Sampler
Object name
Maker
Date made
Circa 1800
Place made
Description
Circa 1800 map sampler of Europe stitched by Mary Curtis of Glasgow.
Content description
Map sampler showing Europe, stitched by Mary Curtis of Glasgow circa 1800. This is a rare map sampler because it covers Europe. Most samplers from the late 18th through early 19th century covered England, Wales, and parts of Scotland. Amusingly, the sampler's maker has put Scotland in large letters across most of England on her map!
The sampler is worked entirely in black cotton thread on linen, using back stitches for the borders and cross stitches for the names. The country names and seas are written in capital letters whilst the capital cities are in lower case. There are longitude and latitude figures around the border of the piece although intriguingly the longitude numbers are not aligned top and bottom. Interesting names include 'NORTH SEA or GERMAN OCEAN'. The northern region of Poland is still Prussia and Istanbul is still Constantinople, in line with naming conventions of this period. Modern Southern Ukraine is called Little Tartary.
There is a compass figure on the viewer's left-hand side of the map. The text 'MAP OF EUROPE' and 'Mary Curtis Glasgow' appear in decorative cartouches at the top left and bottom right of the sampler.
Map samplers emerged in Britain in the 1770s and had fallen from popularity by the 1840s. They gave girls undergoing their embroidery education the opportunity to learn geography while also learning needlework. It has thus far not proven possible to find which Mary Curtis of Glasgow stitched this map sampler.
The sampler is worked entirely in black cotton thread on linen, using back stitches for the borders and cross stitches for the names. The country names and seas are written in capital letters whilst the capital cities are in lower case. There are longitude and latitude figures around the border of the piece although intriguingly the longitude numbers are not aligned top and bottom. Interesting names include 'NORTH SEA or GERMAN OCEAN'. The northern region of Poland is still Prussia and Istanbul is still Constantinople, in line with naming conventions of this period. Modern Southern Ukraine is called Little Tartary.
There is a compass figure on the viewer's left-hand side of the map. The text 'MAP OF EUROPE' and 'Mary Curtis Glasgow' appear in decorative cartouches at the top left and bottom right of the sampler.
Map samplers emerged in Britain in the 1770s and had fallen from popularity by the 1840s. They gave girls undergoing their embroidery education the opportunity to learn geography while also learning needlework. It has thus far not proven possible to find which Mary Curtis of Glasgow stitched this map sampler.
Dimensions
width: 59cm
height: 49cm
height: 49cm
Materials
Stitches
Techniques
Motifs
Catalogue number
RSN.514
© Royal School of Needlework