Department: Social History

A pale orange border runs along the edges of this sampler and Harriet has embroidered a simple red house in the centre. Architectural details such as this became particularly popular with sampler-makers during the Victorian period, although they were often based on far more elaborate designs than Harriet's. Strawberry vines run along the left and right edges of the sampler, a motif that was first used by Jacobean embroiderers in the seventeenth century. It became popular once again during the nineteenth century as a border pattern, as seen in this sampler. Harriet has also decorated her sampler with other popular nineteenth-century motifs such as small birds, diamonds, hearts and crosses.