Small sampler - D.E. 1897 - Germany
REPRODUCTION SAMPLER CHARTED BY MURIEL BERCEVILLE - COUNTED CROSS STITCH
The original piece is an antique sampler stitched in 1897 by a young girl who dated and signed her work with her initials: D.E. She lived in Germany.
The words:
Dem Jesuskindetreu
could be translated as
Trusting in Jesus
This little sampler was stitched on canvas, using a red cotton thread. Alphabet samplers such as this one were stitched by young girls who were learning the basics of needlework and getting ready to stitch their own household linen with their initials. Stitching was often taught at school. They would reproduce series of letters and numbers on small pieces of canvas, adding some border designs and ornaments with symbolic meaning. Red thread was not only a symbol of life but was also appreciated because it was especially colorfast and would resist laundering. These patterns were often used generation after generation in a family.
When charting this reproduction sampler, Muriel Brunet was careful to keep any of the original « mistakes » because they convey the youth and inexperience of the stitcher and add charm to the piece. You might therefore find some letters that are not perfectly aligned or are imbalanced. Some may be inverted or even omitted.
A faithful reproduction of an antique alphabet, charted by Muriel Berceville.
>> see more reproduction samplers charted by Muriel Berceville
Number of stitches: 116 x 122 (wide x high)
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Stitches: Cross stitch (no fractional stitches), Backstitch,
Chart: Black and White AND Color
Threads: Original: cotton, Reprodction sampler: Red overdyed silk thread
Number of colors: 1
Themes: Red monochrome, alphabet, sampler, antique, late 19th century, Germany, letters, monograms, reproduction sampler