A Bright Day at Brightwells * Leominister * 19 May 2010

Leominster (pronounced Lemster) in Herefordshire on what I would call the Welsh Marches is home to some spectacular black and white timbered architecture and is well worth a visit if you are in the area. Another reason for going to Leominster is to visit Brightwells the local auction house which has regular textile sales. The next sale is 19 May and you can just click here to see the catalogue which has a number of needlework items and some samplers for sale.

Lot 659 is this ebony needlework casket lined with blue silk and has mother of pearl spools, mother of pearl needlecase, five winders, two finger guards and partly worked items in base. The estimate is £80 - £120.

No-one shall provoke me with impunity is what Jane Alston Smith Tranent stitched on her sampler which sounds like fighting talk to me....
Stitched in silk and chenille this unfaded sampler with a half-timbered cottage, bears the thistle of Scotland and rose of England and was prabably stitched in 1884. It is Lot 707 in the sale and has an estimate of £150 - £200.

Our Sarah Harris has me bumping into heraldic lions and unicorns all this week! Here is a 17th century velvet purse with a gold embroidered coat of arms to each side. Originally a draw string it has original beaded tasseled drawstring and its estimate is £300 - £400 and is Lot 699.