Item HT 38899 Sampler - Alice Winter, 'Remember Thy Creator in the Days of Thy Youth', Melbourne, circa 1866

Summary

Sampler made by Alice Winter aged nine years old, around 1866.

One of a group of five early Australian samplers completed by sister Alice and Eliza Winter in Latrobe Street, Melbourne between 1846 and 1866. Alice Winter was christened in 1857 and lived to old age.

Physical Description

Embroidered sampler in brightly coloured threads on a woven white fabric ground. The design includes the alphabet in capital and lower case letters, followed by numerals, a biblical quote from Ecclesiastes 12.1, the maker's name, and a stylised floral border across the bottom.

Significance

The significance of the samplers lies in both their provenance to a single Melbourne family in the mid-19th century and the content of the samplers themselves. The sampler made by Alice Winter at the age of 10 includes her address '172 La Trobe Street Melbourne'. An incomplete sampler, said to have been made by Eliza, includes images of two gabled houses and a black kettle - conceivably depicting her environment in early Melbourne. It is possible that the sampler was never completed as she died in 1853. The samplers contribute to documentation of girls' education and preparation for domestic life in Melbourne in the mid-19th century.