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A needlework sampler is a piece of embroidery or cross-stitching produced as a 'specimen of achievement',[1] demonstration or a test of skill in needlework.[2][3] It often includes the alphabet, figures, motifs, decorative borders and sometimes the name of the person who embroidered it and the date. The word sampler is derived from the Latin exemplum, which means 'example'.[4]
- ^ Samplers and Tapestry Embroideries, Marcus Huish, Longmans, 1913 "First of all consisting of decorative patterns thrown here and there without care upon the surface of a piece of canvas (see Plate II.); then of designs placed in more orderly rows, and making in themselves a harmonious whole; then added thereto alphabet and figures for the use of those who marked the linen, and as an off-shoot imitation of tapestry pictures by the additions of figures, houses, etc. Finally it was adopted as an educational task in the schools, as a specimen of phenomenal achievement at an early age…"[1]
- ^ Lambert, Miss (1847). My Croquet Sample. Vol. 1. D.M. Peyser.
- ^ Lambert, Miss (1848). My Croquet Sample. Vol. 2. J. Murray.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.