Ottoman linen sampler

An image of Sampler. Unknown maker, Ottoman Turkey. Embroidered with polychrome silks, covered with motifs , both naturalistic and inscriptions, including lower vases, sprays, trees, kiosks, a jug and a boat, flowers sprays and Arabic verses.
The sampler is covered with motifs, and the work can be divided into two distinctive categories, one of lightly stitched randomly placed motifs, the other heavier work depicting naturalistic motifs, corner and band patterns and a largely indecipherable inscription. The light, linear motifs include flower vases, sprays, trees, kiosks, a jug and a boat as well as imported Western European patterns such as the beribboned flower sprays. Amongst the other more densely worked traditional patterns, such as the confronting parrots and the asymmetric flower motifs, various non-Ottoman elements have been incorporated, for example the small-scale rosebud border repeat patterns and a tree trunk apparently sprouting acorns. Linen embroidered with polychrome silks in double running, compound double running, eyelet and single faggot stitch. Two edges are hemmed and there is a selvedge at the top and bottom. Length 85.5 cm, width 44.5 cm, after 1700 to before 1800. Production Note: the sampler is possibly the work of two individuals.

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Sampler. Unknown maker, Ottoman Turkey. Embroidered with polychrome silks, covered with motifs , both naturalistic and inscriptions, including lower vases, sprays, trees, kiosks, a jug and a boat, flowers sprays and Arabic verses. The sampler is covered with motifs, and the work can be divided into two distinctive categories, one of lightly stitched randomly placed motifs, the other heavier work depicting naturalistic motifs, corner and band patterns and a largely indecipherable inscription. The light, linear motifs include flower vases, sprays, trees, kiosks, a jug and a boat as well as imported Western European patterns such as the beribboned flower sprays. Amongst the other more densely worked traditional patterns, such as the confronting parrots and the asymmetric flower motifs, various non-Ottoman elements have been incorporated, for example the small-scale rosebud border repeat patterns and a tree trunk apparently sprouting acorns. Linen embroidered with polychrome silks in double running, compound double running, eyelet and single faggot stitch. Two edges are hemmed and there is a selvedge at the top and bottom. Length 85.5 cm, width 44.5 cm, after 1700 to before 1800. Production Note: the sampler is possibly the work of two individuals.

Image data

Accession Number: T.1-1956
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/16.0
Focal length: 50
Camera: Hasselblad H3DII-31
Photographer name: Katie Young
Image height: 1024 pixels
Image width: 558 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 615.91kB
Exposure time: 1/90
ISO Speed: 200
Fnumber: 16/1

Key words

18th Century Arabic birds boats double running stitch embroidered embroidery eyelet stitch faggot stitch Fitz_AA floral flower vase flowers hemmed kiosks linen motif motif sampler motifs Ottoman poets polychrome running stitch sampler script selvedge silk silks spray sprays stitched stitches stitching textile texts trees Turkish vase verses

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2026)
            "Ottoman linen sampler"
            Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-215007 Accessed: 2026-01-01 22:13:12

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            {{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-215007
            |title=Ottoman linen sampler
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2026-01-01 22:13:12|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

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