Embroider my World Lotus Blue
When it was my birthday two years agp, a very dear friend who enjoys photography as much as I do, and knows that I collect beautiful and vintage pieces, gave me a wonderful selection of antique ribbons, buttons, buckles, lace and other fine notions. She also gave me three follow up tins of similar delightful gifts for Christmas.
Those wonderful gifts are what has inspired me to create this series of "Embroider my World" images featuring my vintage bobbin collection. In this case I am using three of my Dewhurst's Sylko Lotus Blue reels of cotton: the larger of which, on the darker wooden spool with the black and gold label, dates from between 1909 and 1938, and the smaller two featuring the name as well as the shade number which date from between 1938 and 1954. The three spools sit atop some pale blue floral patterned lace and are accessorised by some vintage floral appliques, some vintage embroidered floral ribbon, an Art Deco glass button, a sterling silver thimble with an enamelled cap from 1930 and a beautiful German Art Deco half-doll with bobbed hair dressed in blue.
The "half-doll" is a dainty porcelain or bisque figurine, fashionable in the early Twentieth Century with an upper body, head, arms, but no legs. These dolls were produced in the thousands at the height of their popularity by German factories such as Dressel and Kister, Heubach, Goebel and Kestner. Later they were produced in France, America and later still, in Japan. They commonly served as handles and toppers for fabric covers made for powder boxes on ladies’ dressing tables and small brushes, however they were also made for jewellery boxes, pincushions, tea cosies and other covers. In this case, my German half-doll is decorated in fashionable contemporary (for the time) Art Deco style dress with an Eaton Crop hairdo. I imagine that she would have been made for a lady’s boudoir and was most likely the topper for a powder bowl or even a powder puff. She has been hand painted.
Belle Vue Mill, commonly known as Dewhurst’s, was built by Thomas Dewhurst in 1828. It opened in 1829 as John Dewhurst & Sons and was one of Skipton’s largest spinning and weaving mills. The mill’s position next to the Leeds Liverpool Canal meant that raw cotton could be shipped in by boats from Liverpool. Finished goods would then be sent back the same way ready for distribution. Coal to power the machine’s steam engines was also delivered by barge. In 1897 Dewhurst’s was bought by the English Sewing Cotton Co. It continued to produce Sylko, one of the mill’s most famous products. It was produced in over 500 colours and sold throughout the world. Sylko cottons are still available at haberdashers today.
Embroider my World Lotus Blue
When it was my birthday two years agp, a very dear friend who enjoys photography as much as I do, and knows that I collect beautiful and vintage pieces, gave me a wonderful selection of antique ribbons, buttons, buckles, lace and other fine notions. She also gave me three follow up tins of similar delightful gifts for Christmas.
Those wonderful gifts are what has inspired me to create this series of "Embroider my World" images featuring my vintage bobbin collection. In this case I am using three of my Dewhurst's Sylko Lotus Blue reels of cotton: the larger of which, on the darker wooden spool with the black and gold label, dates from between 1909 and 1938, and the smaller two featuring the name as well as the shade number which date from between 1938 and 1954. The three spools sit atop some pale blue floral patterned lace and are accessorised by some vintage floral appliques, some vintage embroidered floral ribbon, an Art Deco glass button, a sterling silver thimble with an enamelled cap from 1930 and a beautiful German Art Deco half-doll with bobbed hair dressed in blue.
The "half-doll" is a dainty porcelain or bisque figurine, fashionable in the early Twentieth Century with an upper body, head, arms, but no legs. These dolls were produced in the thousands at the height of their popularity by German factories such as Dressel and Kister, Heubach, Goebel and Kestner. Later they were produced in France, America and later still, in Japan. They commonly served as handles and toppers for fabric covers made for powder boxes on ladies’ dressing tables and small brushes, however they were also made for jewellery boxes, pincushions, tea cosies and other covers. In this case, my German half-doll is decorated in fashionable contemporary (for the time) Art Deco style dress with an Eaton Crop hairdo. I imagine that she would have been made for a lady’s boudoir and was most likely the topper for a powder bowl or even a powder puff. She has been hand painted.
Belle Vue Mill, commonly known as Dewhurst’s, was built by Thomas Dewhurst in 1828. It opened in 1829 as John Dewhurst & Sons and was one of Skipton’s largest spinning and weaving mills. The mill’s position next to the Leeds Liverpool Canal meant that raw cotton could be shipped in by boats from Liverpool. Finished goods would then be sent back the same way ready for distribution. Coal to power the machine’s steam engines was also delivered by barge. In 1897 Dewhurst’s was bought by the English Sewing Cotton Co. It continued to produce Sylko, one of the mill’s most famous products. It was produced in over 500 colours and sold throughout the world. Sylko cottons are still available at haberdashers today.