04/06/2021

History Trust of South Australia are loaning a sampler book for an upcoming exhibition at The David Roche Foundation House Museum.

Conservator working on sampler bookMary-Anne Gooden, Senior Textiles Conservator preparing the Sampler Book for the Embroidery: Oppression to Expression exhibition.

The sampler book will be on display alongside exquisite embroideries from the David Roche collection, private and public collectors in the exhibition, Embroidery: Oppression to Expression from 16 June – 25 September 2021.

The book contains intricate and superbly constructed samples of decorative and functional stitching made by Letitia Brown in 1841, presumably as a teaching aid. Ms Brown worked at a school in Moneydig, a small village near Coleraine in Desertoghill Parish, Northern Ireland. The book was handed down through the family and was eventually donated to the History Trust of South Australia.

The book had undergone conservation treatment at Artlab several years ago and for the exhibition, the stitched samples were prepared for display by gently humidifying, relaxing creased areas and returning shape to the three-dimensional samples.

The David Roche Foundation House Museum
241 Melbourne Street,
North Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5006