1856

Sampler

English

With the increased availability of design books in the nineteenth century, samplers were no longer used as embroidered guides but were instead valued as pieces of art suitable for display. This sampler features only one type of stitch and its design includes the Crystal Palace, the cast-iron and glass structure that housed England’s Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition showcased the latest in industrial technology from around the world, with an emphasis on British production. Renderings of the Crystal Palace were common in mid-nineteenth-century printed textiles and pictures.