
Name/Title18th-century hand embroidered sampler
About this objectSamplers were pieces of cloth, usually linen, that featured hand embroidered designs using thread made of silk, wool, or cotton. In the 16th century, young European girls made samplers as a way of learning embroidery techniques that would be useful in the repair of household linens. Patterns stitched into these early samplers were often sewn as a reminder of a stitch so that the sewer could refer to it later.
One especially common type of sampler was the band sampler, which, as its name suggests, was made of a narrow band of fabric (the decision was one of economics rather than aesthetics because fabric was expensive). But, regardless of the shape, by the 18th and 19th centuries European samplers were used less for sewing practice and pattern record keeping and more for ornamentation. Decorative samplers featured a variety of embroidered motifs, such as people, animals, quotes, and the alphabet, and they often had an embellished border. They were created to be displayed and to showcase the sewer’s artistic needlework skills.
MakerAnn Rusden - Maker
Date Made1797
Period18th century
Medium and MaterialsTextile.
Inscription and MarksEmbroidered poem reads:
Of Education
Seen in what plight yon Vine appears,
Mor XXXXX leaves, nor purple chesters bears;
but if around the Elm her arms she throws
Or by some friendly Prop supported grows
Soon shall the stem be clad with foliage green
And cluttered grapes beneath the leaves be seen
Thus prudent care must rear, the youthful mind
By love supported with toil refined
This thus alone the Human PLant can raise
Unpropp'd it droops and unsupported dies.
Ann Rusden August [sic]
1797
Center of sampler includes two rows of the alphabet - the upper row with capitalised letters and the lower row featuring lower case letters and the numbers 1 through 10.
Object TypeGeneral Interest
Object numberSF000704
Copyright LicenceAttribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
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The mug is decorated with an underglaze and a blue transfer print. On the body, it is titled ‘Emigrants to Australia’. This type of body and glaze was discontinued by 1840. Comparison of the handle shape and the profile of the foot, point to the attribution of manufacture by the Davenport Factory.
Delta was a ship-rigged vessel with two decks and three masts. It was built in Dordrecht, Netherlands in 1839 at the shipyard of Jan Schouten and registered in the same port. Its hull was constructed of oak and sheathed in ‘yellow metal’. Delta was owned by H. van der Sande at the time of its loss and was engaged as a cargo trader.
The Delta carried 29 crew and passengers, while sailing from Melbourne to Batavia in ballast when wrecked at Kenn Reefs on 30 May 1854 whilst under the command of Captain J.G. Kunst. This vessel loss supports the pattern of shipwrecks located on a well-travelled shipping route that was poorly charted until the mid-nineteenth century. The crew of the Delta could see four other shipwrecks at Kenn Reefs at the time of their vessel’s loss.
Important image of a ship associated with Matthew Flinders, that would shortly become one of the most famous early shipwrecks in eastern Australian waters. This is a fine ship’s portrait, by one of the great exponents of the art