Collections Online
Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
Advanced Search
Sampler
This sampler was made in the late 1700s by Cat Edwards of Carmarthenshire. Samplers with random placed motifs and naturalistic designs, such as this one, are often called ‘spot motif’ samplers.
Narrow linen canvas ground embroidered with verse, female figure with flower in pot, signature, floral border and geometric key pattern along top edge. Embroidered in cross stitch (verse, signature and key pattern) and chain stitch (floral and figure motifs), as well as button hole and long stitches in places using five colours of floss silk. Three different colours of plied thread used on eyes of figure and on flower beside her: cream and brown are S-twist, while the blue is Z-twist. Canvas ground has plain turn-back along top (3-5mm wide), held in place with small overcast stitches; the sides have a 4-5mm wide turn-back held with decorative hem-stitches (stitched with cream silk thread, S-twist) and the lower edge is a selvage. Along the PR side, in line with the floral motifs, there are some faint brown markings on the ground fabric which seem to be underdrawings to guide the embroidery.