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, sort of 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). Fine, densely-woven, very slightly textured, and very, very beautiful, this fabric has been made into a very large sheet which has a wide border of drawn-thread work - the weft threads have been painstakingly unwoven from this section and then the warp threads have been bound together using a sort of alternating buttonhole stitch(please find my newsletter entitled ‘Ladder Borders and Drawn Threadwork’). There are days of meticulous work in the border alone. In the centre is a large pair of initials ‘PR’ with a spray of leaves and flowers. It is in superb condition - there is one tiny mark that is about three-quarters of the way towards the bottom - I have pictured this. The lower hem is handstitched. 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 250×353cm. 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, sort of 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). Fine, densely-woven, very slightly textured, and very, very beautiful, this fabric has been made into a very large sheet which has a wide border of drawn-thread work - the weft threads have been painstakingly unwoven from this section and then the warp threads have been bound together using a sort of alternating buttonhole stitch(please find my newsletter entitled ‘Ladder Borders and Drawn Threadwork’). There are days of meticulous work in the border alone. In the centre is a large pair of initials ‘PR’ with a spray of leaves and flowers. It is in superb condition - there is one tiny mark that is about three-quarters of the way towards the bottom - I have pictured this. The lower hem is handstitched. 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 250×353cm. 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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