shades. Some errors and mistakes has been preserved from corrections, just to try to duplicate exactly Miss Louisa's sampler: it's up to you to decide to correct them or not!!

Reproduction is stitched with DMC threads and pattern size is 247W x 282H stitches.

$ 22.00


Sarah Needham

around 1860


This lovely sampler is part of my private collection of antique English samplers. Stitched in mid 19th century, probably around 1860 or slightly later, it's a lovely piece with fine quality stitch work and some details are over one. Sarah was for sure a girl who loved colors, because she used a lot of shades to give more appeal to her picture, and animals, because her red brick two storey house is surrounded by them: birds, deers , a fox, a swan... Everything is an explosion of colors and joy, and it shows first of all with the border, unusual and so colorful, with berries and carnations and those rounded flowers very beautiful, stitched as delicate spring swirls.

This 9 years old girl was a meticulous stitcher and in her work I found just few mistakes and errors, that I obviously preserved to preserve her way to be just a little stitcher girl: as always, it's up to you to decide to correct them or not. I've used for my reproduction DMC threads, trying to duplicate the colors from the back of the stitched piece, where the wool and threads keep their original vivid shades, even if they was pretty preserved on the front.
Reproduction is stitched with DMC threads and pattern size is 288W x 252H stitches. 

$ 22.00 


Sarah Dodson 1782


This sampler is one of the oldest I have in my private collection of ancient English Samplers: Sarah stitched it in 1782. Unfortunately there aren't informations known about Sarah's age...  It's a very simple work, stitched with a fine silk that discolored here and there in front, surrounded then with a long stitches border that gives a nice look to the ensemble. It has been a challenge to reproduce this beauty, because of its age: it is so fragile that needed to be handled very carefully to not damage it, and even with all the care happened that few stitches went lost forever...
The top section is full of alphabet letters and numbers, underlined by a nice strawberry border, with also family initials. Beneath this is a lovely band of carnation flowers, with a small accent in every flower made with a smyrna stitch over the cross stitches. The central motif is a basket of fruits with stag on either side. I've used for my reproduction DMC threads, trying to duplicate the colors from the back of the stitched piece, where the silk keeps original shades. Some errors and mistakes has been preserved from corrections, just to try to duplicate exactly the sampler.

Reproduction is stitched with DMC threads and pattern size is 177W x 242H stitches.

$ 18.00


Caroline Rose Pink 1821



This early 19th century English sampler, part of my private collection, is as delightful as the name of its maker: Caroline Rose Pink. She stitched it including beautiful accents that time preserved in their shapes but unfortunately not in their colors and even on the back side discolourations of many threads make difficult to reproduce exactly the beauty of this lovely piece. No letters of alphabets, but lovely animals and parrots, vases and flowers and a superb  Tree of Life completed by an entwined serpent and by Adam and Eve standing beneath its fruits leaded branches. There is even a hunter with his big flying prey... The sampler was worked originally with silk threads on a light canvas, very fine.  I've used for my reproduction DMC threads, trying to duplicate the colors of the stitched piece as they appear. Some errors and mistakes has been preserved from corrections, and as always it's up to you to decide to correct them or not!!

Reproduction is stitched with DMC threads and pattern size is 221W x 273H stitches.

$ 22,00


Anastasie Lepouze 1849


Anastasie is part of my private collection of ancient samplers and it has been stitched in 1849. The fine linen used to stitch with silks this lovely sampler is darkened by the years, as the silks colours are very faded on the front, while on the back are vivid and so rich. Both back and front are beautiful, that's why I've added an extra color list with shades as they appear on the right side of the sampler and I've added a picture of its back, so each one will decide wich side to stitch! This sampler comes from England, so maybe Anastasie was a french lady who lived there, grew up there and then married an English man.
Her stitched piece has lovely motifs, but the two wich made me buy her sampler are the lady with the key, and her home behind, and the two butterflies: so lovely and unusual!
I've used for my reproduction DMC threads, trying to duplicate the colors from the back of the stitched piece, as I wrote, where the silks keep original shades. A picture of the back is also added to the chart to show the wonderful colors of the reproduction. Some errors and mistakes has been preserved from corrections, just to try to duplicate exactly Anastasie's sampler: it's up to you to decide to correct them or not!!

Reproduction is stitched with DMC threads and pattern size is 325W x 395H stitches.

$ 22,00


Priscilla Mortlock 1828



Priscilla Mortlock came in my private collection of antique samplers years ago,  thanks to the strawberries border and the lovely deer she stitched, the two things I loved at first sight. It is a perfectly squared sampler, 230 x 230 stitches, made on a not so precious linen and stitched with mixed threads, silks and cotton. Colours are faded on the front, but on the back are partially preserved so I used that side to bring back the true colors to Priscilla's work. This sampler comes from England and, as can be seen from the photograph, there is some damage to the edges of the linen: fortunately, none of this interferes with the field of the linen apart from along the bottom edge. There are lovely motifs all around and three alphabets stitched with three different stitches.

The verse says "Dear Jesus teach me how to live and keep me by thy grace and when I die my soul receive to heaven to sing thy praise".

I've used for my reproduction only DMC threads, trying to duplicate the colors at their best. Some errors and mistakes has been preserved from corrections, just to try to duplicate exactly Anastasie's sampler: it's up to you to decide to correct them or not!!

Pattern size is 235W x 232H stitches.

$ 22,00