This rendition of King Charles II's coat of arms is made entirely out of minuscule glass beads. The initials "CR" and the coat of arms itself tell us this object was made during his reign, sometime between 1660 and 1685. The lion and unicorn's manes are made of layers of thread

This delicate nineteenth-century sampler, with its urn and weeping willow trees, is typical of mourning embroidery of the period. Anna Maria Brown (1822-1900) stitched this around 1835 to commemorate the passing of her siblings, Eliza, Joseph, and Mary Elizabeth

This very fine Scottish sampler retains its lovely original colours. Jean Smith completed her charming sampler on 16 May 1807. She included a wide variety of motifs and her family members' initials at the top of the sampler

This seventeenth-century beadwork panel with flowers and insects is rare for its inclusion of both initials and a year of production. It was made by someone with the initials "E.B." in 1655

Ann Hammond completed this darning sampler on the 22nd of May 1831. Worked with nine darned crosses and four pansy motifs, this sampler presents a striking sense of symmetry. Ann was quite the skilled stitcher!

Jane Walton worked this sampler in Sunderland and completed it on 12 February 1767. Jane may have been the daughter of Mary and William Walton, baptised in Sunderland on 26 September 1756

This 17th-century embroidered picture depicts female personifications of the seasons. The four figures in the corners are made three dimensional with raised work embroidery. The women stand in a landscape full of flowers, insects, and animals

These late 19th-century miniature workbook sewing samples demonstrating various techniques and stitches were sewn by a girl named Emily. She perhaps worked these pieces at an orphan or charity school and tucked them into the blank pages of her instruction book

This mid-17th-century picture from the archive depicts Judith holding Holofernes’ head. The coat of arms at the top of the picture is that of Luke Lloyd of Hanmer, Flintshire and Katherine Whitely of Aston, Flintshire. “KIL” and “EIL” were likely family member initials

Mary Allcorn, born 26 March 1764, stitched this charming sampler circa 1775. Included are initials of her family members, as well as "EH," which may be the initials of her teacher. The verse, beginning, "During the time of life allotted to me..." is common on 18th-c. samplers

Quaker girl Jane Ashby finished this absolutely lovely and delicate sampler in 1786. The central inscription is the Ten Commandments, which are framed by spot motifs of birds, hearts, crowns, geometric shapes, flowers, and two tiny dogs.

Mary Hartas worked this sampler in 1791 while at the York School, a Quaker school in Trinity Lane, York which opened in 1785. Mary, from Spaunton, North Yorkshire, was a member of the Hartas family, who had been Quakers in the north of England from the early days of Quakerism

Happy #WorldEmbroideryDay! Every day is embroidery day here at Witney Antiques. Here are some floral details from our stock past and present. We have a very large selection of 17th-19th-century embroidery and related crafts available for sale, which you can see at our gallery

This sampler, with a central medallion which looks quite modern, was stitched by a girl with the initials "FM" in 1798. In the centre is a pink rose in an octagonal frame, flanked by diamonds, trees, birds, and a crown. The sampler's use of pink and black makes it extra striking

From our archive comes this lovely sampler, stitched by seven-year-old Mary Ann Dowdeswell in 1779. Mary Ann was likely born in Bermondsey, then part of Surrey but now part of London, in 1772. She was the daughter of Mary and Benjamin Dowdeswell

Sarah Harrison worked this very typically Quaker sampler in 1823. The simplicity, single colour, and serifed font all appear often on text-heavy samplers stitched by girls at schools run by the Religious Society of Friends

Charlotte Donald completed this lovely sampler on 23 December 1800. Her verse about Adam and Eve is accompanied by an image of the pair flanked by various flora and fauna. The inscription and imagery are framed by a very charming floral border

This lovely English sampler was worked by Martha Gray in Oxford in 1811. Martha depicts a scene of village life, with a red brick house with grazing fields and a church with a burial ground. She has worked her sampler in high-quality coloured silks on a fine linen ground

Although this sampler made at Ackworth School lacks a stitched name, it was almost certainly made by Mary Storr, who attended the school from 1789 to 1791. Mary's sampler is typical of Quaker samplers, with medallions, initials of classmates, and a relatively muted colour palette

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