1761 Flame-stitched Needlework Tablecloth
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APPRAISER:
When you unwrapped this from a, a layer of two quilts, I was astonished. Do you know why?
GUEST:
No, I don't.
APPRAISER:
(laughs) Okay. I'd like to hear from you what you know about this.
GUEST:
Well, this is a, a tablecloth, I believe, they call it. It was made in, in 1761 by a relative of mine, a Dutch young woman who lived in Millstone, New Jersey, which is north of New Brunswick. My mother inherited it. When she inherited it, it was rolled up into a brown piece of paper, it was rolled onto a cardboard roll, and it remained in our living room closet for, I would imagine, almost 20 years before I inherited it. This is a flame-stitch tablecloth, which must have taken many, many hours to accomplish. There is an inscription on the top of it that says, "This tablecloth was made by Elisabeth van Deursen in 1761." There's another inscription that says, "How vain are all these worldly pleasures, created beauty cannot last. Time diminishes at leisure what human hands have formed and cast." So, it's kind of a heavy inscription.
APPRAISER:
(chuckles)
GUEST:
But it is a beautiful piece of handwork. And it is, unfortunately, beginning to fade away, but we can still have the pleasure of seeing it.
APPRAISER:
I can tell you, I've never seen a, a needlework tablecloth myself, personally. In my experience, they're very rare, and one would expect that to be the case, because they received a lot of wear and tear-- they're on top of a table.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
So, things could have been spilled on them just through use. I think a lot of them have vanished into obscurity. In this particular instance, Elisabeth learned her lessons well, because the expertise shown in this is very consistent. I mean, this is a typical of a center-panel, flame-stitch pattern, which is seen in both English and American needlework, and I think these were made in England and America. But, but the specific history surrounding this piece points to America, which is very exciting. So, this flame-stitch panel is composed of this repeated design. All the colors in this are derived from nature-- vegetable dyes-- so, as a result, they're very fugitive. So you said that it's fading. There's so much life left in this. And the thing that struck me very quickly was just how bright and beautiful it still is. It's not complicated, but very effective as a result. And I believe this border that we see around it are stylized... I believe they're supposed to be carnation blossoms. That often appears in early English and American needlework. There are a couple of areas in the piece which were darned by somebody. Does anybody darn anymore? I don't know. So, in my estimation, it's one of the great American rarities, as far as needlework is concerned, that has somehow survived in miraculously good condition. So, at auction I would estimate its value between $30,000 and $50,000. It's very special.
GUEST:
Gracious.
APPRAISER:
And we're, we're at Winterthur, so I can say in the premises that this is definitely of museum quality. There's no doubt about it.
GUEST:
Gracious! Well, my wife and I have sometimes been disappointed that our daughter hasn't learned to appreciate antiques as much as we do. But this appraisal will, I think, help her with her appreciation.
APPRAISER:
It, it should help.
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