Geography Lesson on Wales
School Sampler Dated 1812
An interesting Welsh School sampler that served not only as a lesson in stitching for young Mary Evans but also as a geography and history lesson combined. Mary was a pupil at Pwllhely School (spelled Pwllheli nowadays) in north-west Wales and she completed her task on the last day of October 1812.
The sampler features a central verse worked in black cross stitch, within a floral embroidered oval cartouche that reads:
Wales is 180 miles long and 80
broad was joined to
England in the Year 1282 …
WALES is divided into Twelve
Counties Six North Wales and Six
South Wales …
The Welch are Honest Brave
Around the legend Mary has stitched various decorative motifs of birds perched on branches, three- masted sailing boats, love hearts, stems of bluebells, baskets and vases of flowers, two cats and a peculiar-looking sheep, all contained within a strawberry border.
The sampler is housed in a later ebonised frame (a pencil note on the backing board states it was re-framed in 1926) with old ripply glass. Good overall condition but there some areas of wear/holes mostly confined to the edges. The colours remain good though there may be slight fading.
Item Ref. 5457
Size: 445 x 362mm (17½ x 14¼")