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Spinning woman and monkey

Spinning monkey, embroidered onto a mid-18th century sampler from Friesland, The Netherlands. Spinning monkey, embroidered onto a mid-18th century sampler from Friesland, The Netherlands.

A feature of some Dutch and Belgian samplers is the presence in the design of either a spinning woman or a spinning monkey. The woman/monkey is usually shown spinning with a hand spindle and distaff, although later examples sometimes include a spinning wheel. The monkey is a reference to a medieval ‘joke’, in which a (mischievous) monkey represents a woman.

Behind this comparison is the concept that the devil finds work for idle hands, namely, bad things will happen if a woman is not kept constantly busy.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 8 June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Sunday, 16 April 2017 14:38