Sampler

Anna Buckett

1656 · Linen worked with silk thread; long-and-short, split, stem, back, tent, cross, and satin stiches · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This type of sampler is known as a band sampler, composed of horizontal rows or bands of embroidered patterns worked along the surface of the linen. Most of the patterns themselves were quite old-fashioned by this time; many of them derive from sixteenth-century printed pattern books. This sampler was made during the Commonwealth period when Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector of England. Anna Buckett, the maker of the sampler, dated it precisely to July 12, 1656—perhaps the day it was completed. This particular example has the additional feature of a small landscape at the top, where a couple face each other; a loyal dog and Cupid, swooping down from above, encourage their happy union. The presence of the pictorial scene brings the sampler into the realm of decorative objects produced as an end in and of themselves.

Artist

Anna Buckett

Date

1656

Medium

Linen worked with silk thread; long-and-short, split, stem, back, tent, cross, and satin stiches

Culture

British

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964