The Sampler Archive

March 18, 2025 7:09 AM

"The Sampler Archive database has been designed to share detailed information and high-resolution images of American girlhood samplers and pictorial embroideries from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries."

If you happen to have an historical sampler, you can submit it for inclusion in the database.

posted by jedicus (7 comments total)

The three links in the post work for me, but none of the “browse” buttons on the site (using an iPad). The ones I’ve sampled are stunningly-detailed. I’ll definitely be sharing these with seamstress- and artist-adjacent relatives and friends. Great post.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 8:18 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]

Yeah unfortunately the site doesn't seem to work very well on mobile, and it's a bit wonky even on a computer.
posted by jedicus at 8:33 AM on March 18 [2 favorites]

I love that it seems to have been standard to include the sewist's name. I'm a quilter, and quilts tend to be anonymous -- there are people working to change that, though.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:49 AM on March 18 [2 favorites]

The earliest pixel art!

Susan Kare was an artist experienced in needlepoint work when she began pioneering the earliest bitmapped art in the Macintosh project.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:06 AM on March 18 [2 favorites]

This is lovely. There is some biographical information for each of the samplers where they have it, and some is quite detailed to parents, spouse, children. They have a "related" link that they haven't populated, but I would love to see if they'll include links to relatives who also created samplers/embroidery. Some are massively skilled at such a young age. My grandmother wanted to teach me needlework but I couldn't sit still long enough.
posted by drossdragon at 9:13 AM on March 18 [2 favorites]

These are astounding!

Check out this one by Sarah Derby, dating from 1763-1765.
posted by jamjam at 3:31 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]

Fantastic, thank you!
posted by jokeefe at 4:19 PM on March 18