Sampler

item details

NameSampler

ProductionAgnes Lawson; embroiderer; 1887; Fife

Classificationsamplers, textiles

Materialslinen, wool

Materials SummaryCross-stitch woollen embroidery on linen

Techniquescross-stitching

DimensionsOverall: 262mm (width), 318mm (height), 10mm (depth)

Registration NumberGH015491

Credit lineGift of Miss C Lawson, 1970

Overview

This sampler is a typical example of the creative handiwork of Scottish girls in the nineteenth century. Through the making of a sampler, girls learnt stitching and also their letters and numbers. Young girls in Scotland, like their counterparts in New Zealand, would make their first samplers aged either five or six. In Scotland, samplers appear to have been an essential part of a girl's formal education until about 1900.

The Lawson sisters
This is one of three samplers in Te Papa's collections made by two sisters, Jeanie and Agnes Lawson, who attended Kilconquhar School in Fife, Scotland. This sampler was made by Agnes Lawson (1875-1892, Scotland) when she was 12 years old.

Family history sampled
In it Agnes Lawson included the initials of two of her two sisters (JL for Jeanie Lawson and CL for Catherine Lawson, her younger sister born 1879) and the name of her school. Recording family members in samplers was a particularly Scottish trait. Agnes also included part of Psalm 11:1: 'In the Lord put I My trust'.