E Loir Reproduction Sampler - Couleur Tourterelle

While the stitcher only signed her work with a initial and her family name : « FAIT PAR E. LOIR » (Made by E. Loir) - no first name, no date, no location - several elements help date the it back to early French 19th century, around 1830.

Indeed the sampler features a classical religious motif featuring a catholic church altar, with a discreet border. The letters of the single alphabet are the characters from the « Linen maid’s alphabet*»  reproduced in Diderot & d’Alembert’s Encyclopaedia and used by linen maids for identifying pieces of household linen. 

There is no monumental altar, as featured in many South of France samplers of the time. Instead, the altar is simply suggested by the position of the central monstrance and two church candles and flower bouquets on either side. Below is a large cross. The sampler could therefore have come from northern France and possibly Normandy where the name is most frequently found.

You will notice the alphabet includes the Ampersand character « & », considered up to the 19th century to be the last letter of the alphabet, just after letter “Z”. There is no letter “W” however as this letter was only introduced officially in the French alphabet much later in 1936.

Finally the « Croix de par Dieu » cross is another feature of French Samplers. Placed just before letter A, it was a reminder for children to cross themselves before reciting the alphabet. 

The original sampler (last photo) is square  (10 x 10 inch - 25 cm x 25 cm). As the charted design (181 x 201 stitches) is slightly rectangular, the reproduction sampler was stitched on unevenweave linen in order for the sampler to be square, like the original. You can however stitch on regular (evenweave) linen and the stitched piece will be slightly rectangular (9 x 10 inch - 22,6 cm x 25 cm).

Stitch Count: 181W x 201H
Colours: 13

Domestic (all Australian States and Territories):
- Orders under A$30.00: A$5.50 (Envelope)
- Orders A$30.00 - A$79.99: A$12.65 (Standard)
- Orders A$80.00 and over: A$16.15 (Express)
- Express shipping is also available as an option on any order, for a flat A$16.15, regardless of order value.

International Shipping:
We ship internationally by airmail to select countries.

For more information on shipping please refer here.

For our full Returns Policy, refer here.

When purchasing from The Crewel Gobelin please review your order carefully as we do not refund or exchange if you have a change of mind about your purchase. To protect the interests of our designers, exchange or refund is not available on books, charts and kits. This also applies to custom finished items, special orders and fabric cut to your specifications, these items cannot be returned unless there is a fault in the product.

Special orders once placed cannot be changed. You will be asked to provide a deposit if you wish us to order any items especially for you. If you change your mind and decide not to go ahead with the order the deposit is non-refundable.

If a product is faulty, please return it to us along with your docket within 14 days of purchase for a full refund or replacement. There are no returns or exchange on discounted and sale goods. If items have been marked down due to an imperfection it will be identified as such.