Elisabet P Doornbos 1822 - Reproduction sampler by Atelier Soed Idee

In 2015 I bought this black Groningen sampler from 1822 in its original black frame at an auction. These black samplers are typical of the Groninger “Oldambt” and were embroidered by daughters of wealthy farming families. They were manufactured in the period 1800 – 1880. After that, this tradition came to an end and the red school schoolsamplers were introduced as part of the useful crafts course in primary school.

The maker of this sampler is “Elisabet Pieters Doornbos”. She was born on November 4, 1798 in Noordbroek (Groningen) and died on June 4, 1874 in Beerta (Groningen), she was 75 years old. Elisabet embroiders the sampler in 1822 when she is 24 years old, which is quite late.

I charted the sampler and it is now available in the webshop.
Many thanks to Geke Vermeulen who stitched the model for me!!!

The model is stitched with 1 thread Classic Colorworks Belle Soie “Old Crow” over 2 threads, on 16 thread Weeks Dye Works linen “Cocoa”

HISTORY
 

From Mrs. Ietje de Graaf I received extensive information about the history of Elisabet Pieters Doornbos. "She is the daughter of Pieter Aites Doornbos and Grietje Aeijlkes Hamster."

HERE you will find the complete family tree.
 

"I can't tell you much about her girlhood, only the general things. She must have attended primary school in Noordbroek. Jan P Bloemhoff was a sexton and schoolmaster in 1810. His wife Tjaartje W. Smit must have provided handicraft lessons for the girls.

Later she would have gone to boarding school to prepare for her later career as a farmer in a large place with many staff and many social worries. The sampler was probably made on her parents' farm in Noordbroeksterhamrik, when her education was completed and the waiting for a suitable man began. (From: BBB Farm Book Beerta).

At the age of 27, Elisabet married Reinder Geerts Bouman, a farmer in Beerta. Together they have 6 children. The first child dies after 8 months and the youngest child dies at the age of 3.

In 1854 a farm is bought in the presence of notary Vietor. About 36 hectares large with a fixed rent of 325 guilders and 1 tin of butter + 1 cheese and a few more conditions, for the price of 40,050 guilders. Elisabet's second son, Geert Reinders Bouman, married Naantje Hermannus Heddema and started farming there. To this day, descendants of Elisabet still live on this farm (BBB Farm 23).
 

All of Reinder and Elisabet's children remained in the peasantry, which was an important social position at the time.

It is plausible that Elisabet's sampler and Martje Heddema's sampler (article in Merkwaardig no. 103, December 2014) have sometimes crossed paths. Martje Heddema is the sister of Elisabet's daughter-in-law Naantje.
 

Surely during a ladies' visit or “tea party”, the samplers will have been viewed, discussed and criticized.
 

* The tea party starts around 5 pm with an aperitif and ends late in the evening. In the autumn and winter the farmers, men and women, meet separately once a month to spend the long evenings. The farmsteads are too far apart to chat 'over the hedge'. This tradition is still alive today!

The sampler of Elisabet's sister-in-law, Anje Christiaans Struif, with photo, is mentioned in the book by Hennie and Sjoerd Stevan "Zwarte Merklap van het Oldambt 1800-1880", on page 50.

A related family, in a straight line, still lives in Beerta and Nieuw Beerta. If I take this family as a reference, Elisabet must have been an enterprising, cheerful, smart lady, with her heart in the right place."
 

Mrs. Ietje de Graaf, many thanks for all this additional information!!!