Embroidered band sampler

Band samplers are composed of horizontal rows ("bands") of embroidered patterns stitched along the woven linen foundation fabric. The shape of this band sampler is unusual, as it is square rather than rectangular, long to ensure that many bands can be stitched. 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. This undated and unsigned sampler consists of three bands, the last of which includes "boxers," male figures who flank a floral motif and hold a "trophy," in this case a bird. The figure of the boxer is probably derived from the motif of a lover offering a flower to his beloved, which is also found in a number of sixteenth-century pattern books.