Sunday, January 8, 2012

Samplers: What little girls did 200 years ago...

Seen yesterday at an antiques shop in Queenstown: two early 19th-century samplers. These were something of a rite of passage for girls. They were a way to practice stitching skills and to produce an ornamental work of art, as well. 

Both of these showed the tiniest little stitches and knots imaginable!


This one says (I think):

Jesus permit thy gracious name to stand
As the first efforts of an infant’s hand
And while her fingers o’er this canvas move
Engage her tender heart to seek thy love
With thy dear children let her share a part
And write thy name thyself upon her heart.
Eliza Record
Aged 10 1826


Even harder to read, I believe the words here are:

Art has Taught my Fingers skill
To write without pen ink or Quill

This is my Needle Work to shew
When I was Young what I could do
And by my Marking you may see
What care my Parents took of me.
Harriott Whitchorn
11 Years of Age
November 8, 1803

Can you imagine the lives of the little girls who spent so many hours doing this work? I wonder what thoughts went through the minds as they so painstakingly placed each little stitch. It was all preparation for a life of domesticity. 

So here's one thing they probably weren't thinking about: what they wanted to be when they grew up. 

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