English border sampler, by Mary Reader

An image of Embroidery sampler/Border sampler. Reader, Mary. A repeating floral border pattern surrounds the main body of the sampler. Horizontal sections are made by two geometric and three floral repeating border patterns. The top section contains two alphabets with each letter worked twice and numerals 1-10 and 1-20. A verse flanked by flowerpots reads 'Great God in mercy condescends/thro life to be my Guardian friend/And When my spirit leaves its clay/ to raise it to eternal day'. The rest of the sampler is filled by a balanced arrangement of detached trees, flowering trees, fruit baskets, dogs, birds, and crowns around a centrally placed flowerpot. At the bottom an acorn border pattern encloses the inscription 'Mary Reader/Aged 12 Years 1826'. Woollen embroidered with polychrome silks in cross and satin stitch. There is a double blue line selvedge on both sides, the top is hemmed and the bottom was hemmed but is damaged. Length 39.75 cm, width 33.5 cm, 1826. English.

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Embroidery sampler/Border sampler. Reader, Mary. A repeating floral border pattern surrounds the main body of the sampler. Horizontal sections are made by two geometric and three floral repeating border patterns. The top section contains two alphabets with each letter worked twice and numerals 1-10 and 1-20. A verse flanked by flowerpots reads 'Great God in mercy condescends/thro life to be my Guardian friend/And When my spirit leaves its clay/ to raise it to eternal day'. The rest of the sampler is filled by a balanced arrangement of detached trees, flowering trees, fruit baskets, dogs, birds, and crowns around a centrally placed flowerpot. At the bottom an acorn border pattern encloses the inscription 'Mary Reader/Aged 12 Years 1826'. Woollen embroidered with polychrome silks in cross and satin stitch. There is a double blue line selvedge on both sides, the top is hemmed and the bottom was hemmed but is damaged. Length 39.75 cm, width 33.5 cm, 1826. English.

Image data

Accession Number: T.6-1943
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/27.0
Focal length: 80
Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
Photographer name: Amy Jugg
Image height: 1024 pixels
Image width: 870 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 0.97MB
Exposure time: 1/60
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 27/1
Captured: 2013:06:27 12:12:25

Key words

19th Century acorn alphabet birds border sampler bordered sampler cross stitch dated dogs embroidered embroidery English Fitz_AA floral flower pot flowers fruits Georgian hemmed inscribed inscriptions lettering letters Mary Reader needle needlework needleworking numbers numerals poets polychrome sampler satin stitch seeds selvedge sewing sewn silk stitched stitches stitching textile thread verses wool woollen

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025)
            "English border sampler, by Mary Reader"
            Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-215066 Accessed: 2025-12-05 17:03:04

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            {{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-215066
            |title=English border sampler, by Mary Reader
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 17:03:04|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">English border sampler, by Mary Reader</figcaption>
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