Imitation and Improvement: The Norfolk Sampler Tradition

This new volume identifies and interprets a distinctive body of samplers executed by the girls of Norfolk during a dramatic time of social and cultural change in late 18th-century Britain. The motifs and style of these samplers reveal a rich engagement with textile craft and industry that was both regional and international in scope. These works are analyzed for their exquisite beauty and skill and for the civic, moral, and educational values that they embodied in Norfolk society from 1730 to 1830. By closely studying the intricate and distinguishing features of these samplers, Ms. Lukacher's book opens up remarkable vistas onto a complex social landscape and the significant and primary place of textile art within it.