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Marking on 18th Century Garments and Bedlinens

The Linkspages at Larsdatter.com

Additional Resources

The Family's Beſt Companion: Giving Instructions For Marking on Linen … in The Instructor: or, Young Man's Beſt Companion, 1763 (includes an alphabet for marking in cross stitch)

DAR 59.145, Sarah Lockwood’s marking sampler, c. 1778

Colonial Williamsburg 1974-684, Loes C. Woodman’s marking sampler, c. 1800-1830

Ink for marking linen in The Young Man's Best Companion, and Book of General Knowledge, 1821

Marking in The Workwoman’s Guide, 1838

Monogramming a Shift

18th & 19th Century Marking of Linen: Garments and Bedlinen kept in a Museum Collection

Notes on marked clothing from Wm. Booth, Draper at the Sign of the Unicorn

American Needlework in the Eighteenth Century

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👉 18thcenturynotebook.com/marks 👈

Last updated: Oct 03, 2025

New addition to the links on this page: I am adding a comment to each link describing the location and color of the mark, as well as what the mark says.

Certain garments and linens were marked – often embroidered with cross-stitched initials, numbers, and/or symbols, generally in silk. There were a few different styles of alphabets in use; a charted alphabet appears in The Instructor: or, The Young Man's Beſt Companion.

Teachers advertising their services sometimes referenced “marking” as a subject:

AT the Houſe of William Dering in Mulberry-Street, is taught Reading, Writing, Dancing, Plain Work, Marking, Embroidery, and ſeveral other Works: Where likewiſe young Ladies and Gentlemen may be inſtructed in the French. (The Pennsylvania Gazette, February 19, 1736)

JOHN RIVIERS hereby acquaints the Public, That he continues his Dancing-School in Annapolis, as uſual. And Mrs. Riviers Teaches young Ladies Embroidery, Marking, plain Work, and all Sorts of Needle Work, and likewiſe Teaches them French, on reaſonable Terms. (Maryland Gazette, May 22, 1760)

Teaching how to cross stitch initials for marking linens was predominantly geared towards girls, as an introductory step towards learning more complex needlework techniques; as George Fisher remarks, before providing a charted alphabet, “This is indiſpenſibly neceſſary and uſeful for the training up the younger Sort of the Female kind to the Needle, it being introductory to all the various and ſundry Sorts of Needle-work pertaining to that Sex: Therefore I have ſet down the Alphabet in Capitals or Great Letters, and Small, likewiſe the Figures, that Girls or Young Women, by often Practice, may ſoon attain to Perfection in Marking on Linen.”

Most of the garments linked below were marked with cross stitches in silk. There are some newspaper advertisements describing marking silks in a variety of colors among longer lists of imported goods, such as Joseph Wood in Philadelphia (The Pennsylvania Journal, March 8, 1770), and Josiah Bonneau & John Wilson of Charleston (The South-Carolina Gazette, May 30, 1774), and Ambrose Davenport of Williamsburg (The Virginia Gazette, July 4, 1777).

Indelible inks could also be used to mark initials or names, as described in The Young Man’s Best Companion (1811). Such inks could also be purchased ready-made: “GEORGE CARROLL, Jeweller … prepares and ſells the new invented Liquid for marking Linen, that will ſtand Washing and Boiling, and never prejudice the Linen, and is more regular than Needlework, and cannot be picked out, which is often the Caſe when Linen is marked with Silk, Worſted, or Thread; with a proper Apparatus, by Means of which any Perſon may mark their own Names, Places of Abode, &c on Books, Linen, Silk, or Leather, in an Instant.” (The Public Advertiser, November 14, 1767) Carroll did not exaggerate the potential risk of embroidered marks getting picked out after a theft, making one’s possessions impossible to positively identify and making it easier to sell the stolen goods, as indicated in trial transcripts from the Old Bailey from 1759, 1768, 1768, 1769, 1780, 1780, 1781, 1784, 1786, 1787, 1789, 1791, 1794, 1796, 1798, 1798, 1799, and 1800.

Marking wasn’t just for civilian applications. According to Cuthbertson's System for the Complete Interior Management and Oeconomy of a Battalion of Infantry:

To prevent as much as poſſible, the leaſt embezzlement of the neceſſaries, with which a Soldier is provided, and to give a greater chance for the diſcovery of thefts, all their linen articles should have the name of the owner, with the number of the Regiment and Company he belongs to, marked with a mixture of vermilion and nut-oil, which when perfectly dried can never be waſhed out: under the ſlit of the boſom of the shirt, will be found the moſt convenient place, as at the weekly inſpection of neceſſaries, an Officer can eaſily examine, if the ſhirts at that time worn by the Soldiers are their own: ſome mark ſhould alſo be fixed upon the woolen Stockings and the Shoes, otherwiſe an officer will find himſelf expoſed to numberlſs impoſitions, from the irregularity of particular Soldiers, and their unconquerable deſire for drink, which tempts them frequently to exchange and pledge their neceſſaries, if not prevented, by every precaution in the power of an Officer to invent.

The 1795 Rules and Regulations for the Cavalry, in a section on the Inspection and Care of Necessaries, likewise insists “the ſhirts are marked with the initials of the man’s name. The men muſt ſhew every individual article of their neceſſaries; and if a man has diſpoſed of any thing, the utmoſt pains muſt be taken to diſcover the buyer, as he is liable to a ſevere penalty according to the Articles of War, which muſt always be levied in order to prevent ſuch pernicious practices.”

Men’s Shirts

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey describes marked shirts in the trials of John Haselgrove 1764, William Bond & William Ellis 1764, Mary Pittaway 1774, Mary Wellbrand 1774, George Duffey 1780, William Horton 1784, John Edwards & William Edsell 1787, John Phillips 1787, James Wilkinson 1788, Mary Vernon 1789, and Robert Wallis & Thomas Kirk 1792.

Men’s Stocks

  • Colonial Williamsburg 1993-166,A, stock owned by King George II, English, c. 1740-1760
    marked '👑 / 46' in red cross stitch on the inside of the tab
  • DAR 77.19, Thomas Jefferson’s stock
    marked 'T • J / 13' in blue cross stitch on the tab
  • More of Thomas Jefferson’s stocks: 1927-56-1 has 'Thomas Jefferson / Monticello' written in brown ink in script on the tab and cross-stitched 'TJ / 17' in blue, Monticello 1927-56-2 has 'T Jefferson / Monticello' written in brown ink in script on the tab, 1935-9 has 'T I / … 6' cross-stitched in pink, 1983-14-4 has 'T.J / 4' cross-stitched in blue, 1983-14-5 has 'T J / 2' cross-stitched in blue, 2021-8-9 has 'T.J / 13' cross-stitched in blue

Handkerchiefs

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey describes marked handkerchiefs in the trials of George Morley & Richard Handby 1774, John Dowdy 1775, William Davis & Richard Oldgate 1777, Michael White 1780, John Knowles & John May 1782, William Jones 1787, Robert Attrill 1788, George Bowyer 1790, Mary Ann Osborne 1794.

  • National Museum of Scotland A.1978.422, a printed handkerchief, c. 1730-1770
    marked 'WAD' in white cross stitch near a corner
  • ModeMuseum OBJ34912, a white cotton handkerchief, 1770-1800
    marked 'TCM / 12' in faded red cross stitch near a corner
  • ModeMuseum OBJ35137, a white cotton handkerchief, 1770-1800
    marked 'FV / 2' in red cross stitch near a corner
  • DAR 92.247, a blue and white checked linen napkin or pocket handkerchief, made in Durham, Connecticut, c. 1775-1795
    marked 'M J' in white cross stitch near a corner
  • DAR 46.148, copperplate-printed handkerchief with vignettes from Hawaii and other Pacific islands, c. 1780
    marked 'PM' in black cross stitch at the top center
  • Colonial Williamsburg 2005-101, checked linen handkerchief made in America c. 1780-1820
    marked 'EH' in white cross stitch near a corner
  • Colonial Williamsburg 1988-476, America, c. 1790-1825
    marked 'H W' in brown silk centered along an edge

Stockings

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey describes marked stockings in the trials of Ann Thomas et al. 1758, John Booker 1780, Benjamin Bowsey 1780, John Jones 1781, Anthony Eokart 1782, Elizabeth Pudding 1789, and Mary Davis 1793.

Women’s Shifts

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey describes marked shifts in the trials of Elizabeth Mason & Mary Robinson, 1696, Richard Marshall et al. 1732, Ann Davis 1745, Elizabeth Taylor 1747, Ann Burger 1756, Sarah Metyard & Sarah Morgan Metyard 1762, John Taylor & Mary Ayres 1766, Joseph Smith 1773 and Anthony Eokart 1782, William Horton 1784, John Weatherhead & Michael Shields 1789.

  • Manchester 1948.74, 1680-1690
    marked 'EP' in cross stitch at front opening
  • V&A T.26-1969, 1730-1760
    V&A T.25-1969, English, 1740-1780
    Manchester 1969.237, 1740-1780
    all three of these marked '4 / S H' in red cross stitch below the neckline at center front
  • Colonial Williamsburg 1984-79, English, 1700-1750; altered 1790-1820
    marked 'EP' in yellow cross stitch (perhaps faded from red) at center front, below neck slit
  • Met 2005.369, American, c. 1780
    marked with the owner’s name in brown-black ink below the neckline at center front
  • Detail from a shift from the 1780s
    marked 'MR' in blue cross stitch below the neckline at center front
  • Colonial Williamsburg 1990-7, American, c. 1780
    marked 'A V R / 9' in black cross stitch below the neckline at center front
  • Karen Augusta, c. 1780-1800
    marked 'S + L' in black cross stitch at below the neckline at center front; the name 'Betsey Emery' in brown-black ink at the side of the neckline (presumably a later owner)
  • Colonial Williamsburg 1983-234, c. 1780-1810
    marked 'R D P' in brown cross stitch below the neckline at center front
  • DAR 46.16, made in New London, Connecticut, c. 1795-1819
    marked 'L … S' in brown cross stitch at the lower right side
  • DAR 46.104, probably United States, c. 1790-1819
    marked 'S E ♡ E' in blue and brown cross stitch below the neckline at center front
  • Old Sturbridge Village 26.26.81, probably made in New England c. 1800-1820
    marked 'C S' in brown cross stitch below the neckline at center front
  • Old Sturbridge Village 26.26.65, made in Swansea, Massachusetts, c. 1800-1825
    marked 'MBS' in cross stitch below the neckline at center front
  • Colonial Williamsburg 2009-102, American, c. 1810-1820
    marked 'M C C' or 'W C C' in red cross stitch below the neckline at center front

Women’s Aprons

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey describes marked aprons in the trials of Elizabeth Taylor 1747

Women’s Pockets

  • Newport Historical Society 2012.34.7, a pair of pockets made from an ivory striped fabric
    marked 'EFW' in blue cross stitch on the upper back of one pocket
  • Concord Museum PER830.1, a dimity pocket made in America, c. 1725-1775
    marked 'RM' in brown cross stitch at on the upper back
  • DAR 61.53, crewel embroidered pocket, United States, c. 1750-1790
    marked 'AP' in red on either side of a flower stem below the slit
  • DAR 2423.2, United States, c. 1750-1790
    marked 'AW' in brown cross stitch on either side of the slit
  • Crewel-embroidered pocket made by Susanna Yeakel, second half of the 18th century
    marked 'SY' in cross stitch on the back of the pocket
  • Historic New England 1991.1425, linen pocket embroidered in blue silk, Massachusetts, c. 1760-1800
    marked 'AB' in blue cross stitch on the front of the pocket, directly below the slit
  • Tassenmuseum Hendrikje 1037, England, 1766
  • Winterthur 1958.2233, crewel embroidered pocket, New England, 1766
    marked 'LL' in brown cross stitch at the bottom center of the front of the pocket; the date '1766' is embroidered vertically in an open space within the design
  • Colonial Williamsburg 1951-465, white pocket cross-stitched in blue wools, Pennsylvania, c. 1780-1820
    marked 'IR' in large open initals on each side of the end of the slit; the name 'IUDITH ❖ ROBINSON' appears along the bottom
  • Winterthur 2013.0031.103, Pennsylvania, 1781
    marked 'AHHC / 1781' in brown cross stitch just below the slit
  • Old Sturbridge Village 26.67.41, a patchwork pocket, New England, c. 1800
    marked 'R ❤ F' in brown cross stitch on a light-colored cotton patch to the left of the slit

Bed sheets

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey describes marked sheets in the trials of Thomas Stapleton et al. 1768 and William Burke & Sarah Burke 1797; similarly “two Linen Sheets, one of them marked with the letters D. B. with ſilk” described in a report of a burglary in The Newcastle Weekly Courant (June 13, 1789)

The Copp family textile collection includes several marked linen sheets, including NMAH H006667.00B, H006667.00D, H006667.00E, H006667.00F, H006667.00G, H006667.00K, and H006667.00L.

  • V&A T.296-1965, English, late 17th or early 18th century
    marked 'HER' in white cross stitch near a corner
  • V&A T.6-2002, fragment cut from a handwoven linen sheet, English, 1702
    marked 'MMM / 1702' in cream cross stitch
  • Whitby Museum COS18, a linen sheet, 1710
    marked 'C / ME / 1710' in light brown cross stitch
  • Colonial Williamsburg 1960-909, American, 1745
    marked 'A . M / 1745' in blue cross stitch near the center seam, and 'A M' in another panel
  • Colonial Williamsburg 1952-665,1, a linen sheet owned by Caroline Fitzgerald King, Countess of Kingston, Irish or English, c. 1770
    marked '👑 / C K' in blue cross stitch near a corner
  • Whitby Museum COS17, a linen sheet, 1791
    marked 'MC / 1791 / 2' in blue cross stitch

Pillowcases

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey describes marked pillowcases in the trials of Anthony Coleman 1787 and Elizabeth Bates 1792.

  • MFA 38.1180, Austria
    marked in black cross stitch
  • Colonial Williamsburg 1960-910,1 and 1960-910,2, a pair of pillowcases owned by Mary Heston, Pennsylvania, 1787
    marked 'MH' in brown eyelet stitch on one side and '2 / M ^ H / 1787' in brown cross stitch on the other side
  • Colonial Williamsburg 1964-380,2, New York, c. 1790
    marked 'EVR / 6' in gold-yellow cross stitch and 'E Van Rensselaer' in brown-black ink
  • Colonial Williamsburg 1964-381, a bolster case, New York, c. 1790
    marked 'ES' in gold-yellow cross stitch and 'E Van Rensseler' in brown-black ink
  • Colonial Williamsburg 2003-77,2, New York, c. 1790-1820
    marked 'P ◇ C / 3' in dark golden brown cross stitch

Bed quilts

  • V&A T.616-1996, English, 1709
    marked 'SR / 1709' in running-stitch quilting at the center
  • Colonial Williamsburg 1986-259 (a quilt), American, c. 1780-1810
    marked 'AC / 8' in cross stitch on the back (probably a reused bed sheet)
  • DAR 60.56, an appliqué quilt possibly made in Maryland
    marked 'DW 1783' in blue stem stitch on a star near the corner

Napkins

(The trials of William Horton 1784 and Elizabeth Allen & Frances Smith 1794 describe marks on tablecloths.)

Towels

  • MFA 56.858, American, probably 18th century
    marked 'B P / 9' in brown cross stitch in the upper left corner
  • MFA 56.862, American, 18th-19th century
    marked 'C S A' in brown cross stitch in the upper left corner
  • MFA 34.123, American, late 18th or early 19th century
    marked 'I H W / 8' in brown cross stitch near a corner
  • MFA 34.125, American, late 18th or early 19th century
    marked 'I • S' in brown cross stitch

Other stuff

  • MFA 45.642, a large drawstring bag, American, late 18th century to early 19th century
    marked 'A • R' in brown cross stitch at the upper left corner