How to care for antique samplers

Antique samplers can make wonderful decorative items. Dealer and expert LIZ VAN HASSELT explains the wealth of examples available for sale, as well as how to care for them once you’ve got them home

Charming samplers that showcase the stitching skills of needlework students are lovely things to hang on the wall. As well as being decorative, they tell a tale of girlhood passed. According to Liz Van Hasselt, textile and costume consultant at Bristol Auction Rooms, the simpler ones produced in the 19th and early 20th centuries are widely available at auction at a ordable prices. ‘ I have a lot of three unframed ones that I am cataloging for an auction at the moment with an estimate of £80–£120,’ she says. ‘Framed, they tend to range from about £100 to £200. They mostly feature numbers and an alphabet – sometimes with simple pictures – along with the name of the child who made them and the date.’

If you find a framed sampler that you like, Van Hasselt recommends you look carefully before buying to check the condition of the fabric under the glass. ‘ You can get damp and mould behind the glass. Sometimes the background can be completely rotten.’

The advantage of buying unframed is that you can see what you are getting, then get it framed yourself. ‘ If you’ve invested a lot of money you might want to consider conservation framing, which is the gold

standard,’ recommends Van Hasselt. This will ensure that the fabric is protected from deterioration by using acid-free mounts and boards and allowing a certain amount of air to circulate behind the glass.

Most people like to hang their samplers on the wall like a piece of art, but some turn them into soft furnishings such as cushions. If you do display your sampler on a wall, keep it out of direct sunlight, as this will bleach out the colour. If your sampler has been unframed and dust has worked its way into the fibres, you can knock it out with gentle tapping or careful brushing, but don’t wash it, because the vegetable dyes are likely to run. If the piece is very dirty, but could be valuable, professional cleaning is the only way to go.

RIGHT A colourful sampler featuring the alphabet, numbers and

oral detailing by Rebecca Morgan, dated 1866