| The original of this
sampler was purchased in Pennsylvania, but it is certainly German in origin.
Its length and many alphabets suggest that it was used as a pattern rather
than as a display piece. The muted colors have remained true because the
sampler was rolled up and was never framed until recently. Early German
samplers were primarily worked in cross stitch using muted colors, as in
DHS. It was also common for them to be unsigned but to have initials within
a cartouche.
Adam and Eve were prominent in many samplers from Protestant Germany. The section at the bottom not only has Adam, Eve, and the serpent with the tree of knowledge, but it also has two other trees, one of which could represent the Tree of Life mentioned in the second chapter of Genesis. The sampler is done almost entirely in cross stitch with dividing rows of montenegrin stitch and long-arm cross stitch. There is also one Algerian eye alphabet. The model was stitched in silk on a 32/36 uneven weave linen in natural, which is very true to the original linen. This sampler is from the Threads of Gold collection and was reproduced and stitched by Jennett Whiteside. Stitch count: 107 x 791.
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Two portions of the sampler, enlarged |  |