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A print depicting several clothing lines of colorful, drying laundry hanging between two buildings and set against a bright blue sky of wispy clouds. Two women are laying on a bed of flowers and grass below the hanging laundry

María Berrío’s Knitting the Wind

Open book with text describing the marking stitch and including, below the printed text and on the facing page, two stitched samplers demonstrating that technique

Instructions on needle-work and knitting

Open book with a printed chart describing “A Scale of Stockings and Socks” on the left page, while the right features a small knitted sock

Instructions on needle-work and knitting: ... from the ... Central School of the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church, in the Sanctuary, Westminster
London: Printed for the National Society, 1847
The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle

Instructions on needle-work and knitting: ... from the ... Central School of the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church, in the Sanctuary, Westminster

These two copies of a book of sewing samples were made by two young women attending a school for poor girls that the Church of England founded. The 1838 copy includes a letter that clarifies the books’ purpose: their charming miniature garments—socks, nightshirts, babies’ bonnets, samplers—were proofs of skill for prospective employers. The letter begins: “Charlotte Please, a mistress on probation” presents her work and asks to be “promoted to the rank of candidate for a situation”—that is, a job. Evidently Charlotte Please succeeded, as she gave the book to her “dear daughter,” Edith Eliza, in 1872. 

: The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle

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Currently on View at Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

The New York Public Library believes that this item is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, but did not make a determination as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. This item may not be in the public domain under the laws of other countries. Though not required, if you want to credit us as the source, please use the following statement, "From The New York Public Library," and provide a link back to the item on our Digital Collections site. Doing so helps us track how our collection is used and helps justify freely releasing even more content in the future.

Items in Women's Work

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  • Beadwork in triangular and geometric patterns of many colors, attached to a threaded “belt” and decorated at bottom with a row of cowrie shells dangling from gathered threads

    Women's Work Introduction

  • A print depicting several clothing lines of colorful, drying laundry hanging between two buildings and set against a bright blue sky of wispy clouds. Two women are laying on a bed of flowers and grass below the hanging laundry

    María Berrío’s Knitting the Wind

  • Open book with a printed chart describing “A Scale of Stockings and Socks” on the left page, while the right features a small knitted sock

    Instructions on needle-work and knitting

  • Open book with text describing the marking stitch and including, below the printed text and on the facing page, two stitched samplers demonstrating that technique

    Instructions on needle-work and knitting

  • image not available

    Crown by Xenobia Bailey

  • Album open to a valentine of white cut paper in the shape of a lizard and foliage backed by red paper, with handwritten text in black ink across the bottom in two columns

    Elizabeth Cobbold’s valentines

  • Helmet-like mask of dark wood carved in the round, with a face at the front, and surrounded by a skirt of yellow and brown raffia strands

    Mask of the Sande Society

  • Beadwork in triangular and geometric patterns of many colors, attached to a threaded “belt” and decorated at bottom with a row of cowrie shells dangling from gathered threads

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