This is the most symmetrical, balanced, counted thread sampler that The Scarlet Letter have ever charted. It is also one of the most satisfying, challenging, and beautiful samplers in the world. Originally worked on a fine wool ground, the colors of our reproduction have been matched to the slightly faded, soft shades visible on the front. The wide pattern bands reflect popular designs of the previous century, while the more rectangular shape of the sampler is an 18th-century characteristic.

The sampler descended in the family of the maker, until 1950, when it was acquired by the Museum, so we know some facts about the life of Dorcas Haynes. She was a Quaker, born in Bermondsey, Middlesex, in 1710, to Thomas and Hannah Haynes. She married Richard Adams in 1729.

The patterns and motifs associated with later 18th century Quaker samplers were not yet developed at the time Dorcas stitched this sampler. Stitches used in this magnificent piece are cross, double running, counted satin, Queen, detached buttonhole, double diagonal backstitch, herringbone, eyelet, Parisian, encroaching gobelin, and florentine.