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Late 18th Century Darning Sampler worked by S. Smith, Bocking, 1797

This darning sampler has a signed central darned square surrounded by eight darned crosses in a variety of darning stitches.

It is not surpising that the late 18th century darning samplers from Bocking School are known for the superior quality of silks used and the exquisite fine stitching as from the medieval period the town of Bocking was known as one of the important cloth towns in England for manufacture of wool and silk.

In 1304 Flemish weavers arrived and later in the 17th and 18th centuries silk weavers from France and Flanders (Huguenots) settled in Bocking. It was probably the children of these weavers who worked these samplers. Many of the weavers wove silk on looms set up in their homes.

Bocking School was a charity school founded in 1747 by the members of Bocking End Congregational Church. In 1809 Samuel Courtauld installed a steam engine in Bocking Mill for the manufacture of silk.

Polychrome silk threads on muslin.

Reference: Samplers, Averil Colby, Batsford, 1964, Fig. 124, similar sampler.
Dimensions - 45.75cm x 44.5cm (18in x 17.5in)
Framed

 

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