I have been eyeing antique Dutch darning samplers for a very long time, but it was this one that made me finally pull the trigger. In part it is because it is a very old one--dating to 1779!--but I also love the minimal blue and white palette, which is so Dutch, and also distinguishes it as much humbler than many fancier examples from same period, which often incorporate a stunning spectrum of colors.
As darning was a skill taught to young women of all classes--including in orphanages, as a means for girls to earn "respectable" income--I'd guess this one was made by a girl of the lower classes. Holes were neatly cut into the linen to begin each darn, with this sampler showing a range of techniques, including, I believe, what would be called "open weave,"birds eye," and a variety of twill weaves. At either top side of the central darn are initials- MS and AVI; I have seen double monograms on some other 18th c. samplers but am not entirely sure how to read the meaning (i.e. whether a student and teacher, or the second referring to location, or ?) I love the very idea of a darning sampler-- as product of deliberately making then mending wounds-- and find this just an exquisitely beautiful thing.
Sold nicely mounted on linen in the vintage painted wooden frame I found it in, framed in Kansas City, Mo in the 1950s or 60s I believe, wired on the back for hanging. Framed: 14 3/4" x 14 3/4". Sampler: 11 5/8" x 11 5/8". Good condition, with some staining/toning as evident, which I think just adds to its physicality. Glare caught in some photos.
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