Bristol CH

Most samplers made in the orphan houses of Bristol founded by George Müller put a spell on the viewer by the variety of nice alphabets, patterns, and small motifs. We admire the children’s handiwork and esteem so much patience, perseverance, and great skill.

Girls and even boys were instructed in needlework and they used exceptionally fine linen. Most of the samplers are worked in typical "Turkish Red" and finally the seams and edges have been acutely serged.

The so-called Bristol Orphanage samplers are very similar, but each piece also has its identity. Particularly striking in this sampler stitched around the year 1865 by “CH” is the small elephant that appears almost in the middle of the piece.

George Muller, a minister from Germany, came to England in 1829. In 1836 he opened an orphanage for the first thirty children after a major cholera epidemic in Bristol. The disastrous economic and health conditions of large sections of the British population let rapidly grow the number of orphanages. Until 1870, he had established five houses for a total of 2050 children! The parents of the children had died from diseases such as syphilis, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis and dropsy.

The sampler is privately owned. The cross stitch pattern is based on an image in the book "Art of Embroidery" by Lanto Synge, published in 2001.