'Tis Education Forms The Common Mind'
Schools, Scholars and Seminaries.

A vital part of a young girls education was sewing and, through the needle feminine virtues were impressed on the young mind. Whilst many samplers remain, the teachers of the young embroiderers, many anonymous, are sadly long forgotten.

In this exhibition, where possible, we have tried to link groups of samplers together. In some cases we have added to groups which are already known and have illustrated in this catalogue newly discovered and previously unrecorded examples.

Priced at £18 + £2.50 to UK Post and Packing. (Airmail £24.)

Friends. A Common Thread. Samplers with a Quaker Connection.

Author: Carol Humphrey, Honory Keeper of Textiles, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

This catalogue is intended as a guide based on a group of samplers tracing the influence of Quaker practises and religious beliefs on the education of our forebears, Quaker or otherwise. The spread of these influences from one continent to another not only enriching education but helping to bring about enormous social and in some cases political change, in the days before modern communication and mass travel. Charting both family histories and the relationships between the wider family of Quakers and society in general , the study of needlework can act as a primary source as well as an important historical ad social record.

Priced at £18 + £2.50 p&p to UK (Airmail £23.)

Changing Styles: The Eighteenth Century. One Hundred Years of Sampler Making

The style of English samplers evolved slowly throughout the eighteenth entury. This catalogue charts this development from the emerging importance of women's literacy, the influence of moral excellence on young minds, the period of pastoral sampler making and the growth in needle arts practised in fashionable boarding school for yong ladies.
Illustrated in full colour, with many previously unrecorded samplers, the catalogue contains a very rare and unique group of eight Scottish family samplers spanning a period of some forty years.

Priced at £15 + £2.50 p&p to UK (Airmail £20.)

Stitched in Adversity

This catalogue illustrates some of the finest work produced by the poorest girls in adverse conditions. Examples illustrated come from orphanages, asylums, charity schools and schools of industry. Four examples of rare pocket samplers are shown both front and back. Sections relating to Cheltenham Female Orphan Asylum, the George Muller Orphanages, Raines Asylum and Indian Missionary Schools are accompanied by an informative text. Many samplers are directly related to the family background of the young embroidress forming a fascinating social history. ‘Stitched in Adversity’ is a moving tribute to female endeavours in the late 18th and 19th Centuries and creates a thought provoking catalogue.

Priced at £15 + £2 p&p to UK (Airmail £20.)

Samplers Mapped and Charted

This catalogue focuses on map samplers from, we believe, the first such exhibition to have been held. Until relatively recently map samplers were often regarded as ‘curiosities’, their significance remaining largely unrecognised. The catalogue, we hope, will go some way to correcting this error. There are illustrations of the more frequently seen embroidered maps of England and Wales, as well of rare county maps. Maps of Spain, Ireland, Palestine, France and Europe are illustrated and also double globe World maps of the Northern and Southern hemispheres and other remarkable examples of embroidery, including an unusual farm map and a war map.

Priced at £15 + £2 p&p to UK (Airmail £20.)

On This Fair Sampler Does My Needle Write

Featuring the inclusion of a number of samplers from the important collection formed by Emma- Henriette Schiff von Suvero during the early years of the last century. At the outbreak of World War II this unique collection was acquired by the German Government and given to the Staatlich Kunstgewerbemuseum, Vienna. Here the items were carefully stored until Spring 2003, when restitution was made by the Austrian Government and the collection dispersed.
Both English and Continental samplers are illustrated and include rare examples dating from the 17th Century to the early 19th Century. All items are photographed with many close up images and a well researched text.

Priced at £15 + £2 p&p to UK (Airmail £20.)

An Exceptional Endeavour

This catalogue reflect the long tradition of both professional and domestic embroidery in Scotland. Some samplers name the town in which they were worked - Montrose, Edinburgh, Govan, Musselburgh etc. Other samplers are identified as Scottish through elements in their design or text influenced by popular literature. The magnificent Lennoxlove bedhangings illustrate the wealth of the landowning gentry in Scotland during the 17th and 18th centuries.
To form a comparison to their Scottish counterparts some interesting English samplers from the 18th and 19th centuries have also been included.

Priced at £12 + £2 p&p to UK (Airmail £17.)

Diligence, Industry and Virtue

The title of this catalogue takes us beyond the purely pictorial appeal of needlework and into three hundred years of social history reflecting the perceived feminine ideals taught from early childhood. Many of the verses recorded on samplers are designed to inculcate these ideals.
The earliest needlework examples illustrated date from the 17th century, and span over two hundred years of sampler making. Including rare punishment needleworks and a series of three samplers with 'The Golden Verses of Pythagoras.'

Priced at £12, £2 p&p to U.K. (Airmail £17.)

When This You See Remember Me

The needleworks featured in this booklet were intended to be given as gifts, to record friendships or commemorate family events. The title was itself taken from a sampler worked by Charlotte Malpas in 1834. The catalogue features many needleworks including a rare embroidered letter, collections of needlework specimens, miniature dresses and a hair sampler presented to a Prison Governor by an inmate as well as many other evocative and poignant pieces.

Priced at £12, £2 p&p to U.K. (Airmail £17.)

Paradise Revisited

There must surely be no earlier craft than that of needlework, for in the third chapter of Genesis we read that Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together and made for themselves aprons.... This publication from Witney Antiques explores the Garden of Delights with all manner of plants and creatures as well as the arcadian lifestyle to which 18th century English society aspired. Paradise Revisited features forty one colouful samplers and embroideries.

Priced at £12, £2 p&p to U.K. (Airmail £17.)

Upstairs Downstairs, Plain and Fancy

Exhibition Catalogue of British Samplers and Historic Embroideries from 1590 to 1880. Featuring needleworks made at all levels of society, from grand houses to orphanages. Fifty-three examples of plain and decorative work illustrated in colour, including full page plates and detailed enlargements.

Priced at £12, £2 p&p to U.K. (Airmail £17.)

How Fragrant the Rose

Samplers and Embroideries from 1650 to 1850. The English love of flowers is reflected in the outstanding embroideries which featured in this exhibition. Forty-five needleworks illustrated in colour.

Priced at £10, £2 p&p to U.K. (Airmail £14.)

Samplers, Town and Country

A collection of fine antique needlework samplers naming the cities, towns and villages in which they were worked. Including a group of rare map samplers. Forty-seven samplers illustrated in colour.

Priced at £10, £2 p&p to U.K. (Airmail £14.)

All Creatures Great and Small

Thirty eight samplers dating from 1625 to 1889 depicting animals, birds and insects. The title of this collection comes from a traditional hymn reflecting the strong influence of religion in needlework throughout this period. However, as illustrated, there are very many other aesthetic and symbolic uses for which animal imagery serves. Colour illustrations and numerous enlargements throughout.

Priced at £8, £2 p&p to U.K. (Airmail £12.)

Samplers, House and Garden

Invite a child to pick up a pen or paper and they may well depict their home. Houses and gardens have always been a rich source of creative inspiration and were an important subject for antique samplers. This catalogue features thirty two fine examples all illustrated in colour.

Priced at £8, £2 p&p to U.K. (Airmail £12.)

An Invitation to Tea

The catalogue from Witney Antiques ‘Exhibition of Antique related Tea Equipage’. From the first account of the sale of tea in 1665 through the high point of the tea industry in England to the mid nineteenth century. Featuring metalware, tea chests, caddies and ceramic artifacts. Authoritative texts by eminent specialists with over a hundred illustrations and photographs in colour and black and white.

Priced at £12, £2 p&p to U.K. (Airmail £17.)