Embroidered sampler During the 17th century in England, samplers developed from personal reference works for embroiderers, containing trials of patterns and stitches, to methods of instruction and practice for girls learning needlework. The introduction of moral verses into their decoration is another indication of their role as part of a girl's education. The anonymous worker of this sampler, who would almost certainly have been a child aged about eight or nine, relates that she must 'bow and bend unto another's will that I might learn both art and skill to get my living with my hands'. While many of the girls who embroidered these samplers would not have expected to have to work for their living, the needlework skills they were learning would still be important skills in the future management of their households and the personal adornment of their families and themselves. Linen sampler embroidered with silk; English; second half of the 17th century.