RETURN OF A TEXTILE CELEBRITY+

 We are holding our usual autumn fair at Bradford on Avon, in the Mason's Hall, Church Street, on Saturday, September 14th.  Amongst those showing textiles of all kinds and sourced from many countries is Olga Verschoor, a highly respected dealer from France where she had a long career selling top quality fabrics and decorations for many years.
  I met Olga a long time ago, dealing in her special things, in London at the Little Chelsea Fair on Mondays and Tuesdays at the Chelsea Town Hall.   She stood with Olivia Dell at the front of the stage with an amazing selection of long curtains and drapes, fine lace and exquisite bed and table linen which she brought all the way from the Loire where she lived.  She was very expert, and the London decorators and dealers gave her a great welcome and her stock soon disappeared.  I once bought the entire decorations from a grand chateau bedroom;  hangings and drapes for two tester beds, covers and valances, and five pairs of curtains all festooned with fringes and cords and tassels, all in a rich silky mulberry fabric, too much to carry up to the Town Hall gallery and hastily transferred from her estate car roof rack to mine.   We were not supposed to do any dealing outside the selling rooms.Those were the days when everything seemed very affordable and it was not difficult to find buyers for good quality French decorations!
     Later on Olga joined Olivia and me in Tetbury to start the very first show of Talent for Textiles, and was an inspired organiser who went on to run prestigious fairs at Le Mans in France.  Olga was a very successful business woman and her name was passed on by the chateau owners who had surplus to get rid of and did not want to deal with indiscreet  local dealers.  Her charming husband Eric was a great asset and at the Fairs at my house in later years, he doubled as an excellent host and sommelier when it was time for a little celebration!  Olga published an excellent book about the dowries of the French brides, Les Trousseaux, showing fine examples of the many textiles which were part of them, so if you have any enquiries about your own treasures, bring them along and she will explain.  Welcome Olga, it will be so good to see you!

These sheets are typical of the beautiful fine linen sheets that Olga Verschoor used to sell