What the postman brought.......finally!

Yesterday had to be the most frustrating day in weeks. Having been told a parcel I was expecting on Monday had indeed been delivered, I had to start playing my version of Pass the Parcel! Only in this case to find out where on earth said parcel had been passed to! No "we called when you were out" card through my door, no help from the courier company and the sender was getting no better information.

Hallelujah, after about 4 hours of annoyance, knocking on neighbours' doors and generally pestering anyone I thought might be able to help me locate the box, my next door neighbour returned from work and had had the parcel all along!

Now to the contents.......

I've had lots more requests for the big cream lace bobbins and was able to acquire the last remaining lot so they will be on their way to new homes soon. The gold coloured ones will have their outer layers of thread removed and soon be on the website refreshed and clean (almost)!

But the box didn't just contain the bobbins, there were 5 wonderful documents also included. Before a jacquard loom can produce a design, whether on cloth or as lace, a series of punched cards has to be made. To do this the original drawing has to be transferred to graph paper. This is known as a point chart with each point or square on the paper corresponding to the raising or lowering of a weft or warp thread.

The guys clearing out the contents of the Scottish lace mill came across a box of these point charts and I just couldn't resist!

Hard to determine the date of these, but they are probably from the 1930s or thereabouts. One in particular caught my eye - with an elephant depicted in the design.

Most likely this would have been a pattern for a lace intended for curtain panels, the handwritten notes tell us this design is called Klambo Lace. Klambo is a village in Malaysia, obviously the inspiration for this unusual pattern. I'd love to have seen the actual woven piece.

All shapes and sizes of charts as some would have been for narrow lace borders, others for more intricate piece goods.

This is some of the lace edging produced in the factory, probably in the 50 or 60s, so it gives an idea of how the chart drawings were interpreted to be woven into finished products.

Instead of just adding these to my bookshelves as interesting documents, I am planning to have some of them framed. I think the elephant one in particular will look fabulous on the wall.

I am so so glad I finally found my parcel........!

Spools and skeins! Fabulous vintage threads......

This past week has been one of threads and spools, skeins and yarn, reels and floss.....some from the late 1800s, some from the 1920s and lots from the 1960s. 

First came a complete box of Barbour's Linen thread, 10 untouched spools still in their glassine paper wrappers. The label describes them as suture thread and surgeons all over the world extolled the virtues of this particular product! 

This lovely warm cream colour could be used for all sorts of wonderful projects, not just for medical purposes!!

Then the postman delivered a wonderful cardboard box laden with more fabulous linen thread, this time embroidery floss in all manner of beautiful colours. Some from W & J Knox of Kilbernie in Ayrshire and most from a long closed warehouse in Sweden.

Beautiful colours of pure linen with a lovely soft lustre and in a fabulous choice of shades. It makes me wish I was an embroiderer! 

And finally three paper wrapped packages each containing 12 spools made by J & P Coats in the late 1800s, still tied up with string and containing beautiful wooden reels of thread, 2 lots have the most amazing glacé finish to them and the label describes them as glove thread. They are so tiny, just a bit bigger than a thimble!

On their website timeline Coats show a packet almost the same as this which dates from the 1830s! These ones are definitely later as the advertising medallions on the front make mention of prizes won at exhibitions in Paris in 1855 and London in 1862! Quite remarkable that these packages have survived so well and they will make a fabulous addition to an antique haberdashery collection.

So that has been the "thread" of my week, if you'll pardon the pun!

I am hoping that these will all find good homes in the coming weeks as they make their way onto the shop shelves. Some are there already, so have a look if you'd like to see more images.

 

Latest Madeira linen finds!

Recent acquisitions have included some really stunning pieces, mainly Madeira work. I never cease to be amazed by the needlework skills of the ladies who produced the cloths and mats.

One really unusual set of mats had me full of admiration. A 13 piece luncheon set of round Irish Linen mats, a large centre piece and then 6 mats and 6 coasters with the most wonderful scalloped embroidery pattern to the outer edges, almost resembling fish scales.

The cutwork was done with such precision and there was no damage at all, even after all these years. In an inner row to the edge of the linen were tiny works of art. The tiniest of flower heads worked in French Knots in gorgeous shades of blue, purple, yellow and pink, with teeny green leaves to each side.

I really want to bring these right up to date by teaming them with freshly dyed Rainbow Damask napkins - it would make for such a colourful table.

I am often asked how I can bear to part with the linens I find and I have to admit on one or 2 occasions recently I have succumbed and decided not to sell some pieces. The set of Madeira napkins below is one of those! I washed and ironed them, photographed them and even got around to putting them on the website - but the following morning I saw them sitting on the shelf in my office and I knew I couldn't let them go! 

Aren't they just fabulous?! So unusual and quite irresistible! I am hoping to set a table mixing cranberry and peridot glasses on a plain cream cloth and then let these beauties speak for themselves!

And finally a quite breathtaking piece of Madeira work - a huge square tablecloth with the most stunning embroidery and cutwork. Quite a masterpiece!

Some say that Madeira work is not fashionable at the moment, but I disagree. With a little clever mixing and matching I think it can be just fabulous. Whether by mixing with brightly coloured accessories or layering a masterpiece  such as this over a darker cloth, I believe they can be brought right up to date and be enjoyed and admired.

Who said doilies were boring?!

Oh dear, March went by and April is almost done and I have been ignoring the blog!

Partly because I have been busy acquiring new stock for the website and much washing and ironing has been required. Just as well I have a steam generator iron which can help me whizz through the piles of damask at speed.

However, it has not all been linen and damask - lurking in the bottom of one huge box obtained from an auction in Ballycastle was a group of the most gorgeous doilies.

The doily is a strange item, it comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, made from many different types of thread. Mostly they are cream or beige but this latest find was a riot of Neopolitan ice cream colours.

I have seen the green ones before, in fact I seem to remember Granny having some just that colour, but the pink are so pretty too. I suspect these are from the 1950s, the colour palette is a bit of a pointer in that direction.

Then there was a lacy silky one in shades of peach and green - a very open style of crochet and so dainty. Perfect for a dressing table. I think Granny used to keep these under a glass top to a side table.

The last one to emerge from the box is an absolute beauty and I will not be parting with it. Maybe you will see why........!

So often Irish crochet lace comes in pure white, or I have some on the website at the moment in a warm ecru colour, but this piece brings the exquisite art to life in a very different way.

The Clones knots are worked skilfully in a champagne coloured thread and the frilled flower heads in bubble gum and calamine pink are just gorgeous. The chevron motifs in apple green just pop from the centre making this the prettiest of mats.

To be honest I am not a huge fan of lilac as a colour, but somehow these neatly worked roundels may just have won me over.

So, whilst the peach,  pink and green doilies will be making their way onto the website, this little beauty is staying well and truly with me.

A Magnet for Lace!

Having always planned McBurney and Black to be a resource for linen, Irish Linen in particular, my intentions are being hijacked by the wonderful laces, ribbons and trims that keep coming my way. I said to a friend last week that I felt I had become a magnet for lace!

I find it hard to resist the frequent shoebox of lace that beckons and I find that my customers too are enjoying the variety in the shop. What is also fun is to find images of how the lace might have been worn at the time. I recently spied some wonderful postcards, old studio portraits from the early 1900s – here we can see the importance of lace!

In their Sunday best, the men and women were placed in formal poses and then their images captured by the photographer. Whilst I am always intrigued to see the costumes and attire of the time, it is sad that so many years later these images have just been discarded. But they tell us so much about the dress of the period.

One portrait is of a lady standing by a balustrade with a backdrop of a woodland behind her. With her hat perched at a jaunty angle and gloves held tightly is one  hand, she gazes into the distance looking rather miserable, it has to be said.

On the reverse of the photo in wonderful flowing letters is the greeting: Love and all good wishes to Nellie and George from Gussie. I assume that the lady is Gussie herself and she was obviously happy enough to use the portrait as a greeting card, so perhaps her look is a serious or pensive expression rather than a sad one! Just look at the wonderful crocheted lace collar sitting at the neck of the coat.

The second image has been taken by H.J Cowley of The Country Studio, Stroud. A market town in Gloucestershire, this photographic studio would have been the place to go for the country folk of the area wanting a formal portrait to mark a special occasion. An engagement perhaps, or a family gathering.

This image is of a couple in their 20s look unsmiling at the camera, again in rather formal pose. It seems that the idea of smiling for the photographer is one that came later. A huge corsage of flowers adorns the girl’s high necked blouse and if we zoom in , the detail and embellishment of the piece is quite superb. A plain dark skirt, but a very detailed lace trimmed blouse with pintucking and smocking to the front. Her beau has a smartly starched white shirt and they look a handsome pair.

So it looks as if I am destined to offer these beautifully handworked embellishments as well as my Irish Linen specialties! 

The art of napkin folding.

First of all a very belated Happy New Year to everyone!

Somehow December just flew past and January appears to be following suit as sales on the website grow. Most days now entail a trip to the post office with packages of linens and things destined for far flung places and some nearer to home. 

I did manage a day off in late December to accompany New Zealand friends on a visit to Hampton Court Palace. It is years since I had been and I had forgotten quite how fascinating a place it is. In addition to Henry VIII's quarters there are also the Georgian apartments to explore.

Of course, wherever I go, linen seems to follow me around and as I entered George I's dining room I was amazed to see the most intriguing display of folded napkins.

Yes, that really is a turkey made from linen napkins! Apparently such displays were quite "the thing" in the mid 1600s and1700s with the German town of Nuremburg even boasting a school entirely devoted to teaching the art. So when the Hanoverians arrived in England they brought with them this new way of impressing their dinner guests!

The intricacy of the pieces on display in Hampton Court was most impressive! Quite origami-like, the various pieces on display represented various vegetables and game in an incredibly lifelike fashion. 

Artichokes, a plate of asparagus spears, a cob of corn and even a hare in pride of place to the centre of the table.

We should remember that at that time the grand banquet was a lavish affair, not only intended to feed the diners, but also to ensure that they were fully aware of their host's wealth and status. By creating these amazing displays, the guests would have been left in no doubt as to the grandeur of the occasion. 

So I am feeling the pressure to make my napkins look a bit more special on the dining table, but then wonderful Irish Linen damask designs are so impressive in their own right.......I don't think they really call for any extra pizzazz!