Back
 BOSCOBEL OAK
An English Band Sampler of the 1660's from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England. Worked almost entirely in double running and running stitches, this unusual band sampler manages to incorporate lessons in needlework with politics and English history. The large oak tree in the lower-most panel contains three gold crowns, an obvious reference to the oak tree in the grounds of Boscobel House in Shropshire where Charles II was hidden after fleeing the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The local people assisted him in his escape, which explains the figure of the hunter saluting the tree. The mansion and formal garden in the upper third appear in some fashion on at least three other dated English samplers; Frances Cheyney's of 1663 in the Burrell Collection, Elizabeth Sexton's of 1660 now in a private collection, and Margret Mason's of 1660 in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Boscobel Oak Reproduction Sampler  
 
 

Origin and date: English 1660's
Rated: Beginning to intermediate
Linen count and finished size: 35-count hand-dyed, 7-1/2"x25-1/2"
Source:
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England
Kit with cotton floss: $60.00
Kit with silk floss: $85.00

Select  

New Additions

SEARCH The Scarlet Letter

P.O. Box 397
Sullivan, WI 53178
Mon-Fri. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (CST)
Telephone
: 262-593-8470
Website
:
http://www.scarlet-letter.com
e-mail: samplers@scarlet-letter.com

All contents copyright © 2000-2008 THE SCARLET LETTER
 Webmaster 
CTS

Table of Contents