IFAKHS 1817

This sampler from the Vierlanden area dated 1817 IMMEDIATELY appealed to me – during a very personal guided tour through the depot of Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landesmuseum in Schleswig, Germany. What a fantastic collection of samplers! The piece shows everything what is typical for samplers out of this area and time:

• a nearly square format, undamaged linen, pristine shimmering black silk floss,
• rows of trees of life, of rosettes, and of lozenges in various shapes,
• a decorated alphabet, a short form of a name ( "IF" for the maiden – Jungfrau – AKHS), and the year, the whole thing framed, and
• all free areas were used to full capacity by quarter or half motifs, small crowned letters were scattered.

Since the maiden AKHS used a thicker black silk thread as the selected material allowed, the free threads were barely recognizable at the dense patterns. A very hard "magnifier work" for me to count the sampler! I thank the museum photographer for her great help!

What do you do with the small mistakes of the young needleworker who has worked e.g. over one thread instead of two, made a mistake in her counting, slipped with a pattern? The "counteress" has made an effort, and therefore a replica takes time! It was a pleasure to "discover" this sampler!