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Saturday 1 October 2011

Black Country Museum Samplers On-Line

The Black Country is that area of the West Midlands in the UK which was thick with smoke at the start of the Industrial Revolution and as a consequence its buildings and washing lines were distinguished by soot. Now the museums in the area have come together to put their collections on line. Hurrah! And you can visit them from your armchair right now. The sampler above is signed Ann Allen her Work Nov 15 1786 and Ann declares herself Taught by Mary Knight.
The sampler above in well-known format of a bible board is captioned Eliz Wright workd this in Mrs Robins's School in Birmingham June 12 1737.
And the one above is a delightful hint that we should all try to think ahead when we stitch and include some personal details for future generations' sake. How about incorporating a photograph of yourself?
This painting is also in the collection - and shows a family gathering - can you see the sampler on the wall behind the standing girl's head? To visit the on-line collection, just click here.

3 comments:

  1. I love the sampler of Lydia Thorp. If only it could be in my collection.

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  2. At last the Black Country is put on the map for something other than nail or chain making!

    I had hoped that they were going to be on show at the Black Country museum and not scattered around, oh well.

    There is a tale here in the Black Country that Queen Victoria was on a train that stopped at a station and looked out of the window, she was supposed to have said that she didn't like this Black Country, and that was how the name came about - whether that's true we will never know.
    I wonder if the Linda Thorp sampler has any connections to the Titanic anchor (with the anchors being on there) Did you know that is was built in Netherton, Dudley?, not too far from Walsall. Would be interesting to find out.

    Maggie

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  3. I didn't know that - the things I learn from readers! Thank you so much for educating me. Wouldn't it be interesting if that sampler was linked to the Titanic?

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