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Antique Samplers

(11 posts)
  • Started 10 years ago by Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
  • Latest reply from Auntie Beryl

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  1. Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Can some help me with alphabets on antique samplers
    Does any one know when the letter J started to appear in the alphabets?
    I'm looking at getting a sampler from the States. The date on it is 1745 and it has several alphabets, some with J & some without.
    Does this sound genuine?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. Christine Berrett
    Administrator

    I should think it could well be genuine. The introduction of J (and V and W) would not have happened overnight, but would have taken time to be accepted. From The Alphabet by David Sacks:

    "In English spellings, J had arrived by 1640. Nevertheless, over the next 200 years, J was not recognised universally as a separate letter but ... was viewed as a variant of I. Only in the mid-19th century, under influence of new dictionaries by Noah Webster (1828) and others, did J and V gain full acceptance and follow W into out alphabet."

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Thanks Christine
    I'm only concerned as I don't recall having seen a sampler of that date with the J in it

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. Christine Berrett
    Administrator

    I suspect in 1745 it could go either way. I suppose my feeling is that if it were NOT genuine, the letter J would have been omitted from all alphabets.

    If genuine, it may be the case that older alphabets without a J were copied, but the stitcher also wanted to be daringly up-to-date and modern with other alphabets?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  5. Christine Berrett
    Administrator

    Helen, I've found one at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History which is dated 1794 and includes the letter J. I will email a picture as I can't show images here.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  6. Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Thanks for all your help on this. Here is the link to the one I was looking at
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ANTIQUE-Important-RARE-England-Schoolgirl-DATED-1745-Needlework-Sampler-SUPERB-/370662234294#ht_10260wt_1277

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. Christine Berrett
    Administrator

    Ah, I now see what you mean (always handy to be able to see for oneself!).

    This is VERY interesting, as it includes lower-case j, but NOT upper-case J. The lower-case version was used early on as a variant of i, and I think what is being shown is actually a lower-case alphabet with two versions of "i", rather than an "i" and a "j". In the same way, the sampler has three versions of lower-case "s".

    On the other hand, it does seem to be in a suspiciously good condition.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Also for someone so young - 7 years old
    I know young girls did some amazing work but she seems a little too young

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. Janet Nicholl
    Member

    Why not give Joy at Witney Antiques a call or mail her with the link and ask her opinion? I am sure she would not be unprofessional enough to out bid you. She is THE expert. It may be she has seen it and is suspicious and not bidding or the quality is not good enough. Just a thought.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Hi Janet
    Thanks for that. I asked Jane her opinion yesterday & have decided that I'm going to leave it. They want a lot on money for it & have no paperwork. The emails with the dealer are no where near as professional as I'd expect them to be, so I'm a little suspect of them.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. Auntie Beryl
    Member

    Helen,I always work on the principle , when in doubt dont . It has served me well over the years.

    Posted 10 years ago #

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