Merklap van zijde op katoen 1874

This embroidered sampler was crafted by Johanna Hendrika Scholtz, featuring blue silk thread on a cotton base. The sampler displays a methodical arrangement of alphabets, numbers, and simple motifs, such as birds, spools, and teacups. These motifs are not merely decorative; they evoke the art of crafting and domesticity—symbols of the feminine sphere, carefully stitched into the fabric of everyday life. Consider the image of a bird. Throughout the ages, the bird has been used as a potent symbol in art, representing everything from freedom and transcendence to fragility and the soul. It’s not uncommon to see it on funerary monuments, a poignant link between life and the great beyond. The act of stitching itself embodies a cultural continuum, an almost meditative process, repeated across generations. Through the act of embroidery, Scholtz connects to a lineage of women, each stitch a link in a chain of memory. The image, simple as it may seem, pulses with a quiet, persistent echo of human experience.