Gems at Auction this Week

In response to the post on early caps and coifs last week, someone asked if there were ever early babies' caps or bonnets. And the answer is yes, as you can see above. These are two 18th century bonnets. The one to the rear of the picture is a Queen Anne period baby`s bonnet of circa 1700-1710, composed of fine cotton lawn embroidered with meandering flowers and scrollwork. At the front you can see an 18th century baby`s bonnet applied with a sequinned panel to the centre, bordered by woven floral ornamentation, the interior lined with check print cotton panels. They both compose lot 388 with an estimate of £80 - £160 as part of the Deeley Collection at Wilkinson's Auctioneers, Doncaster on December 12.

Also part of the Deeley Collection for auction at Wilkinson's Auctioneers, Doncaster on December 12 is this lot 386 - a small 17th century purse embroidered with a flowering and fruiting plants upon a silvered thread ground. There are tassels at each corner, and a large bell form tassel hooped to the end. The lower edge has three ball tassels. The woven strap has an interlaced knot. It measures 5½ ins x 4½ ins (14 cms x 12 cms) and has an estimate of £50 - £100.

Back to the grown-ups now and Canterbury Auction Galleries has this lot 867 which is a late 17th/early 18th century embroidered blue velvet sleeping cap worked with floral motifs. It does have damage. Sale date is December 8 and the estimate is £70 - £100

The last item is quite a find and thank goodness for phone-in auctions, because it is possible that you wouldn't make it through the snow in time for this auction in Carlisle by Thomas Roddick & Medcalf. This is lot 352 and is just as the embroiderer left it. Here you can see an antique embroidered jacket front panel, matching cuffs & collar band, all intricately worked with foliate scroll motifs in gilt thread, the panel is approx. 19½” long, the cuffs 7½” wide. & the collar panel 13½” long. The auction will be on December 10

Threads that Bind - Rosalind Wyatt and the Quaker Tukes of York

It seems incredible to find this thread - Rosalind Wyatt's work, inspired by the work in the Prinzhorn collection, is also connected to the Retreat founded 1796 in York by the Quaker William Tuke. Rosalind's husband's great-great grandfather was Daniel Hack Tuke (1827-1895) who with his wife (who bears another well-known Quaker name - Esther Stickney) travelled around European asylums and wrote of their experiences to Daniel's father, Samuel Tuke. Amongst their correspondence was this 18th century bodice which Rosalind used to stitch the story of Daniel and Esther, using their letters. On another piece, Rosalind tells the story of Hester Sainsbury (nee Tuke) who had a passionate love affair with the Japanese poet Torahiko Kori. Do visit her site to see her work and read these stories for yourself.

Following Ariadne's Clew - Artur Bispo do Rosario

Well here we go again, following Ariadne's thread through the labyrinth of needlearts. I am so pleased MOI posted a link to Artur Bispo do Rosario's work as a comment to last night's post. I had never heard of Arturo's work across the world in Brazil, and now here I am, mesmerized and spellbound again. Arturo died in in 1989 when he was about 80. Age is unimportant when you are poor and live at the margin of society. It only seems to be important now that Arturo's work has become the hottest art export, even though the man himself never claimed to be an artist. He was simply a collector and upcycler of found objects, creating his own world of meaning while hospitalized suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. And also garments and standards made from hospital linen embroidered with unpicked threads from hospital uniforms in which,anticipating the day, he could stand before his Maker. Thank you for showing me this.

The Prinzhorn Collection - Second Skin

Every so often I stumble across something on the internet that spellbinds me. Here is one example. It is simply a grey, linen jacket. And it was standard issue in the psychiatric hospital of the University of Heidelberg at the end of the 19th century. Text is embroidered on the outside of the sleeves, and also inside the jacket next to the skin without any apparent starting point or sequence, except that the words I and My seem to mark the beginning of new phrases such as: My dress; My jacket?; I am not; I'm in Hubertusburg - ground floor. The Prinzhorn Collection comprising around 5,000 items was saved by Hans Prinzhorn (a German art historian and psychiatrist) between 1919 and 1921 when he was an assistant in the hospital. In 1922 Prinzhorn published Bildnerei der Geisteskranken (Art of the Mentally Ill), which drew on profuse examples from the collection. Though many were unsure what to make of it all, well-known members of the artistic community such as Jean Dubuffet were inspired. Outsider art was recognized and named for the first time.