Scottish Samplers for Auction

Mellors and Kirk Auctioneers in Nottingham UK have two decorative Scottish samplers for auction on 23 August. They are both in the same lot - 417.(If you are interested do contacted them in advance to register as a bidder to avoid disappointment.) This first one is dated 1813 and features a large red brick house with two wings upon which perch the laird and his lady, while at the bottom of the path there is another female - perhaps a depiction of the stitcher herself, Jannet Speirs. In true Scottish sampler fashion the sampler is worked predominantly in red and green and in the row beneath the alphabet can be found the initials of Jannet's forbears, resembling in this respect Frisian samplers from the northwest of the Netherlands.

This second sampler also from the early 19th century is more textual than figurative, though decorated with crowns and floral bands. See again the traditional red and green colours and ordered ranks of family initials.