Studio: international art (9.1897)

The Sampler

Louis, the well-beloved, tells you he did as a child. entail many pages of appreciation, and only reiterate
After due appreciation of this map, and admiration the moral which almost each one of these samplers

of the compass boxed near the Bristol Channel, it preaches. But the border of this one_the flower

would be ungenerous to carp at the cartouche form so naively disposed, the ingenious device
whereon the legend appears. Its sprawling semi- adopted in " turning its corners " (always the test
realistic flowers show the fatal tendency towards point of a good border design), its proportion to
weak naturalistic decoration which even the sampler the whole—these things may have come by acci-
was not fated to escape. dent; but the result is a most excellent art of its

Although in Elizabeth Susanna Newham's sam- sort. Probably the ten years old maiden, whose
pier one found a forest of trees, yet that of Mary first effort of an infant hand was not accomplished,
Roberts, March 1800 (page 67), contains still more ; one fears, without many hours of weariness, and
it is like a nurseryman's specimen plot. Dear little possibly many hot tears and indignant remon-
trees they are, closely related to the curled wooden strances and sighs at the futility of so many hours
varieties of German toy-boxes, and with more than wasted that might have been spent in the open air,
a family likeness to the clipped growth of a formal copied every stitch from a previous example ; yet,
garden. To do justice to their stiff charms would judging from the distinct individuality of each

sampler which has come
under my notice, it would
_ seem the whole compo-

h^^^^%c^^^^S?^- J^Sp^ jPfc sition was usually a re-

.zP^aASfeu «p ^Seaastf^C 3p .^■■Sskss^. *W arrangement and never an

"^frf . ^^J^T -J^ilM :- -^t§s~ |#» exact copy of previous

yi fwf* ' \/ Mm ^ y: a* designs.

ffW. % A&£ • ' J^J The decoration which

fill-' «|~ '--.§.. P fM~L.A^JJ^t adorns the master-piece of

f Sf Xdfe1 IB^^vN --"T-^^S J^^^r* f- LouisaLePa^re'1804 ^a§e

i ^-rX;'^ I fi^1 66), is most probably based

S ^T"''^W' •-~*ygsylagaar*~'- •98^g^$&' upon older work. The

f% 1 &*%§s£^ Jk' ''•Mgjfe'' '^jS powdering of its devices,

WjBk * Jfl^"' J^L ^^plf - fsiwf* - *j fKi the border and the castel-

^ilif" %^s=:::::;±^^ jjjjj, Jf** respectful obedience to

' Wnen 3 W&£/ovms% yf? precedent. But the palings

An4 in m>- PHm*--! v"\a.J jL^ and gate suggest much

f ?o\)^«8howw6ll ff^ j^pf?^ r later influence, and the

* JspemTOytim* ]jf :-W~i<^J'gtf] ugly framework to the

'^AndJjymr .f-aiY.pter^i^ r^g|W^ . >* inscription is, as the

Yoy Tr.^i-fce | - hideous obelisks show,

What care m/ Piter* | jg= fit >

Took of me — fV OP obviously influenced by

-4K /^w.__/"^k t.^gf y % ' contemporary taste. With

^ 'ij^i? ' these excep^ons, however,

^^^^^^^P^^^g ^ pri^m pahsades,^ the animate

jpli|lB||^^^W?..... P^jt. jj/v J^^" of all, using the word in

j|. Jj \^ gfj^ ^S meanertSense' and yet

^W^ia^?^ ^Nff^ 31 attractive,
^'f Si- 31 v - \ ;€ * Elizabeth Stockwell,

fWt pal^a&afc J5L ^^Jlfr when she wrought the

^^^^^^ss^^^^^3^^551^^^®288^ facade of the wondrous

edifice which adorns her
no date sampler (page 70), had

69

anonymous sampler