Sweet It Is: Sampler

Artisan: Nicola Mascall
Date: 2021
Inscriptions: signed with initials and dated ‘2021 NM’ (on the back of the frame)
Dimensions: 58 x 48 x 4 mm. / 2 ¼ x 1 ⅞ x ⅛ inches (height x width x depth)
Inventory number: 2022.224
Intended Room: Schoolroom
Category: Embroidery

Provenance: Bought from the artist’s Etsy shop in July 2022.

I was delighted when Nicola offered a sampler of this design in her Etsy shop: I’d seen one offered second-hand some time before, and hadn’t been able to buy it at the time. This intricately-worked sampler, with its border, a scene of a little girl playing with a dog, and its moralising text, is perfect for the Victorian schoolroom. ‘Sweet it is To see a Child Tender Merciful and Mild‘.

As ever, I’m in awe of the delicacy of Nicola’s stitches. I can’t even take up a pair of trousers, so needlework on this scale is pretty much like magic.