The History of Stitch

26th January, 2019

Our Embroidery Studio recently had the pleasure of working on a Canvas Sampler dating back to the 19th century and we thought you would enjoy reading the history of this lovely piece.

The sampler was a much-treasured family heirloom with our customer remembering it fondly from their childhood. During the sampler’s long life, it had travelled the world – from Cornwall to South Africa, to Australia and finally, back to the UK.

The sampler was stitched by Elizabeth Ann Olds when she was 11 years old. Elizabeth, the customer’s great-grandmother, was born in St Just, Cornwall in April 1855. She was the daughter of a butcher and the only girl amongst 9 surviving children. When she was 21, Elizabeth married Francis Oats, a mining engineer from St Just. Three years after their marriage she accompanied him to South Africa where he had been sent by the British Government. They were living in Kimberley where he managed one of the diamond mines which later became part of De Beers. In those days, Kimberley would have been a hot, dusty, noisy and rough place, with very few ‘comforts’ – a huge contrast to Cornwall. Elizabeth must have passed on her passion for stitch to her daughter who was also a keen embroiderer all her life, teaching the basics to her own grandchild (the customer!).

The customer explains; “This sampler is very child-like in many ways. It is clear that the 11 year old did not really plan out her work before starting as she has had to make adjustments to the placements of the words and even ‘cut off words’ when she ran out of space! There are also two spelling mistakes. Perhaps, as a young girl at the time, she would have preferred to be running around outside with her eight brothers than sitting and stitching!”

The RSN Embroidery Studio expertly cleaned and mounted the sampler to make it ready to hang on the wall in the customer’s home and to be enjoyed once more.

If you would like any restoration or conservation work completed on a family heirloom, please email the Embroidery Studio [email protected] for a quote.