Embroidered whitework sampler
Whitework samplers typically consist of a variety of stitches and lace-making techniques, all stitched in white thread. It is thought that samplers containing whitework, cutwork, drawnwork, and lace designs were stitched only after multi-colored band samplers were finished, as whitework techniques are more difficult. However, this theory is based on the very small number of documented seventeenth-century embroiderers who made multiple samplers. This sampler features geometric designs worked in reticella, which requires a stitcher to remove warp and weft threads from a piece of woven fabric, stabilize the void with buttonhole stitches and the create designs based on the remaining grid. While many surviving English samplers include white lace, cutwork, and drawnwork, relatively few examples of seventeenth-century lace have been attributed to English manufacture.
Artwork Details
- Title: Embroidered whitework sampler
- Date: ca. 1600
- Culture: Italian or British
- Medium: Cutwork
- Dimensions: L. 36 x W. 7 inches
91.4 x 17.8 cm - Classification: Textiles-Laces
- Credit Line: Purchase by subscription, 1909
- Object Number: 09.68.23
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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Multiple artists/makers
1769–71
Multiple artists/makers
1769–71
Multiple artists/makers
1763–71
British
mid-17th century
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1575–95
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