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Sunday 25 November 2012

Welsh not American

I have reworked a post which was published earlier in the year on my Little Welsh Quilts blog.  This blog was then just a vague idea, had it been up an running, this post would have been there!
    
My grandmother was born Mary Evans, which is a name quite commonly found on Welsh samplers and because I can't  resist a sampler with her name I have a few in my collection. Although I no longer buy, this sampler in an on-line auction earlier this year, immediately caught my attention -


It was listed as American, though I am perfectly certain it's Welsh!  I have seen so many Welsh samplers with that particular house as well as those robin type birds which are generally found on Carmarthenshire samplers.  I will return to this group of samplers in a future post and go into the similarity of style in more detail.

On the same sampler trawl I found another -


This was also listed as American but again I am pretty certain it's Welsh.

I am not really surprised to see British samplers listed as American because the antique trade isn't knowledgeable or interested in sampler history, they are in the business of getting the best price! There are a few top dealers who do their best to collect information to enhance a sale, but the of lack of well researched publications make it extremely difficult.

Of course as time goes by samplers are dispersed worldwide and stray far from their homeland, but somewhere in the USA someone maybe hanging one of the above samplers on their wall having paid an "American" price for a non American sampler!  For as you may know, American samplers are priced more highly than British!  Buyer beware!


5 comments:

  1. I was wondering if you have charts available to purchase. I would dearly like to stitch a Welsh sampler.

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  2. I love reading about your Welsh samplers. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and all the beautiful photos! We honeymooned in Wales, and it is a place dear to my heart. My childhood best friend's parents are from Wales and I feel like it's part of my history as well as theirs. Lovely blog!

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  3. Hi Nicola,
    I have charted several samplers for my own use but they are not in printed form, just drawn on graph paper. It's a thought though? Maybe I should try and produce something more professional looking? I will post some pictures on a future post and if there is any interest I will seriously think of it!

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  4. I just found your blog on Welsh Samplers. I enjoyed seeing them very much and the history you provided. I have only one American sampler but it was very large. I live in Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America. I look forward to seeing more samplers in the future.

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  5. I just found your blog on Welsh Samplers. I enjoyed seeing them very much and the history you provided. I have only one American sampler but it was very large. I live in Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America. I look forward to seeing more samplers in the future.

    ReplyDelete