Village proudly hosts exhibit of sampler section

SINT-ANNALAND - The world’s longest sampler, a nostalgic decorative piece in the past used by women to decorate their interior walls, in Dutch called a merklap, is on display in De Meestoof, at least the one half created by the Tholen’s embroidery club Door ons gedaen. Dated from the year 2000, the embroidered cloth has been strung along the walls of the exhibition room. Samplers have a rich history, in Zeeland still very much alive. Some samplers depict family trees, while others commemorate events, such as weddings or births. Others are classified as alphabet samplers while more artistically inclined embroiderers, real textile artists, will copy historic landmarks and treasured buildings. The word exampler or sampler has been derived from the French éxamplair, suggesting a kind of model or pattern to copy or imitate. The Latin noun exemplum, meaning a copy, was in the 16th century spelt saumpler, sampler or exemplar.