"I love these...................." is the first thing that always springs to mind when I am writing my listings and it is true!
It doesn't matter how many linens I buy I always get a buzz when I find more. That is what gets me out of bed at the crack of dawn on Sundays and keeps both washing machines working full time.
Last Sunday the dealer, who had phoned me with a promise of some lovely stuff, didn't let me down. He has cleared six houses since Christmas and had saved all the boxes of linens for me. He always makes me laugh because he will proudly show me the stuff he has kept because it gives him a buzz and it doesn't do anything for me at all! I suppose that is how it works, I also love watching the incredibly diverse range of objects emerging from the vans and then watching the crowds rummaging for their 'bonheur'. Sometimes I see things I think 'I can't imagine anyone wanting that'! Only to see it being carried off later by a proud buyer.
There was a mountain of ancient hemp sheets, handwoven with homespun yarn on narrow cottage looms. These all came from the same family and each one is different.
There is no way to adequately describe the simple rustic elegance of them. I often receive messages from delighted buyers who have just bought their first hemp sheet and tell me that it is sooooo much better than they anticipated. Be warned, it is never 'just the one'.
But it didn't stop there.
There was a batch of tablecloths with gorgeous red monograms, some on hemp others on pure linen.
Then there were the banquet cloths, over 13 feet long. One has a set of 12 matching napkins with exceptional fine monograms with interlaced letters. Completely different, these evoke bourgeois dinner parties, crystal, silver and porcelain. I love these too!
The great thing is that I know you love it too. I receive lots of emails from people who share the same passion. I think these antique textiles have such a powerful appeal because each one is unique and carries the 'signature' of the skilled spinners, weavers and embroiderers who created them.
It doesn't matter how many linens I buy I always get a buzz when I find more. That is what gets me out of bed at the crack of dawn on Sundays and keeps both washing machines working full time.
Last Sunday the dealer, who had phoned me with a promise of some lovely stuff, didn't let me down. He has cleared six houses since Christmas and had saved all the boxes of linens for me. He always makes me laugh because he will proudly show me the stuff he has kept because it gives him a buzz and it doesn't do anything for me at all! I suppose that is how it works, I also love watching the incredibly diverse range of objects emerging from the vans and then watching the crowds rummaging for their 'bonheur'. Sometimes I see things I think 'I can't imagine anyone wanting that'! Only to see it being carried off later by a proud buyer.
There was a mountain of ancient hemp sheets, handwoven with homespun yarn on narrow cottage looms. These all came from the same family and each one is different.
I love these..............
You really do need to touch them to enjoy the slubs and nubbles in the weave, the flecks of colour in the weave, the endless variations of gold, buff, cream........
Many of them don't look as if they have been used. There are also sets of hemp towels, batches in different sizes, all with little hand embroidered monograms. These are so evocative of the local farmhouses with their beamed ceilings, smoky log fires and long oak tables.
But it didn't stop there.
Then there were the banquet cloths, over 13 feet long. One has a set of 12 matching napkins with exceptional fine monograms with interlaced letters. Completely different, these evoke bourgeois dinner parties, crystal, silver and porcelain. I love these too!
There was lots more, I'm still sorting through it.
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