Antique Samplers

Nothing to show yet on my stitching, last week my thumb had an argument with one of my sharp knives, not too bad a cut, but cannot stitch  : (
A darning sampler from The Netherlands. A lady living near my sister found out that I love these pieces of fabric!! to my surprise it was this example. I did show this sampler in the very beginning of my blog but did not give you any information, (blogfright).

 Unfortunately the date is unknown and who it belonged to is also a mystery. The sampler has got some rust and dirt patches, I did not dare to clean the sampler and is not advised by the experts.

The back colours do not differ a lot from the front a sign that it has not been displayed a lot. I did receive it without a frame and rolled up, it had been in the attic of her aunts house.

I do love the crown and de darning patterns surrounding it.  If any of you have any idea how old it might be I would love to hear from you. You do see a lot of samplers in The Netherlands with only the initials of the maker.

The whole sampler is stitched with silk threads on an uneven linen with different darning patterns.

This exemplar was bought in Burford, Oxfordshire by my DH, we often visited the UK when we lived in Holland and I did find some lovely "fabrics" on our travels in Great Britain.

I do not know what "Braved a Thousand years", means, but am open to suggestions.  (17.42 hours today Katherine wrote):

Ye mariners of England!
That guard our native seas;
Whose flag has braved a thousand years,
The battle and the breeze!
- Thomas Campbell, Ye Mariners of England
Thank you Katherine!!

It did occur to me that the whole sampler should have been filled in, the sampler is made with wool threads and the material looks like cotton canvas, but that is only my interpretation.

Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my Hillside Samplings thread keep, your comments always make my day:))) and hope to display some stitching soon.