Monogram

"Embroidered initials are more often used than any other form of fancy stitchery, as their purpose is useful as well as decorative. Daintily worked on lingerie they make it attractively personal, or simply and practically worked in cross stitch or satin stitch they make a neat method of identification."

Weldon's Encyclopedia of Needlework, The Waverly Book Co. LTD, Farringdon Street, London E.C.4, ND, p.127

"Western European household linens for the trousseau are marked with red cross stitch, usually by a monogram, and are frequently also numbered. As laundry was a social activity at river bank or village washhouse such marking served in addition a practical purpose, in the same way that bread baked in a communal oven was stamped with distinctive symbols to identify its owner. The marking of linen was the motivation for the myriad red alphabet samplers of the school girls of Europe."

Paine, Sheila (1990), Embroidered Textiles: Traditional Patterns from five continents, Thames and Hudson London, p.151