This is from a recent lot which came from a very large upper-middle-class household. The owner of this household was a successful notaire, which at the time was the equivalent of a solicitor. He must have come from money as well, one didn’t just become a notaire in those days.
This sheet is exactly the sort of sheet which would come from such a household. It is the absolute best quality machine-milled linen available at this period - the first half of the 20th century. (The next level after this is handwoven and heavily embroidered and often belonging to nobility). This is very fine, densely-woven, very slightly textured, and very, very beautiful machine-milled linen that has been made into a very large sheet which has a triple border of drawn-thread ladder work interspersed with hand-embroidered polka-dots (please find my newsletter entitled ‘Ladder Borders and Drawn Threadwork’). There are days and days of meticulous work in the border alone. In the centre is a large pair of embroidered intertwined initials ‘PR’. Even the lower hem has been picked out in drawn-threadwork. It is in very good condition - there is an area where it looks like the sheet snagged on something, possibly a metal bed frame, and it has been meticulously and microscopically repaired with visible mending, one of the best examples I have seen of this kind of mending, done by someone with a very fine eye and a very precise hand. The rest of the sheet is perfect - these damages were not caused by wear. Judging by the number of similar sheets I found with these initials, not to mention handwoven linen tablecloths and other pieces, it really was a very wealthy household.
This measures an enormous 249×345cm. Very few sheets are more than about 234cm wide but many of these sheets from this collection are much larger.
Please click on the photos to open them up full-sized.
To purchase, please message me via the contact form and mention the title or the number of the sheet.
This is from a recent lot which came from a very large upper-middle-class household. The owner of this household was a successful notaire, which at the time was the equivalent of a solicitor. He must have come from money as well, one didn’t just become a notaire in those days.
This sheet is exactly the sort of sheet which would come from such a household. It is the absolute best quality machine-milled linen available at this period - the first half of the 20th century. (The next level after this is handwoven and heavily embroidered and often belonging to nobility). This is very fine, densely-woven, very slightly textured, and very, very beautiful machine-milled linen that has been made into a very large sheet which has a triple border of drawn-thread ladder work interspersed with hand-embroidered polka-dots (please find my newsletter entitled ‘Ladder Borders and Drawn Threadwork’). There are days and days of meticulous work in the border alone. In the centre is a large pair of embroidered intertwined initials ‘PR’. Even the lower hem has been picked out in drawn-threadwork. It is in very good condition - there is an area where it looks like the sheet snagged on something, possibly a metal bed frame, and it has been meticulously and microscopically repaired with visible mending, one of the best examples I have seen of this kind of mending, done by someone with a very fine eye and a very precise hand. The rest of the sheet is perfect - these damages were not caused by wear. Judging by the number of similar sheets I found with these initials, not to mention handwoven linen tablecloths and other pieces, it really was a very wealthy household.
This measures an enormous 249×345cm. Very few sheets are more than about 234cm wide but many of these sheets from this collection are much larger.
Please click on the photos to open them up full-sized.
To purchase, please message me via the contact form and mention the title or the number of the sheet.
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