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Samplers were stitched for hundreds of years and were
passed on from one generation to the next, to preserve
patterns and motifs to sign bed and table linen and
to trim costumes. "In Germany the history of pattern
samplers ended after World War I. A reform of needlework
classes banished the samplers from schools." (Angelika
Walter: Alte Mustertücher zum Nachsticken, Amberg
2000, page 38.)
The samplers stitched in Germany during the years 1872-1918
"are neither exeptionally decorative nor artistic,
they are monochromatic and have little, if any pictorial
work ... Red-and-white samplers, stitched using red
thread on a white or light-colored ground, typically
contain one full alphabet, the year of completion and
the name of the stitcher. Present in some examples are
verses, border patterns, spot motifs, a month-day-year
style date and the occasion for stitching a piece...Turkey
red marking cotton became the thread of choice."
(Richard W. Fulghum: Germanic Red-and-White Samplers.
Notes on My Collection). The red-and-white German samplers
are all nearly square or rectangular.
The sampler sampler BI 1906/2004 is designed in the
tradition of the German red-and-white samplers stitched
during the last 30 years of the 19th century, but it
shows a very rich collection of different alphabets
beside to two delicate decorated initials.
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