AS EASY AS A.B.C.

This set of decorative lettering comes, of course, from France.  Initials and the marking of linen lingerie and all textile objects, including grain sacks and farm cloths, was a real passion and tradition for French families and the Ladies Magazines which came out monthly or so, often provided a new and different style for every issue, usually on the back page.   These must have been copied and enlarged by thousands of clever needlewomen and accounts for all the elaborate trusseaux worked so diligently by the women of each family.   It is often a very useful guide to the age and use of the article -   the earliest are often done in really minute cross stitch and can be quite small (napkins, hankies, underwear) but later they become more showy with flowers, leaves and scrolls added to make elaborate designs, cherries and vines were often part of the design.   The peasants stuck to good plain Roman lettering just in the corner and this was no doubt so they could identify their own property when the  linen was washed in the public lavoirs of every town and village, and stealing was not unknown.  The finest and best designed were used on sheets and pillow cases and formal table napkins, circa 1900 when the nuns vied with other convents to get the business of providing the dowries for the rich bourgeoisie.   Later on the work was often done in satin stitch with a glossy thread and elaborate curls and queues and the initials were very stylised with angles, large curves and polka dots and often framed in Art Deco style semi-circles, very hard-wearing but not so elegant.    I have a theory as to why these initials were so very important for the French bride and I might put this forward, just as a non-expert!   Next time!

Sheet En-Lightment

Buyers of beautiful embroidered French sheets are often annoyed by two things: the sizes, and the quality of the weave!

First, you must remember that most old French beds are only 4' wide, and therefore the sheets (old pre-war ones) are often no more than 6'6 wide. Secondly, they did not tuck the sheets in under the mattress and that is why some have the retour (side returns)also embroidered to match the top border. This hung down below the mattress and above the valance and was considered a sign of quality and good needlework. Even the master bedroom would have a pair of the smaller beds (usually a matching pair) and only grand households had massive double beds which would have special extra large and fine sheets woven for them
The other trap is to buy Metis sheets (often brand new in their original wrapping); there is nothing wrong with them but they are not pure linen. They can date from before WWI and are always mechanically woven in fine even weave. Metis means a mixture or union and pre-war WWII metis is 2/3rd linen and 1/3 cotton, whereas later metis is the exact reverse, and a less good buy! The French do not value metis much but are quite prepared to sell it at pure linen prices, and you do not need to pay that much! It is very often a rather attractive pale dun-coloured weave that looks very like linen, but if you stroke it or put it next to your cheek, you can feel the soft 'bloom' of cotton and it is much warmer than cool linen. It sometimes has drawn thread work and big bold initials in the centre, either off-white or bright red, and if you look at the selvedge you can sometimes find the trade mark of Fleur Bleue or Gerardmer who were top weavers in the Vosges. Personally I like it for its colour, for making up covers, valances, chair covers etc., and it tailors extremely well, besides being very easy to wash and iron.

FRENCH LEAVE

This Blog was written some time ago when I was back from French buying/holiday trip - covering most of Brittany in my search for fine linen for a special new client and also for the roughest possible, sack-like hemp sheets to replace depleted stocks - it's so odd, when I first started buying the rough old mattress covers, sheets and old farm sacks, for upholstering early oak and walnut furniture, and then later, some of those comfy Napoleon III easy chairs known as chauffeuses (fireside), some of my customers were slightly shocked that I was using old farmhouse materials - a far cry from the elegant silks and satins associated with the rich and luxurious furnishings and trimmings of the late 19c.    It turned out that these covers sat comfortably with old and contemporary styles and were practical, hard-wearing and easy to clean.    Katrin Cargill, well known decorator and author of many good books on 'how to' was the first to feature the rustic look 'smart casual'? in a good magazine and with some dyed indigo sheets from Polly Lyster, it was launched and then often copied. From little acorns....

Tickings and Case Covers

Having been re-named Mrs. Ticking by some of my old clients, I am showing a few more examples of these useful and hardwearing cloths. The red and blue striped examples were made up as 'case covers' to cover valuable silk, velvet and embroidered chairs in the 19th C. in France, shut up for a season, and the fine colours and delicate fabrics needing protection from the strong sun, from pests like flies and mice as well as dirt and dust. These two patterns were used traditionally and are very charming and useful for making up into accessories, cushions, and trimming stuff. The fine herringbone stripe weave does not show up in the photo but adds to the strength and distinctive look of the fabric. The chair covers were made to fit loosely, sometimes with a few buttons or ties down the back, and seams were strengthened with a matching red or blue tape - the white ticking also shown is a baby's cot lining with a little frill all around, crisp and clean

This cloth makes a lovely crisp backing for cushions

A 'crants' for a maiden!

My maiden's crants

     This picture (left) taken from a recent copy of Country Life shows a treasure from a country church in Shropshire.  It is an 18th C garland made from ribbons and crimped paper made to honour the funeral of a virgin, often buried with the deceased, but sometimes hung as a memorial from pegs painted with the initials and year of death.    It reminded me that I have one of these rare and  poignant memorials hidden away out of the light and it is something that always gives me a pang of sorrow when I look at the little gold spangled paper flowers in softly painted shades of rose, cream and mauve.   So simple, so innocent and so touching!   I bought it in my first days of collecting and dealing from a delightful older couple in Sussex who had many treasures at a time when folk art and treen and primitive tools and toys were not really valued and  most knowledge was confined to a very worthy book Treen by Charles Pinto( which became my bible).  Few people understood what folk art was about, although the Americans had long prized it.       I cannot bring myself to sell it, but hope one day to find a suitable hanging place for it where it will remind people of the fragility of life in those far away days, and spare a thought for the village maidens who died.

My Post Box

Thanks Yvette for telling me that my tablecloth added something to your Christmas table - and I wonder if you had traditional English feast or did you slip a few French treats in ?- I seem to remember a wonderful custom of twelve special desserts sometime over NOEL OR HAVE I GOT IT MIXED UP ?- YOU HAVE SO MANY SAINTS DAYS AND CELEBRATIONS IN FRANCE THAT YOU KEEP, AND WE FIND IT HARD TO KEEP PACE - SOMETIMES IT IS A VERY USEFUL DATE TO HANG ON TO AS A BROCANTE OR ANTIQUE FAIR IS ALWAYS FIXED ON A CERTAIN SAINT'S DAY, SO I DON'T NEED TO BUY ALADIN TO FIND IT OUT!   ANYWAY,
JOYEUX NOEL TO ALL WHO LOVE FRANCE.

Answers to your comments

My Rag Market Fair on Sunday 19th May will be held in the Mason's Hall and in the old wine vaults next door in Bradford on Avon, nr. Bath.  Details:  email dbaer@onetel.com.

ITS NOT THE END

  
SORRY FOR THE GAP.  My computer crashed completely and it has taken two weeks to GET THINGS GOING AGAIN. FIRST ON MY LIST OF THINGS TO DO IS TO WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND ALL THINGS GOOD FOR NEXT YEAR.  WE ARE ALL A YEAR OLDER BUT ARE WE ANY WISER? HALF THE WORLD SEEMS MAD AND THE PRESS AND MEDIA NOT MUCH BETTER AND IF OUR AMAZING CHRISTMAS ELECTRONIC GADGETS CAN BLOT OUT SOME OF ALL THAT, THEN IT IS A VERY GOOD THING TO HAVE THAT RELIEF.  I am enjoying books on an IPad!

      I SUPPOSE IT IS NOT QUITE RIGHT TO COMBINE CHRISTMAS GREETINGS WITH TEXTILE BUSINESS BUT OWING TO MY COMPUTER CRASH THIS IS A LATE REMINDER TO PUT MY RAG MARKET DATE OF SUNDAY MAY 19TH IN YOUR NEW DIARY FOR 2013.      THIS HAS GONE AMAZINGLY WELL AND I AM ALMOST FULLY BOOKED WITH A WONDERFUL GROUP OF PEOPLE SELLING THEIR SURPLUS, AND THIS PROMISES TO BE A REAL FUN DAY!  I HAVE FOUR WELL KNOWN MAGAZINE DECORATOR LADIES FLOGGING THEIR REMAINING PROPS,  TWO FABRIC DESIGNERS RETIRING AND DISPOSING OF THEIR SAMPLES AND SECONDS, 2 PRIVATE LADIES FROM BIG OLD RECTORIES TURNING OUT LIFETIME COLLECTIONS OF 'USEFUL' HOUSEHOLD CHATTELS,  PLUS SEVERAL OTHER RETIREES AND DOWNSIZERS WHO RELISH THE THOUGHT OF GETTING A LITTLE BACK ON THEIR FAMILY BELONGINGS AND SORTING THEIR CUPBOARDS, ATTICS, TRUNKS AND MOVING ON.  There will be bargains galore! Free entry.
     IF YOU WANT TO JOIN US, THERE ARE ABOUT TWO TABLES LEFT, £20 FOR THE DAY, 9A.M. - 3 P.M. AND I AM ASKING EVERYONE TO BRING ONE GOOD RAFFLE PRIZE - MACMILLAN CANCER CHARITY ARE RUNNING IT AND WILL GET A GENEROUS DONATION FROM ME AFTER EXPENSES.  I WOULD REMIND ALL STALLHOLDERS THAT SETTING UP IS ON THE SATURDAY, IF POSSIBLE, AS THE VENUE HAS POOR ACCESS AND THE STREET HAS LITTLE PARKING.  APPLY TO dbaer@onetel.com.  Get your FLYERS AND INVITES FROM SAME eMAIL ADDRESS.

OUR NINE YEAR OLD GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER AND HER CHRISTMAS CARD 2012

A bientot! Elizabeth