Sampler
Object name
Date made
1855
Place made
Description
A sampler dated January 1855, displaying 'The Institution Hymn' surrounded by a floral border.
Content description
A sampler completed in January 1855 featuring 'The Institution Hymn'. The sampler is entirely worked in cross stitches in green, pink, and black cotton threads on a linen ground. The sampler is titled 'The Institution Hymn' and features five stanzas of a poem framed by a flowering vine, which is worked in feather stitch and straight stitches.
The first verse is in pink thread and the size of the letters throughout is slightly uneven. It begins:
From thee our bounteous God
We every good receive
Thou giv'st us Clothing Friends and Food
And by thy grace we live
Second verse in black thread:
Thy pitying eye beheld
When we in darkness lay
From thee this Institution came
That we might read and pray
Third verse in pink thread:
May each of us improve
This learning to our good
And may our benefactors find
Their blessing from the Lord
Four verse in green thread:
May each of us and they
At God's right hand appear
And when the toils of life are past
All meet in glory there
Fifth verse in pink thread:
See another year is gone
Quickly have the seasons past
This we enter now upon
Will to many prove their last
The dots between each word, the occasional random dot found stitched into the linen, and the uneven text perhaps suggest that the anonymous stitcher of this sampler did not know how to read the text they stitched but rather copied it from a written document. The date below the poem, January 1855, is likely the month and year the stitcher finished their sampler.
What looks to be a poem of five stanzas is actually two poems. The first four stanzas come from a poem which is listed in various Sunday School hymnals in the United Kingdom, America, and Canada as 'From Thee our bounteous God' or other titles like 'Anniversary Hymn'. By 1800, versions of this poem were popular inclusions in books for children, but when and by whom this poem was first written is unknown. The earliest printed book found with a version of this poem is Sunday School Melodies, printed in Nottingham in 1800, but we can guess it was written much earlier. No printed source found has just these four stanzas printed, so we may gather that the stitcher or their teacher picked these out from the longer poem. The final stanza, separated from the other four stanzas by a horizontal line, is the first stanza in a poem called 'Uncertainty of Life', included in 1779 book The Olney Hymns, written by curate John Newton and poet William Cowper. This sampler was likely worked by a girl at a Sunday school or another religious school.
The first verse is in pink thread and the size of the letters throughout is slightly uneven. It begins:
From thee our bounteous God
We every good receive
Thou giv'st us Clothing Friends and Food
And by thy grace we live
Second verse in black thread:
Thy pitying eye beheld
When we in darkness lay
From thee this Institution came
That we might read and pray
Third verse in pink thread:
May each of us improve
This learning to our good
And may our benefactors find
Their blessing from the Lord
Four verse in green thread:
May each of us and they
At God's right hand appear
And when the toils of life are past
All meet in glory there
Fifth verse in pink thread:
See another year is gone
Quickly have the seasons past
This we enter now upon
Will to many prove their last
The dots between each word, the occasional random dot found stitched into the linen, and the uneven text perhaps suggest that the anonymous stitcher of this sampler did not know how to read the text they stitched but rather copied it from a written document. The date below the poem, January 1855, is likely the month and year the stitcher finished their sampler.
What looks to be a poem of five stanzas is actually two poems. The first four stanzas come from a poem which is listed in various Sunday School hymnals in the United Kingdom, America, and Canada as 'From Thee our bounteous God' or other titles like 'Anniversary Hymn'. By 1800, versions of this poem were popular inclusions in books for children, but when and by whom this poem was first written is unknown. The earliest printed book found with a version of this poem is Sunday School Melodies, printed in Nottingham in 1800, but we can guess it was written much earlier. No printed source found has just these four stanzas printed, so we may gather that the stitcher or their teacher picked these out from the longer poem. The final stanza, separated from the other four stanzas by a horizontal line, is the first stanza in a poem called 'Uncertainty of Life', included in 1779 book The Olney Hymns, written by curate John Newton and poet William Cowper. This sampler was likely worked by a girl at a Sunday school or another religious school.
Dimensions
width: 37.5cm
height: 48.5cm
height: 48.5cm
Materials
Stitches
Techniques
Motifs
Catalogue number
RSN.88
© Royal School of Needlework