Sampler 1808

Nancy Laird created this sampler in 1805, working with linen and dyed cotton thread. The visible grid of the linen provides the structure for the needlework, which patiently fills the woven ground. Laird has carefully rendered alphabets and moralizing verse, framed by sinuous floral motifs. These elements speak to the traditions of female education in the early 19th century, where needlework was valued as both a skill and a form of cultural expression. The very act of stitching is labor-intensive, of course. But in this period, textile production was undergoing radical change. Home-based practices like Laird’s were gradually being displaced by mechanized manufacturing. Samplers like this one, therefore, can be understood as elegies to a pre-industrial mode of making – one that emphasized individual skill and diligence. Paying close attention to materials and process helps us understand the deeper social context of this beautiful, unassuming work.