An English sampler of circa 1810.

This finely worked sampler features pastoral scenes above and below a lovely verse about friendship. A four-sided honeysuckle border surrounds large baskets of fruits and flowers, a fenced pasture with seven large lazy sheep and an architectural folly in the background. Each corner has a gold eight-pointed star, executed in back and counted satin stitches. The verse surrounded by a sawtooth counted satin stitch border, is as follows:

Deliberate on all things with thy Friend.
But since Friends grow not thick on every bough,
Nor every Friend unrotten at the Core
First, on thy Friend: deliberate with thyself.
Pause, ponder, sift, not eager in the choice
Nor jealous of the chosen: fixing, fix:
Judge before Friendship, then confide till death.

Stitches used to execute this sampler are cross (over one and two threads of linen), counted satin, and bullion (for the sheep).

Kit contains 35 count linen, silk or cotton thread, needle and instructions.

FINISHED SIZE: 14"x20"

Scroll down to see close up sections of this beautiful sampler.