Hello, I'm using GNU Emacs 22.0.50.1 (i686-pc-linux-gnu, X toolkit, Xaw3d scroll bars)
 of 2006-10-15 on ardbeg

emacs/etc/TODO says: "describe-face should show an example of text in
the face."

The attached patch against `faces.el' adds the word "sample", rendered
in the appropriate face, to the top row of the `describe-face' pop-up
buffer.

An example result can be seen in this screenshot:
http://yrk.nfshost.com/images/faces-sample.png