Catalog: Antiques: Decorative Art (81)

Hand made Shaker table mat with multi colored field and a wide brown border. The mats were the product of left over scraps from the sewing rooms in Shaker communities. This mat is 13" by 15" and is in excellent condition. C. 1900

This is quite the scrap book. The back and front are cloth covered in blue and white calico. The pages are also cloth with stitching around all the edges. The trade and advertising cards are glued down on both sides of the fabric. The pages are bound together by three holes and each page and tied with a yellow ribbon. There are 11 pages, 22 sides, and one 1/2 page that is original and not cut but just a 1/2 page with cards on both sides...

This doll was bought in the mid west and had to have been made by an older child or a mother doing the best she could with what she had. She is firmly straw stuffed. Her face is stitched with heavy thread. Her mouth is stitched with the use of many "xxx"s and it looks great. Her nose is pinched raised with overcasting thread. Her eyes are framed with red stitches and her eyes and eyebrows are brown thread. Her red bonnet is sewn on as are her clothes...

How often do you see a flame stitch mat? This one still has vibrant color. The foundation is a loomed homespun. It has a spider web fringe that is so fine and beautiful. I have taken pictures of the 3 areas of with condition problems. There are two small holes and one larger one. The fringe also is sparse in many areas around the mat. That said this is a rare form of flame stitch and is paper thin and very finely woven. It is mid 1700's and is 6" by 11".

Fabulous homespun black wool blanket with the best bittersweet color stripes at both ends. It is very soft and in very good condition but not mint. It has a later hand sewn edge on one end that is coming loose in a couple of places and there are a few small thin areas. It is 68" by 60" and it makes quite a statement. It is not as early as the center seam blankets but it makes up for it in looks.

Five early paper dolls dressed in crepe paper dresses. When I bought them I was told they were made to hang on the Christmas tree and it is true some of the have thread hangers on the back. They are very nice and unusual. They range in size from 7 1/2" to about 10" and date to the 1880's.

A very early pair of child's shoes hand sewn and pegged and nailed. The shoes are fragile but one is much better than the other. They are early enough that the soles are identical with no difference in right and left shoe. They are 6" long and 3 1/2" tall. circa 1830. These early shoes are hard to find and look wonderful with a textile collection.

This Sisters' bonnet is black bonnet was probably for special occasions. Over the black silk is a fine black mesh even over the neck ruffle. The bonnet is lined with purple silk that was meant not to show as it is inside the bonnet and the underside of the neck ruffle. It does have some wear around the front edge of the bonnet where the material has pulled away a bit. The netting has some area on the neck ruffle that are rough but in general is displays well...

Someone with a sense of humor gave this dear old flannel sheep blue floss eyes and brown eye lashes all the way around. She is big, 10" long including his tail and 6" tall even with her legs askew. Poor design or bad eating habits preventing her from standing on all fours. She has a great smile on her face and floppy ears with finishing stitches around the edges. She is a very sweet old gently played with late 19th C. toy lamb.

This is a pair of linen homespun pillow cases that are more like show towels. The linen is very finely woven, the pulled thread work, borders the top and bottom of the name and date. The embroidered name and date is done in a wool floss and has not done as well with use as the body of the pillow case. Her name is Barbara Wismer, I think, and the date is 1829. There is no question they were used and laundered but they are in great condition with a bit of age related toning in places...

A most wonderful twisted raw wool doll with fur hair, bead eyes, defined stitched fingers, little leather shoes, lace dress with all the underpinnings, a necklace, and she is holding a purse. She has the dearest little face with a pinched nose and a tiny stitched mouth. She is a gauze bonnet that is starting to shred. She is 5" long and is circa 1870 and very special.

A very nice pair of antique hand knit blue and white cotton socks with a initials at the top. I think the initials are WWF. The stockings are knit with three different weight cotton yarn the heaviest is the wonderful true blue that is the foot and ankle where all the wear is and the area where you want the most cushioning. The lighter blue is medium weight and the white is the lightest where you don't want it to bind. The have been used but not abused...

Antique toy dog with a squeaker, glass eyes, hand sewn and was mohair of sorts but now is worn down to the brown fabric. He is firmly stuffed with straw. He has an old fabric collar tied around his neck. He is 7 1/2" long and is 5" tall and is circa 1880-90. He has a very nice face.

A wonderful early woman's pocket made from a roller print with the colors of madder, brown and mustard. It is backed with a homespun linen fabric. All hand sewn. The front of the pocket is lined with the same linen homespun and the back. The fabric is fragile in some of the black areas where the tannic acid dye has weakened fabric. It is priced accordingly and is by no means falling apart. It is 13 1/2" top to bottom and is 5 " across the to and 9" across the bottom...

This is a great 1890 mohair cat that stands nicely on its own. He has about 70% of his mohair. He has a loved face with a bit of a pushed up nose. I think he is a Steiff but is without a button. He is 13" long and 9" tall to the top of his head.

As found a nice early stockinette doll stuffed with rags. She wears a wonderful old undershirt that buttons up the back. She has natural brown raw wool hair, (fleece cut off of a brown sheep). I haven't seen this done on a black doll before but it makes perfect sense. Her face consists of amber glass button eyes. If she had a nose or mouth they don't show now. She is a true off the farm doll with a lot of appeal. 13" tall circa 1890-1900

Early antique homespun cotton handkerchief in blue and white. It is very tightly woven and soft to the touch. It has two initials M and H. This is an American and possibly Shaker made. It is 17 1/2" by 19 1/2". The condition is excellent with some slight age discoloration. This was made for longevity! Circa 1830-40.

17" black sock doll with shoe button eyes, flat black button nose and applied soft red floss mouth. She is stuffed firmly with rags. She has on a while slip, white pantaloons and a gray blouse with red trim. The clothes are old but not original. She bends so she sits nicely. She has a cute expression that says, no fooling around here I have lots to think about. Circa 1900-1920