Lake District Country House Linens & Treasures!

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to keep the blog updated. Lots of auctions to attend and lots of internet sales .....not much evidence of a recession in the world of antique and vintage linens. Yesterday I went to a very interesting auction sale of the entire contents of a large country house in the Lake District - Holywath.

This sale followed the death last year of  Major John Wilfred Barratt Hext M.B.E. who died at the age of 92.  Holywath in Coniston, Lake District Cumbria has been the home of the Barratt Hext family since 1830 and was a time capsule as the family had never thrown anything away! The family had connections with Ruskin, Kate Greenaway and Beatrix Potter amongst others.

The auction house took photos of the interiors as they found them before taking the entire contents (including everything from  the cellars and the attics) to auction.

The sale included such diverse items as a tiger skin (seen on the wall above the staircase) to old fire hydrants and hoses. The linens and textiles that I bought were equally eclectic.. a large wicker hamper with dressing up clothes ranging from a barristers gown to a scuba diving suit!  I bought the usual linens that you would expect from a country house - bedspreads, sheets, pillowcases and lots of huge damask tablecloths - and also many vintage items of clothing. From ladies vintage hats and coats to mens vintage shooting apparel (plus fours and other breeks) and bowler and top hats.

Now I just have the task of sorting through everything and photgraphing them for sale! So it maybe another few weeks before I get the chance to blog again!

Floral & Paisley Eiderdown Quilts

Last week I was looking through my stock for interesting items to list for sale and found some eiderdown quilts. The one above is very pretty... very summery.

These cotton fabrics are so evocative of an earlier age but they can be used very sucessfully in a contemporary interior too.

This one has a more of a paisley design with a lovely duck-egg blue background.

This one I have described on Ebay as pistachio green with pink/red flowers. It is actually prettier in "real life" than it appears in the photo! Cath Kidston has taken many of these old designs and reproduced them in her fabrics but I think that the vintage designs are just that little bit better!

Set the table for Spring

This week I have bought a quantity of linens from the estate of a large house in Northumberland. Not a big country house but a home that enjoyed entertaining and the lady of the house liked to present a well-dressed table for dinner or lunch. So I have acquired a number of sets of table napkins and mats.  The reticella lace napkins above are unused and an ideal size for lunch or supper.

 

These unused Irish linen damask napkins above are a more appropriate size for dinner.

These three pretty sets wopuld set off a spring lunch table very well.

This collection of linen did not include any dining table cloths but did have many place mats and table settings in a variety of styles. So perhaps the family had a beautiful table that they didn't want to hide under a cloth. In that case table mats are a great alternative to a cloth - and they are easier to launder, iron and store!

This Reticella needlelace place mat is one of six and matches the napkins.

                                                                  

These green linen place mats with hand embroidery also have a matching large centre mat and could be used with plain green  or white napkins.

The crochet lace mat above left is one from a setting for twelve and the Maltese lace mat to the right is from a setting for six.

Patchwork & Durham Quilts

I have been buying a lot of quilts over the past month. There were several good examples at a textiles auction down in North Yorkshire recently - from Durham wholecloth and strippy quilts to English log cabin patchwork and American patchwork.

Whilst the tradition of patchwork quilts is well known across both the UK and USA, the Durham quilt is perhaps less well known and I am often asked about what "makes" a Durham quilt.

Durham is a town and a county in the North of England and the Durham style of quilts originates from the Northern Counties of England. However "Durham" quilt is now used to describe a quilt made in a specific manner rather than one that originates from Durham. The basic construction of a Durham quilt does not differ from those made elsewhere - they have a top and bottom layer and  a layer of padding in-between. The three layers are then stitched together - usually by hand. However the feature that makes a "Durham" is the quilting pattern which is used to give a sculptural quality to the surface of the quilt. These patterns can involve a number of different named designs - Running Feather, Cable, Rose Motif and very often a central circular deisgn thought by many to represent the Pit Wheel that would so dominate the skyline in the North-East coal mining communities during the 19th century however "strippy" quilts are a paticular feature of North Country quilts. The quilt top was formed by alternating strips of plain fabrics - usually white alternating with red, blue, pink  or yellow and then the quilting was carried out up the stripes.

                                I will be selling some of the Durham quilts that I bought over the next few weeks on Ebay - I just have the task of washing them first!

A tale of castles & cushions

Yesterday, I went to an auction at Barnard Castle a town in the south of County Durham. Lots of castles in this area. The one above, Raby Castle, is on the road to the auction and then Barnard Castle below is in the town itself.

I thought that the auction was disappointing for the amount and quality of linen/textiles and I only bought one lot - a small box of what looked like very plain and ordinary table linen. However, when I got home and went through the box two gems emerged!

This hand worked tapestry and beadwork cushion was folded up at the bottom.

The colours are so bright and the beadwork all intact.

Then tucked away in a very dirty gingham drawstring bag was a collection of hand worked Bucks Point bobbin lace. So my journey was not wasted after all!  The next time I go to the Barnard Castle auction I also want to visit the other gem of the area - Bowes Museum. I wonder if they have any textiles tucked away in the attic waiting to be discovered!

The thaw has arrived!

Finally, the snow and ice has melted and I have made it to my first auction of 2010!  This sale yielded a number of excellent hand embroidered cloths and also some superb hand crochet lace work. All from the same household and all the work of a superb needlewoman!

This is just one of the embroidery motifs in a tablecloth made up of 25 squares each with a different flower.

Some of the linen and lace tablecloths were worked with Mary Card crochet designs. Mary Card was an Australian crochet lace designer in the early part of the 1900's.  Her designs are highly collected now.

She often used floral and bird motifs in her designs and also used animals native to Australia.

This one below sold as soon as it was listed on eBay!

 The hours of work that they involve are incredible. This is what you did when there was no T.V.!!  The family was obviously also well travelled as the suitcase with it's very nostalgic collection of baggage labels came from the same household (it held all the linen at auction).

So the linen collection also included items from Madeira, some Maltese lace and other excellent hand embroidered pieces.

Snow, snow and icicles!

We haven't actually had any snow today - lots of sunshine but freezing temperatures mean that the icicles just keep getting bigger.... so I couldn't resist showing these two photos.