sampler of wool embroidered with coloured silks showing a moral poem encased in a ovoid border, surrounded by flowers, marked with the maker's name, age at time of making, and year The earliest samplers were reference works for embroiderers. They showed 'samples' of patterns and stitches and recorded how to achieve particular effects. In Europe in the 17th century samplers provided instruction and practice for girls learning needlework. Sarah Flude was ten years old when she made this sampler. It is an elegant oval composition that was possibly intended to be placed in an oval mount or frame for display. Sarah has chosen a particularly solemn moral verse. Wool sampler by Sarah Ann Flude, embroidered with silk; English, 1814.