Embroidered sampler Cotton sampler by Maria Praag, embroidered with silk; Dutch; dated 1803. The earliest samplers were reference works for embroiderers. They showed copies 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. In The Netherlands, needleworkers made elaborate darning samplers to show off their darning skills in the later 1700s. These samplers may have been the source for English darning samplers. However the samplers from the Netherlands are more usually signed and dated than the English ones. The inscription on this sampler reads:' Made by me Maria Praag under the instruction of Sara de Troi widow Ooms finished the 12 May in the year 1803'.