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Hands Across the Sea Samplers are proud to present to you, a beautiful reversible band sampler from the private collection of Nicola Parkman. The sampler was a gift from Nicola’s husband who knows his wife well and that antique needlework, and in particular band samplers, are his “girl’s best friend”!
The 1600’s is regarded as the golden age of band sampler making, and the sampler that MH finished nearly 400 years ago on May 23rd, 1656 is one of those very special pieces. She is a beautiful example of reverse stitching.
Nicola has spent innumerable hours studying under high magnification, every single stitch in this sampler. It has been fascinating to follow the path that MH’s needle took. This is a sampler which takes the needleworker on a journey – almost a musical journey with each of the bands having its own characteristics yet contributing to the piece as a whole. It almost seems as if MH was the conductor of an orchestra, bringing in her threads and colours at precisely the right time. She has demonstrated a mastery of melody, structure and orchestration, a command of tone, colour and harmony.
The first few bands, start off with simple stitches – a gentle meandering theme, in a slow tempo, played quite softly but with occasional louder parts to keep our interest. As in music, she takes a theme, repeats it and then starts to develop it in different ways. She ingeniously uses different colours – some lighter, some brighter, changes directions of the threads and uses different stitches. She varies the texture in some areas.
Towards the middle of the sampler, it is almost as if there is a change of theme, with the colours becoming bolder– the musical journey is developing and gathering pace. You feel as if you are being led somewhere with the introduction of a beautiful blue downward path in the middle of the sampler. You can feel the intensity rising almost as if you are reaching a crescendo. This path leads to a much louder part – almost the centrepiece of the sampler, where it seems all the orchestra is playing and taking you to new heights. MH finally leaves us with a return to a softer, more muted area to conclude her sampler. Her skill with a needle is certainly to be admired!
Band samplers were commonly stitched by teenagers either at home or in school as part of their education. Occasionally we see band samplers worked by very young children – and sometimes by older women as a personal reference. They were especially necessary for recording patterns as there was a shortage of design books and only the very rich could afford them.
A band sampler could be a series of stitching exercises that progressed in difficulty. They were usually unnamed and undated. Often the length of the sampler was determined by the width of the loom on which the linen was woven, the selvedge forming the top and bottom edges. Many of the patterns found on samplers of this period can be seen on surviving household items and on costumes depicted in contemporary paintings. At this time gentlemen’s costumes were often more elaborate than their wives.
This beautiful reversible band sampler has been reproduced with Au Ver à Soie d’Alger silks based on the vibrant colours found on the reverse of the sampler today. The skein quantities have been calculated based on 1 strand on 46ct fabric. We have included a DMC conversion and a conversion for 100/3 as an extra option for those stitchers using higher count linens. Additionally, we have provided below floss usage by the inch. We have not specified a particular brand or colour of linen. However, the original sampler was executed on uneven linen that is closest in colour to the DMC shades 3045/167. The original sampler is approximately 5.25” x 36”.
Soie d’Alger / 100/3 / DMC
F07 / 080 / 746 x 1 407 inches Off white
3932 / 088 / 3770 x 1 238 inches Tawny – very light
2632 / 323 / 3771 x 1 204 inches Terra cotta – ultra very light
2633 / 093 / 3778 x 1 373 inches Terra cotta – light
921 / 134 / 3824 x 1 30 inches Apricot – light
922 / 344 / 352 x 1 82 inches Coral – light
2625 / 682 / 920 x 1 378 inches Copper – medium
945 / 499 / 816 x 1 39 inches Garnet
2523 / 281 / 307 x 1 223 inches Lemon
2543 / 149 / 744 x 1 93 inches Lemon – pale
4245 / 492 / 680 x 1 48 inches Old gold – dark
4525 / 702 / 167 x 1 6 inches Yellow beige – very dark
2224 / 022 / 733 x 1 142 inches Olive green – medium
2134 / 647 / 3346 x 1 1052 inches Hunter green
1826 / 549 / 561 x 1 38 inches Jade – very dark
3721 / 465 / 369 x 1 15 inches Pistachio green – very light
3724 / 707 / 3363 x 1 315 inches Pine green – medium
1811 / 621 / 928 x 1 33 inches Grey green – very light
5382 / 002 / 927 x 1 221 inches Grey green – light
1744 / 605 / 597 x 1 246 inches Turquoise
1444 / 646 / 3760 x 1 172 inches Wedgewood
1446 / 313 / 311 x 1 165 inches Navy blue – medium
AVAS d’Alger & 100/3 conversion for higher counts of linen.
LINEN SIZES
The design/graphed area (2 threads per square) is 130 (w) x 929 (h). Our calculations have included a 3” margin for finishing and framing.
32ct – Design: 8.13″ x 58.06″ Fabric: 14.13″ x 64.06″
36ct – Design: 7.22″ x 51.61″ Fabric: 13.22″ x 57.61″
40ct – Design: 6.5″ x 46.45″ Fabric: 12.5″ x 52.45″
46ct – Design: 5.65″ x 40.39″ Fabric: 11.65″ x 46.39″
Tags: Hands Across the Sea
