Description:Cotton background. Coloured silk threads in cross and eyelet hole stitches. Alphabets and numerals in simple border patterns. Inscribed: 'Sarah Heler Aged 10. 1856'. From the Staffordshire County Collection. 318mm x 298mm.
Verse: 'The seas shall waste the skies a=in smoke decay
Rocks fall to dust and mountains melt away
But fixed his word His saving power remains
Thy realm for ever lasts Thy own messiah reigns.'
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.