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posted 09-05-2005 07:30 PM            

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My wife found this pincushion this weekend at a flea market. It was most likely made to be worn on a chatelaine. The beaded silver band is unmarked as to maker, but is monogrammed MC. From the style of the monogram, I believe it to date from before 1800. The weaving was interesting to my wife and I think the threads used may be horse hair that was dyed the various colors. I am putting it in the coin silver section simply because it is unmarked, and perhaps wishful thinking.

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posted 09-05-2005 07:35 PM            

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The mono does look to be 18th rather than 19th century in style (though there was overlap in outlying areas). You may have better luck trying to pinpoint (sorry) the local by the iconography and technique of the weaving. Is that a bumble bee?

Does it open?

Lovely piece.

[This message has been edited by wev (edited 09-05-2005).]

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posted 09-05-2005 08:28 PM            

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Here are pictures of the top and bottom. The pattern is the same top and bottom, but the colors are different, almost reversed from each other. The pincushion does not open, however the silver band slips off and the pincushion is soft and pliable. My wife will try to pin down the weaving method.

The colors shown are better in the first picture as it was taken with a flash.

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posted 09-05-2005 09:04 PM            

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My wife weaves, does need point, knits, etc., so I had her look at it. She says that the pattern was probably done by needle point as it would be hard to weave something so small. She also suggested that horse hair would be difficult to stitch and would not last. It may be wool or, judging by the softness, silk. No luck recognizing the pattern.

Tom

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posted 09-05-2005 09:46 PM            

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The stitch on the pincushion is "Queen Stitch" and would date from the late 18th or early 19th century. I learned to do it myself in graduate school (Wintethur) which is why I recognize it; it's a fiercely difficult stitch and takes huge amounts of yarn--probably silk in this case. Imagine it with much brighter colors.

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posted 09-06-2005 08:09 PM            

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Thanks everyone for the great information. An internet search revealed that some believe the Queen stitch was designed by Mary Queen of Scots. Also in the 1640 edition of "The Needles Excellency," John Taylor printed the following list of some stitches in use at this time:
"For tent worke, raised worke, first worke, laid worke, net worke,

Most curious purl or rare Italian cut worke.

Fire, fern stitch, finny stitch, new stitch, chain stitch
Brave bred stitch, fisher stitch, Irish stitch and Queen stitch,

The Spanish stitch, Rosemary stitch and mowle stitch,
The smarting whip stitch, back stitch and cross stitch;
All these are good, and this we must allow,
And they are everywhere in practice now."

Fabric research may well be more complicated than silver research. It is at least a more knotty subject.

How colors change through the years is also an interesting subject. The colors in Shaker interiors and in George Washington’s dining room are discussed in “The Magazine Antiques” this month. When I first saw the intensity of the green in George’s dining room I thought “He must be red/green color blind”. Ulysses’s comments about color are really on point.

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