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Fig. 20.—Sampler. Scottish (?). 18th Century.
Formerly in the Author’s Collection.

Note.—The bright colouring, coarse canvas, and ornate lettering of this piece suggest a Scottish origin. It dates from about 1730, and is one of the earliest of the bordered samplers, the border being at present an altogether insignificant addition. It is also one of the first specimens of decoration with crowns and coronets, the initials underneath standing for king, duke, marquis, earl, viscount, lord, count, and baron.

Fig. 21.—Sampler by J. H. [Jane Heath]. A.D. 1725.
Mr Ashby Sterry.

The tiny sampler with crown illustrated in [Fig. 21] was one of four contributed to the Exhibition by Mr Ashby Sterry, each of them representing a generation in his family. It is unfinished, the background only having been completed in the lower half; its crown and thistle denote its Scottish origin.