Embroidered band sampler

Band samplers are composed of horizontal rows ("bands") of embroidered patterns stitched along the linen foundation fabric. Many of the patterns stitched onto band samplers can be traced to sixteenth-century pattern books, and often include depictions of fruit, flowers, and geometric patterns. The sampler includes bands of floral and geometric patterns, in addition to a band that includes "boxers," male figures who flank a floral motif and hold a "trophy," in this case a flower. The figure of the boxer is derived from the motif of a lover offering a flower to his beloved, which is found in a number of sixteenth-century pattern books.

Included on the sampler is the name Esther French and the year 1684, presumably the name of the maker and the year in which she completed her work. She may have been Esther French (sometimes written as "Hester") of Warminster, Wiltshire, England, who was born on November 25, 1670. This would make her thirteen or fourteen years old when she completed her sampler. Esther was born into a family of clothiers (professionals who make or sellcloth) and married into the Wansey family, another family of clothiers in Warminster.