Embroidered Sampler

Magdalena Denlinger

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Magdalena's sampler is very similar to her sister Anna's (13.69.1a), probably because both girls looked at their mother's sampler for inspiration. Pennsylvania German samplers often show a continuum of favored motifs from generation to generation within a family. Both Anna's and Magdelena's samplers are trimmed with fancy fabric borders, an indication that these samplers were intended for display more than for the transmission of information.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art