Description:Cotton background. Coloured woollen thread in cross and eyelet hole stitch. Selvedge at bottom. Alphabet, numerals, tree, flower, basket of fruit, heart, crown and animal motifs. Inacribed: 'Mary Adela Blagg'. From the Staffordshire County Collection. 350mm x 222mm.
Mary Adela Blagg (1858-1944) was born and lived in Cheadle, Staffordshire and was a wll-known amateur astronomer. She played an important part in standardising the names of features on the Moon.
Towards the end of the 18th century, samplers taught not only sewing but also literacy in the forms of alphabets, numerals and religious texts. These grew in importance and became an almost essential part of sampler making throughout the 19th century