An antique 1820 sampler by a 5 year old girl - charming piece, some mistakes

A most charming Regency sampler produced in 1820 by Mary Ann Penfold aged 5 years of age. This is a very competently produced sampler by a young girl of just 5 years of age

There are a few interesting aspects to this sampler:

• the young lady was obviously not copying the alphabet when she produced this work as she has transposed the 'U' and 'V' on two occasions

• the sampler exhibits the 'Greek Key pattern' sometimes called 'Greek Fret'. This is an ancient form of ornamentation which had a revival in the early 19th century, so this young lady obviously had a fashionable tutor or parents

• samplers dating to the first half of the 19th century often contained moral or religious texts and this fashion is demonstrated in this sampler in which Mary praises the care given by her parents. There is a mistake in the text with the word 'off' being written rather than 'of'

The text of the message was all written in pen which has faded over time. The intention was obviously to go over the writing with stitches. Interestingly, only the 'ke' of the word 'take' and the letters 'ff' of the word 'off' have actually been stitched (please see photograph 10). I cannot offer any explanation as to why this young lady began the stitching at this point in the text and did not complete the sampler. Perhaps she became disillusioned with it when the mistakes were pointed out. Unfortunately, we will never know the answer.

I have done some research trying to find out more about this young lady. Using the national register of births I have narrowed this young lady down to one of two girls. Unfortunately, because we have no information as to where this young lady was born I cannot definitively say which of the following girls produced this sampler:

1.  Born March 5th, 1815 in Erith, Kent. The parents were William and Mary Penfold

2.  Born .....? Christened on July 2nd 1815 in Cuckfield in Sussex. The parents were William and Elizabeth Penfold

When I acquired this sampler the bottom centre of the sampler was in a poor state i.e. the area in which the age of the young lady and the year was stitched. This area has been restored. I asked my restorer to carry out a sympathetic restoration, which I believe she has done. Onme photograph shows the reverse of the sampler and the dyed muslin which had to be added to support the new stitches. No attempt has been made to add all the stitches that were missing. The conservation work that has been carried out is in keeping with the original state of the sampler.

The sampler is glazed and lies within a new off-white coloured mount. The original frame colour has been changed to black

Postage is just to within the UK mainland with fdelivery carried out by UPS

Please see my other items which are predominantly 18th and 19th century in date