CCHF, Pictorial Motif Sampler with Noah's Ark,

German samplers can present a wonderful assortment of pictorial motifs that had been used by needleworkers in northern Europe for many centuries. The subjects of these little vignettes are frequently religious or symbolic, but depictions of the everyday were used as well. This praiseworthy sampler is filled with motifs from all categories, presenting some that are found only rarely. The most notable is a rare depiction of Noah's Ark with a fat dove sitting on the roof, olive leaves in beak (at far left, next to the pear). 

Other motifs include the pair of figures, Hope and Justice, in the upper corners, New Jerusalem (buildings on the little hills) in the lower right corner, Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane (right side center), Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (to the upper right of Adam & Eve), and the two figures on globes, representing the Ascension and the Resurrection.

Also included on this sampler are the common motifs of a house, church, ship, ladies at the well, recumbent deer and Adam & Eve. Quite interestingly, the samplermaker identified her city by stitching the coat of arms of Hamburg - a pair of lions flanking a castle.

Generally the makers of northern European samplers stitched their initials, rather than their names. In this case, the initials CCHS appear inside a wreath supported by heralding angels. 

Worked in silk on linen, the sampler is in excellent condition and has been conservation mounted into black molded and painted frame.