A 17TH CENTURY NEEDLEWORK BAND SAMPLER  of silk stitches embroidered on linen, with an alphabet at the top and inscribed 'MARTHA RICHARDSON', above a portrait of a gilt flanked by a pair of fruit trees with rabbits beneath, over a band of carnations, a band of roses and a further band of stylised flowers, later mounted in an ebonised frame, the sampler 59cm x 23cm