Zealand Birds – Traditional Danish sampler

Zealand is the main island of Denmark. At the very edge to the north lies Copenhagen, the capital city. And on the same island there are to distinct types of embroidery.

One is called Hedebo embroidery. It covers several forms of white embroidery which originated In the Hedebo (heathland) region of Zealand in the 1760s. The varied techniques which evolved over the next 100 years in the farming community were subsequently developed by the middle classes until around 1820. They were applied to articles of clothing such as collars and cuffs, but were also used to decorate bed linen.

The other type of embroidery was Skovbo and had it’s only peak in the mid-19^th century before almost disappearing again. The word “Skovbo” meant it was a tribute to the woodland areas of Zealand. They were in 2-tone colours (red & blue) with a variety of sampler motifs.

With this in mind I have created 2 samplers, both featuring birds as Zealand has a very rich variety in birds. The second version, also containing birds, also includes poetry by John Keats.

My finished example comes in the colours of purple, purple and purple. What can I say? I really like purple!

You can find it in my etsy shop here