Embroidered sampler

Unknown

1674 · Silk on linen · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Samplers from Friesland, in the northwest of the Netherlands, are characterized chiefly by many alphabets and a tree of life motif. This sampler also features a central octagonal motif typical of those worked on pillows. The work also includes checkerboards, crowned and pierced hearts, and bride and groom flanking a tree of life motifs typical of samplers from the Netherlands. The letters RHD and the year 1674 are stitched onto the linen, most likely the initials of the maker and the year in which she completed her work.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1674

Medium

Silk on linen

Culture

Dutch, Friesland

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

From the Collection of Mrs. Lathrop Colgate Harper, Bequest of Mabel Herbert Harper, 1957