Beauties and Enigmas at Auction This Week

Particulary at my local auction house in Lewes - Gorringes. I was very excited to see their latest hatch of samplers up for adoption on 7/8 September. The gorgeously free-embroidered beauty above is Lot 174 and is a George III needlework sampler, initialled MN, dated 1773 and unusually dated with one number of the year in each corner of the main panel. It is worked with a verse, animals, house and flowers. Framed, it measures 16.25 x 12ins. The estimate for this sampler is: £1,500 - £2,000.

Lot 173 at the same Gorringes sale is an enigma. For a start it is painted and not stitched! But what is even more intriguing is its resemblance to a batch of related samplers - one of which is in Deerfield Massachusetts, and another in the Micheál and Elizabeth Feller Collection. This piece is dated 1762 making it George III period and is signed by Ann Hi (another enigma?) and dated 1762. It measures 24.5 x 17ins and has an estimate of £200.

Also in the Gorringes sale are a number of early samplers and Lot 177 is just one example. Dated 1670 it is a Charles II needlework sampler, worked throughout with overall foliate rows and alphabet. It has a later frame measuring 15 x 8ins and comes with an estimate of £300 - £400. If you are interested in any of these items, be sure to register as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Lacy Scott and Knight have this delightful sampler in their two day sale on 9/10 September. It is Lot 749 and is a George IV needlework alphabet verse and picture sampler, by S Whitehand, aged 14, dated 1823, measuring 31 x 31cm. It comes with an estimate of £120 - £180.

Last but not least, Morphets of Harrogate, have this Lot 3 for auction on 8 September. It was worked by Prudence ?uman in 1657 in ivory, moss green and burgundy coloured silks, on linen, with strawberries, acorns and flowering trees above a flory and counter-flory border of stylised plant forms and the alphabet. It measure 32cm x 19.5cm and comes with an estimate of £150 - £200. Happy bidding!