Beschreibung:

A darning sampler by Mary Rogerson, Horncastle, 1796, stitched with five even armed crosses showing a variety of darning stitches, in green, beige, and cream, on beige muslin, with black stitching to upper margin 'Mary Rogerson's Work' and to lower margin 'Horncastle 1796', some threadbare areas and old stitched repairs (in the main not affecting the darns), backed with cream silk which forms border, 27.5 x 29cm (10.75 x 11.5ins), together with a cross-stitch sampler by Rebekah Woolston, 1823, stitched with numerous scattered pictorial motifs in a variety of shades on linen, e.g. animals and birds (including a peacock), insects, and flowers, a little faded and toned, some threadbare areas to linen ground (just touching motifs in a few places), edges frayed with consequent slight loss to stitching (including to maker's name worked in black to lower margin), 38 x 31cm (15 x 12ins), plus an 18th century Biblical sampler, stitched to upper margin 'The Ten Commandments, Exodus Chapter XX', and to lower margin 'Sarah Price Age'd 11 Years 1767', faded and worn, stitch-mounted to cloth over card, 43 x 32.5cm (17 x 12.75ins) Darning samplers are less common than alphabet or pictorial samplers, and are fascinating for the intricacy of the work. A Mary Rogerson of Hemingby (near Horncastle in Lincolnshire), aged 8, is listed as one of the successful candidates for the premiums given by the Society of Industry in 1785, in her case for knitting. (3)