Textiles from Bowood House, Wiltshire.

 This week I am listing on eBay a number of items that originated from Bowood House in Wiltshire. This is a magnificent English country house with beautiful gardens but surprisingly the view you see in the photo below is only what was known as the "Little House" as the original "Big House" was demolished in 1955

 This is a much older view showing the original "Big House" to the right of the picture.

I received an invite from a lady now in her 80's to view and buy a collection of linens and other textiles that  had been made over her lifetime. She was downsizing considerably and now felt it was time to part with them all. The hoard included Christening gowns, nightdresses, pillowcases and more. According to the seller some of the items had originated at Bowood House. Certainly some of the items do bear the laundry mark of "Bowood" and some have monograms and coronets that you would associate with the family from Bowood in the past. The listings this week from this collection include lace curtains....

and the most enormous linen and silk sheet that I have ever seen - 132" wide x 150" long (330cms x 375cms). This sheet has the laundry mark for Bowood and a hand embroidered monogram with coronet, dated 1844. As it is labelled "no 4" there were at least another 3 of these huge sheets originally!

And finally a masterpiece of hand embroidery and needlelace.

This is a fabulous hand embroidered bedspread - huge central monogram "K" with a coronet above and butterflies and foliage with hand worked needlelace inserts to the remainder of the bedspread. It does have some old repairs so was obviously much used and treasured by the family.

An curious and geographically diverse collection of textiles!

Last week I acquired a small but very interesting collection of antique textiles. They all came from one owner who obviously had eclectic taste in antique clothing! At the top of the box sat a 19th century Native American Indian Iroquois beadwork Glengarry hat with beadwork birds to the crown and sides

 Amazingly, all the beads appear to be intact and all still held securely. 

Then I found a 1920's Egyptian Assuit shawl - black and silver. Again in excellent condition with no breaks to the ground or loss of metalwork. 

 

And the final treasure was a Clones Irish crochet lace collar with high neck. This did have a little repair to one corner where a press stud had been applied but the remainder of the intricate crochet work was in good condition.  

 So a curious collection......lace work, beadwork and metalwork..... from the Americas, Eygpt and Ireland and all had been stored for a long time.  It would be nice to know who they came from and what prompted the owner to collect and store them but unfortunately I was unable to find out any history about the box or the owners

Welcome to 2014!

Looking back 2013 was a good year - for both buying and selling!  This year has started well with auctions in January dedicated specifically to antique and vintage textiles. This has meant that I have been busy driving around the country to various auctions, so busy in fact that I had had little time to prepare and list the items that I have for sale! I need a 36 hour day!  I have also been busy sorting tablecloths and other linens for a friend who is starting a new venture.... vintage style tea rooms in a neighbouring village.  I have reserved my table for the opening and will feature the new emporium in the blog when I have some photos.


Meanwhile, a little taster of the textiles bought so far this year, and it is an  interesting collection....

The usual white linens - lace trimmed Victorian tablecloths, large damask tablecloths - these are becoming more popular and I have several over 12ft long.

Some fabulous huge Irish linen sheets - at least 2 pairs of king size with ladderwork and drawnthread hems.

Beautiful finely hand embroidered wedding hankie - is that the name of the groom or the surname of the couple embroidered to the bottom edge?

Victorian embroidery and lace trimming motifs

 Summery tones cotton quilt with the ever popular roses and paisley design on a duck egg blue background

              Assuit shawls

And finally the one that got away.. I loved this coat but the bidding went well past my limit and upwards to £600!

Linens, lace and the BBC!

I have had a busy couple of months since the last post. I have been to several auctions - one of which included linens and textiles from a large country house in Cumbria in the Lake District and another of a large house in Weardale. I have also made some new contacts including sales to the costume and props department for the BBC series "The Paradise". If you didn't catch the first series then look out for series 2 about to start soon.  The Paradise is based on the novel Au Bonheur des Dames or The Ladies Paradise by French writer Émile Zola. In this adaptation for TV the story transfers to a department store in 1890s northern England. Apparently the very first department store in the UK was in Newcastle!

It is filmed exclusively in the North East - at Lambton Castle for the interiors and at Biddick Hall.

This is Lambton Castle

And this is Biddick Hall

One of the lead characters in the haberdashery department

And finally, two of the items sold to the props department - I will be looking out for them in the series!

My second contact with the BBC was to be interviewed by a researcher from the BBC about another one of those antique programmes on daytime TV.  Apparently the director/producer of the programme thinks that it is possible to find buried treasure at auction and make your fortune!  I won't be appearing on TV anytime soon however....I have too much washing and ironing to do!

Textiles from The Hermitage - a time capsule in Northumberland!

Today, Friday,  I have been to the last of the 4 day Country House sale of the contents of a very unique house. The Hermitage is a large house in Northumberland near Hexham which has been the home for the same family since 1922. Nothing unusual in that, as many homes remain in a family's possession for that length of time or even longer, however this is a rare survival of a house on a grand scale where two generations of the Morant family lived for ninety years and threw little away. 

The house was let, in 1922, to Brigadier General Hubert Horatio Shirley Morant, who had married Isabella Helen Coppin Straker in 1914. Their three children, Doreen Shirley (1915–2013), Alice Bettine (1918–2008) and Major John Locke Straker (1919–1971) all remained unmarried.  

These circumstances lead to a time capsule of a house. Time stood still and the house took on the qualities of a museum. 

The children’s toys in the Nursery packed away when their interest waned. Wash sets and chamber pots removed to the attics once more modern facilities had been installed. The cellars locked up, still with unopened champagne bottles from 1919, some in their original tissue paper and packing cases. Pharmaceutical items from the 1920’s, including chemicals now regarded as poisonous, crowded the medicine cupboard.

Diaries and household accounts giving insights into a bygone age of servants, whilst fishing and hunting records spoke of house parties.

Items no longer required were neatly wrapped in newspaper, tied with string and stored in the extensive attics.

Linens, baby clothes, lace, furs, evening gowns and other clothing were stored away in many of the bedrooms or in the attics.

One of the items that I bought was a box of over 150 Irish linen tea towels....all unused!

Another was a box of Harris and other tweed and wool fabrics.

It will take me a while to get through all the linens and lace as they have to be sorted, examined and then photographed ready for listing for sale. 

Irish damask linens

This week I have come across a large cache of Irish linen damask - tablecloths and napkins. I have started to list a few on Ebay and wondered (again) at the huge variation in designs that were produced in the past. Now it seems that it is only possible to buy new damask linen with either an Ivy or a Chrysanthemum design and, of course, the Shamrock so synonymous with Irish linen. However the cloths that I have acquired have Roses, Peonies, Scrolls, Acorns, Lily of the Valley, Pineapples, Fruit and more unusual pictoral designs of Birds, Stag and Deer.

                                   Monarch of the Glen to the centre of one cloth

                                         Acorns, oak leaves and ribbons

                                               Roses

                                            Lily of the Valley

                                                       Laurel wreaths

                                      Pineapples - quite stylised!

                                                              Chrysanthemums

Obviously the pictoral designs were produced for a purpose - Stag and deer or Pheasants for a shooting party lunch. The pineapple design was probably intended to impress your guests with your familiarity with a new exotic fruit. But why the other designs?  Maybe they were very obvious to the Victorian and Edwardian dinner guest as they would have been familiar with the "Language of Flowers"  - Roses indicates Love, Ivy - dependence & endurance, Laurel - ambition & success, Lily of the Valley - sweetness and trustworthy. Or maybe the designers just made up patterns from flowers that they could see! The photos above show mainly late Victorian - 20th century damasks. However, there is a very interesting article in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Art Materials and Techniques: Linen Diaper and Damask about how the very early damask linens evolved and the different styles and types of designs. I do have a few collectors of Damask Linens who buy from me and I know (from the high bids that they place!) that some of the early & pre 1800's damask linen is very sought after. Even small pieces such as napkins and towels can be very interesting - so maybe check on your old linen in the cupboard!
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/linen-diaper-and-damask

Liberty of London fabric designs

Since my previous post about the Liberty of London fabrics that I have for sale, I have had a number of emails from people, some wanting to buy and some just wanting to thank me for showing photos of the different and now rare (due to discontinued lines) designs that Liberty sold.  For many, I think, it has been a nostalgic look back. One reader wrote that she remembered making a dress for her daughter in one design and having a blouse in one of the others.  I could not find any reference to many of the designs so I have listed below the photos and names so that they can remain on view long after they have been sold on eBay!  I will add to the list when I uncover more designs

ORPAH

  

ESKDALE

DOKKUM (available with black background)

ALAMILLO

EUGENIE (available in a number of colourways)

RUBIK

YORICK

MACEDONIA

                                                  CHERWELL

                                                          ANSTIE

   PENJERRICK

BLITHEFIELD