A GEORGE III NEEDLEWORK SAMPLER PIN CUSHION

A GEORGE III NEEDLEWORK SAMPLER PIN CUSHION

QUAKER, LATE 18TH / EARLY 19TH CENTURY

of circular form, worked in brown and cream in the Quaker style with a bird and floral sprig in a vase, a flowering plant verso, the edge inscribed 'From the Retreat near York'

4.5cm diameter

Catalogue Note

The Retreat in York was founded in 1792 by a Quaker tea merchant William Tuke. It opened in 1796 and was new kind of establishment for the mentally ill, a hospital which treated patients with great kindness and with minimal use of cruel restraint. It is thought that these pincushions were made by patients as a kind of occupational therapy. A related example can be found in York Museum.