19th c Antique Samplers by Ada Elizabeth Gaunt 1886 - 1887

This is a lot of three wonderful antique samplers, two fully signed and dated, and the third initialed.  The first antique sampler is signed Ada Elizabeth Gaunt, Aged 13 years and dated 14/10/86.  It features the alphabet in upper and lower case, numbers and various motifs, some quite fine.  The bottom of this antique sampler features roses against an anchor along with “Feed My Flock” and “God Is Love”.  It measures 9 1/4” wide by 12” high and is in excellent condition.  The second antique sampler is on a coarser background fabric and features the alphabet in an old English or Gothic style along with numbers and other detailing and signed Ada E. Gaunt Aged 15 Years 11/87.  It also measures 9 1/4” wide by 12” high and also is in very good condition although there are a few light brownish marks in the background material that look way worse than in real life - they are exaggerated by the lighting and back shadowing.  The third antique sampler features the alphabet in an upper case serif font and is signed simply “AC” - I think that the C is meant to be a G, but of course, I can’t be sure.  It measures 5 3/4” by 6” and also is in excellent condition.

I’ve had these antique samplers for about 40 years and acquired them from the estate of two spinster sisters who were in their 90s when they passed.  They had kept everything from the family and most furnishings in the house were Victorian - it was like stepping into another time.

The colours on these antique samplers are vibrant and the pink on the first sampler is especially striking.  They had been well stored when I acquired and I’ve had them in a suitcase ever since I’ve had them.  Most of the time, these are framed, exposed to light and faded, but these are how they appeared originally.

Young girls and women commonly would make these samplers to demonstrate their needlework skills, an important skill to have during the Victorian era.

Wonderful to have a few antique samplers by the same person (even though I can’t vouch for the small sampler).  Beautiful pieces of needlework in excellent condition!