Lots of new gorgeous linens, embroidery ..and the ones that got away!

The end of January saw the first Antique and Vintage Textiles auction of 2016 at Tennants in Yorkshire. The usual fabulous array of quilts, costume, household linens and more luxurious accessories.  I go to buy the linens and embroidered items that I like to sell but always take a look at the costume and have the thought that if only I had somewhere to wear such stunning pieces I could be seriously tempted!  The evening stole and the lame evening coat below are perfect examples of this..

White ermine fur with black velvet trim.

Circa 1930's lame evening coat with fur collar

 Embroidered vintage shawl

The other interesting items included Chinese costume  (sold for £1000)

 And a very old unusual paisley wool shawl

This was estimated in the catalogue at £200-300 but eventually sold for £1300!

The Biba tapestry coat from the late 60's was also very stylish and sold for double it's estimate

I was very happy with the items that I did buy however.  Lots of superb quality Irish linen sheets and pillowcases with hand embroidery and monograms.  Some are shown below and are currently selling on eBay.  Lots more to come!

In one lot was an exquisitely embroidered white Irish linen tablecloth with Chinese figures, florals and motifs.  The embroidery work is superb - this one is attracting lots of bidders on eBay already.

Xmas is over for another year!

 We have had snow on the ground now for around 4 weeks - to begin with it is exciting......now it is just very tiresome!

The freezing temperatures also caused problems and some of the auctions were cancelled during December which means that some of my stocks of linens and textiles are running low.

So we did have a sort of White Xmas even though it didn't actually snow on Xmas day!

I found this vintage box in the bottom of a sewing box bought at auction - wouldn't this have been a great find in your Xmas stocking in the early 1900's!  The packaging was so much nicer then! (It didn't have any chocolate in it when I found it - just skeins of embroidery thread!)

So I have used the time being snowbound in the house to make these cheeky cushions - Scottie Dogs in cream wool on a tartan background and the opposite colourway. One of my daughters is into knitting hence the basket of wool to the side.

And I have kept the antique 19th century hand stitched patchwork quilt below for some time with the intention of replacing the worn patches but have decided that I may never get round to it so someone else should have it, use it and love it. It is currently for sale on eBay.

Antique Durham Quilts

The Antique Linen Cupboard has  a number of Durham quilts for sale at the moment. These two both use red as the prominent colour and would give real country cottage charm to any bedroom. The one above has red and white patchwork and the other is a traditional North Country "strippy" quilt. As I have had a number of people contacting me through this blog to ask about purchasing items I have included "The Antique Linen Cupboard Shop" in a separate page (see the link on the right) There you will find more details about these items featured in the blog that are available for sale and the prices.

These two quilts came from different house clearances but both from the same area. When they were made the houses were in County Durham so genuine Durham quilts too! (The county boundaries were changed in 1974 and much of County Durham was taken to create the Metropolitan area of Tyne and Wear.) If you want to make a purchase contact me through the blog. 
N.B.Both of these quilts are now sold!