Augusta's Bristol Orphanage Sampler circa 1870
The samplers worked at the Ashley Down Orphan Houses in Bristol from the late 1860s are some of the more distinctive institutional samplers made. George Muller who came to England in 1829 from Germany was the founder of the Orphan Houses. In 1836 he opened the first orphanage for thirty girls in St.Paul’s, Bristol. In 1845 he set out to build large orphan houses at Ashely Down (fields outside the city), for three hundred children. By 1870 he had five orphan houses sheltering 2050 orphans. Needlework was taught to both the girls and the boys. The samplers are always worked in
red with occasionally some blue, and consist of rows of alphabets and small border patterns and always a Bible motif. No two are alike but the same basic elements appear in all of them in different arrangements. We can assume that hundreds of these samplers were made over a period of 30
years. The workmanship was excellent and the majority of the girls upon leaving the Orphan Homes went in to service. Our sampler has been reproduced from a private collection and is worked entirely in cross-stitch.
Size: on 45 ct (18 th/cm) line it measures 12.5x15.5 (32cm x 39 cm)
Thread Count: On 40 ct (16/thcm) line it measures 15
Colour:
Recommended Level: Intermediate
Cost: cht. $28.00
Categories: 19th Century English
ID: 268
All prices are in US Dollars.
