Whilst I umm-ed and aah-ed (how DO you spell that?) quite a bit last Friday about whether or not to go to an auction and finally deciding not to, I have ended up with most of the particular Lot I wanted. The dealer who bought it has passed a good 50% of it on to me. I've lost count of the number of linen pillowcases and bolster covers and there are a few linen sheets. the odd piece of crochet-edged linen, an embroidered chair back or two and a couple of nightdress cases. There is one damask tablecloth, with a small hole and some fraying at the ends - which has a handwritten laundry mark date of 1872. I'm hoping the little problems at the ends are the only issues as it looks to be a lovely cloth and at a wopping 13ft 4ins x 6ft 8ins I am hoping it will be OK to sell "as is" rather than having to launder (and iron) it! (As if I need more damask cloths - this afternoon I counted the ones I have on display at Semley and hardly dare tell you there are 38!!)
Some of the pillowcases have never been used. The auction house had cleared the house of a rather well-to-do lady and everything had been stored for years. I've had the washing machine on the go ever since I got home this evening, and have already started to iron the first load. Linen is always better ironed damp, so I can't stay chatting for long. I shall be putting some of it on the new website (getting there slowly!) and today at Semley I spent some time looking at my stock and deciding what will be going online.
Don't forget to leave a comment on yesterday's post if you want to be included in the draw for the giveaway. You have until about 9.00pm tomorrow to add your name. Gillie will be picking the winning name out of a basket and who knows ... it could be yooooouuuu!!!
3 comments:
Sounds as though you will be spending a lot of time doing the laundry, congratulations on your 100th post.
your going to be busy indeed, I hope you've got a good iron!:)
Cant wait for you to start your website!
Jennifer.x
I'm green with envy at your latest acquisition of linen!. I went to an auction last week where there were two lots of linen, one was disappointing and I didn't get the other. Shame. I don't envy you all that washing and starching and ironing though but doesn't it look lovely when it's done.
Post a Comment