SHOWING THE FLAG

   When I bought this pretty little tablecloth lovingly embroidered with hearts and flowers in red, blue and white, the seller told me that it had a secret message in the design.  It was embroidered during the last war by a patriotic housewife to show defiance to the occupation, the colours are taken from the tricolor flag of France and the hearts an obvious symbol of patriotism.  Such small acts of bravery remind us of the cruel times suffered by the French under Nazi rule.   During the war there were acute shortages and the women used to gather nettles, thistles and broom to spin and weave into cloth for clothes and home;  the broom made a very lovely silky golden fabric which is rare to find but much prized for its colour and softness.

A MODERN TALENT

   The name Georgina von Etzdorf will ring many bells.  Her silks and scarves were the talk of the town several years ago and now, after a long break, expanding in other directions,she is back with treasures from her archives to sell in time for Christmas.  Although I deal in old textiles, I am fascinated by her bold and innovative designs and colour combinations and this could be a chance to give something rather unique for Christmas that could be someone's best fashion accessory.  The enclosed invitation is for all lovers of fine design and they will be welcome at Shrewton, not far from Salisbury, and the entrance fee of £1 will go to the Alzheimer charity.  Refreshments available.  THE DATE IS  SUNDAY NOV.28th  12 pm - 5 pm

The place is Zion House, Salisbury Road, Shrewton SP3 4EQ.  Tel. 01980 621940.
    I have kept the picture on the right for many years - an early work of her art entitled WURLITZER
which has a wonderful 3D dimension and embodies the harmonies and swelling sounds of the organ in a very graphic way.  I like the idea of two different arts being joined in this way - music and art and design.

RED IN A COLD CLIMATE

This watercolour, 'Red bedroom, hunting lodge' by Alexandre Serebriakoff, shows  an interesting interior design which is vibrant and warm.  There are a great many different striped treatments, including the half-drawn blinds, and I felt myself drawn to the warm and stimulating colours of all the soft furnishings;  the rich rug, the red tablecloth,  the bed ends, the trellis pattern bedcover, pennant pelmet and striped curtains, with plenty of lighting in table lamps and bracket wall lights for dark winter evenings.  Little book case, small ornaments, vase of flowers, mirror and w.p.b. complete the details and I guess this was painted in the 1920s?  With a bright fire in the grate I can imagine a wonderfully cosy bed-sit in a rather grand style!   It's always interesting to see how other people decorated their houses in other countries - we are used to seeing the fabulous  ballet costumes and jewels of the Russians and the grandest of palaces, but everyday living in more modest houses is difficult to discover.

INDEED TO GOODNESS ME!

WELSH QUILTS discovered by a fanatical American collector - you will know that I mean Jen Jones , Queen of Quilts, from Llanybyder, Ceredigion, who has the biggest and best collection in the world and who has recently opened this Museum. It could make a very nice day out if you joined with a friend and motored there (the roads there are good) and looked at her museum collection with excellent home-made snacks in the cafe, and maybe visited her cottage where you can try out on actual beds her big collection of quilts and blankets for sale. You might think that her quilts would be very expensive as she is such an expert, but in fact she has lovely covers at all prices and her Comfy quilts in pretty Paisleys sell fast - I buy them myself from time to time as I remember them fondly from my childhood in Wales.  They were printed, usually in pretty Paisley designs, in Manchester, usually in a large diamond outline and they are reversible, as inexpensive alternatives to the traditionnal hand stitched and stuffed Welsh quilts.

GO FOR IT!

   The rag markets are turning out to be a great success - although the term rag might put you off, you can, in fact, find some very useful things and occasionally make a good discovery which will please you - antique dealers often have to buy  mixed lots to get what they want and will discard some of the odds and ends that they cannot display or sell easily - they would rather clear them out in a clean and neat state for a very low price than have them turn into surplus rag-bags at the bottom of the pile!  So you  might find some unfinished embroidery that it would amuse you to complete, or an odd length of braid or cord that is just right to finish off your own-made cushion, or a length of cheap cotton that will cover your ironing board or make the lining for a knitting bag you intend finishing for Christmas.   You never know!  The whole thing is full of fun and go, and there is quite a rush to be the first to grab the bargains - and I can assure you that there are plenty around for the sharp-eyed.  You need to have your measurements ready with you and track that treasure down before someone else does.  Good luck!  See previous blog LOOKING FORWARD for more info on Rag Markets

BRETON FASHIONISTA

For a people who mostly lived in small stone built farmhouses and little cottages with dark grey slate rooves, the costumes of Brittany are surprisingly rich as shown in this picture of local dress by my friend Alain Le Berre's antiques barn, at La Plage du Ris, Douarnenez, well worth a call if you are serious about genuine Breton costume and many other special antiques. He speaks English.  The people lived by hard work on the sea and the rather poor soil but created magnificent costume with much goldwork and very fine lace.
   There is quite a lot to discover in Brittany,and one of the most attractive little towns is Locronan which is full of beautiful large stone houses that apparently belonged to the pirates on the high seas nearby! It has excellent antique fairs in the streets and squares, and shops full of local arts and crafts. These old towns have spectacular stone built churches and clusters of fine memorials all around them.  All the cafes and restauranrts sell wonderful fresh fish and shellfish - usually with lots of chips - but you can always ask for a salad.

HAY, NONNY NO

   I have made a new pair of curtains out of some rather battered old ones, French
Indiennes late 19th C. The linings were shot so I used some rather dashing old red linings of the period, and made the curtains up in French style - they often layered the three fabrics, top patterned, interlining and lining on top of each other. trimmed all the edges and sewed them together with the edges raw. Then they used a special braid which had two rows of pattern, this was folded down the centre longways and it was sewn by hand down the front and back of the curtain edge. It seems to work very well, and helps to preserve the edges which often get damaged by sun, hands pulling and the metal tie-backs

Indienne print, late 19C.

The charming design includes red roses and foliage and garden tools, a flail, spade and baskets of fruit in trophies well spaced across the fabric. There were endless versions of these themes which had already been used the century before in the Toile de Jouy designs, showing romantic scenes of lovers, cherubs and peasants dancing, all with flowers, fruit and romantic buildings incorporated in the overall design. These Indiennes were highly popular because the Empress Eugenie was known to use them for her own clothes and for furnishing the Royal palaces and the French printers produced masses of these pastoral and floral patterns

COFFEEHOUSING

     This blue coffee pot is part of a machine embroidered border made in France quite recently to decorate kitchen shelving, pelmets and mantlepieces. These were very popular in the twenties and thirties and the picture on the right is typical of the borders worked by house-proud housewives. I think the patterns must have come in ladies' home or needlework magazines because there are a great many of them still about, some rather crude and comic, showing chefs chasing geese and cockerels, and others more artistic with bunches of cherries and fruit, coffee mills, spoons and other kitchenalia. They often had buttonhole edged scalloped borders and often come in quite long lengths. Applied to nursery and kitchen curtains they can be quite attractive.
     Many kitchens in France in the big old houses faced North or had very little natural light, and were furnished with dark brown oak or chestnut furniture, so the housewives must have felt the need for something gay and colourful while they slaved away in a gloomy place.