Minneapolis Institute of Art

Sampler

Abigail Lyon

Date

early 19th century

Medium

Silk thread on linen plain weave, needlework

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Sampler motifs typically involved written and numeric content. This was meant to aid the future homemaker who would mark linens clearly with stitched labels in order to track household possessions. But embroidering letters and numbers – even counting threads in the ground fabric before each stitch, a requisite process for the cross-stitch embroidery used throughout this example – also supported developments in literacy, penmanship, and math. Since female pupils were often taught to read but not always to write, sampler making often doubled as a girl’s first lesson in writing. United States, Americas

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