SOLD Zerlina Blitz's Exquisite Early Two Panel Darning Sampler (Some Loss) carved car 6 3/8 w x 5

6 3/8 w x 5 15/16 t x 1” d at hooks

Color richer and black bolder in person

and the points at the ends are a bit worn down from use

obsession with all things Asian ("Japonisme" in France)

I have found some examples with the same sort of carved wooden base that were drinking cups

SOLD Zerlina Blitz's Exquisite Early Two Panel Darning Sampler (Some Loss) carved car 6 3/8 w x 5Spotting this as I walked into an antiques show in central Mass last weekend set my heart racing and made me swoon. I love a darning sampler, and this is an early one, late 1700s or early 1800s would be my guess. Most of the early ones one sees are Dutch, with the complexly patterned darning samples most typically organized in an orderly, linear sort of composition; those are gorgeous, but to my eye this more freeform one is even more beautiful feels