Use
Samplers provided a medium for girls and young women to show their handiwork and master the needlework skills necessary to operate the family household. In their simplest form, samplers featured the alphabet, numbers, poems, or prayers. As academies for young ladies flourished in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, however, more elaborate samplers with decorative motifs such as flowers, foliage, and animals became more common. Many girls and young women stitched their names onto samplers they created and often included their date and place of production as well. Signed by Elizabeth Smith Westoning, this sampler dates to December 22, 1836.
