Tags
antique buttons, Antique embroidery, Antique script, Aubusson Cartoon, Flea Market, French curiosities
This week I thought I’d show you some of the things I love to collect…
I’ve been collecting antique French letters for several years…
Here’s one of my latest letters adding a bit of pedigree to faux
stack of old books…
I wanted the look of stacks of old books to add some visual height to a cabinet.
So I took the glossy covers of a stack of old SAT, etc, prep books that I was going
to recycle, and brushed a few shades of cream on their outer edges, tied them up
with gardeners twine. Close up, they don’t look bad. On the top of the cabinet…
even better…
I searched for 18th century script…but fell in love with the more swooping
and looping style of the first decade or so of the 19th century…
I looked for words and letters that popped out from the neat rows of script…
My heart skipped a beat when I found this 19th century “Aubusson cartoon”…
Cartons de Tapisserie d’Aubusson are oil paintings on canvas that preceded the
creation of an aubusson rug or tapestry. Schools of artists copied classical elements
from master paintings, wools and silk were dyed to match the painting and
then weavers copied it…
Against the somewhat dingy background the aqua, vert, rose, and blue and white petals glow…
Painted full size, either with gouache (an opaque watercolor) on paper, or oil on canvas,
cartons are also important as archival material. As tapestries woven from the mid-18th century
with wools coloured by chemical ingredients have faded with time, « cartons » are now the
only true representation of how tapestries looked when being made. More here
Love the theatrical drapery, garlands of flowers,
stylized swirl of acanthus…
From the same dealer, an 18th century French embroidered piece of silk…
This triangular scrap (about 28 inches by 22″) might have
upholstered the side of a bergere once…
Up close…stitches and bright chenille from over 200 years ago….
Not to be confused with your grandmother’s chenille bedspread,
Additional info on 18th century chenille embroidery here
As much as I love antique embroidered silk
It’s a relief to enjoy antique and vintage linens…
They’re washable, dye-able, sturdy…
Besides stacks of humble grain sack pillows, my new favorites are initialed
French linen chemises and sheets that were probably folded neatly for
decades into an armoir….
Buttons…
Loved this Anthropologie jacket…but not
thrilled with its buttons…
Some other options….
Antique French buttons…
Found at the Alameda Flea market from
a dealer with a San Francisco antique store
that sporadically appears at the flea…
I bought these buttons last year on Ebay France…
Can be a little challenging on one’s high school French…
Luckily we have Tongue in Cheek ‘s boutique here and
Mélanie for Le Petit Cabinet de Curiosités just opened
her online boutique here for fresh from France treasures…
Buttons above available from Mélanie here
More of my flea market buttons
still in their crisp tissue wrapping…
And an idea for using them…
this was on 1stdibs last year
at Sarlo
To be continued…
Bonjour Trish, I love your post and what I see by reading it you talk about me. Thank you. I’m going to put more buttons. I love them so much.
Bisous
LOVE this post Trish! Now I know what to do with all those old SAT, LSATand GRE study exam books……it turned out great! Love all your collections….the fabrics, calligraphy, buttons, rhinestones…. and always your exquisite taste!
Have a great day….it’s snowing again! 😦
Laura
absolutely beautiful. and ideas we can use. you are wonderful and you fill each post with such inspiration. thanks!
Trish,
With open mouth I was looking to this post! Absolutely beautiful! I love everything! You are amazing!! I would love to come over to you to see all these beauties!!! Unfortunately you live so far away… I go to look again and again to this post………….
xx
Greet
Trish…always seeing things as they “could be” and not so much as they are now…..great recycling of the old prep books! I am major jealous over the aubusson cartoon…..glad it is in your hands though as someone who actually knows what it is! Great post!!!
Theresa…as an artist you must know this…it’s virtually impossible to throw things out! Those prep books have been piled up waiting to be recycled for weeks…but there was something about them….!!!
Fantastic letters, what a wonderful idea of collection!The Aubusson cartoon is incredible!
Thank you Bridget…love your flower paintings here! You are so talented!
All this wonder and buttons, too? Lyrically beautiful. Buttons are a talisman in my family. I view them as tiny scuptures. Yours are delicious!
Your post was exceptional. I read it over and over. To find an Aubusson cartoon is in itself wonderful but to find such a beautiful one was such a treasure. The embroidered piece of silk and the chenille were stunning. I, too, love buttons and I loved the idea for displaying some of them. Thank you for sharing
Wow Trish, what amazing finds! I love the Aubusson cartoon, a truly beautiful work of art, and such a wonderful reference piece for the genre. The buttons are incredible. What is it about buttons? They are like so much treasure. I remember the many happy hours my sisters and I spent trawling through my mother’s button box when we were children.
A real pleasure to scroll through all your beautiful pictures on such a cold winter day, thanks! Lois xxx
Hi Lois! In addition to her blog Morgaine Le Fay Antique Textles, textile lovers should know that Lois has an Ebay store here.
That cartouche makes my mouth water!
Trish,
I adore your button collection…you have a good eye! Beautiful textiles as well, the 200 yr old chenille looks like some needlepoint I did as a girl!
xoxo
I was lucky enough to get a lovely Aubusson cartoon on eBay a few weeks ago and adore yours as well. Thank you so much for the link to the informative site about them.
I haven’t had a chance to say it before, but I thoroughly enjoy your blog. So many beautiful and inspiring things! Hopefully, we’ll bump into each other at Alameda someday.
That cartoon makes me drool and I love love love the buttons! You have such a wonderful eye! I so enjoy seeing the world through it when I read your blog.
Everything you post about is so devastatingly beautiful I could cry.~xo
Oh Trish, I love all your finds ~ how beautiful.
I adore the fabulous Aubusson carton and the script of the French letters, what a great collection.
Just looked again and saw the buckles. Lovely and the buttons, two things I really love too.
Happy week
Hugs
Carolyn
Hi, Trish. Thank you so much for the lovely email you sent me. I, of course, had to visit you immediately and found that, yes, we do share a love for many of the same things. I’ll be back very soon! All the best ~LeAnn
Stunning post, Trish. I love them all from the captivating cartoon to the recycled SAT books. You are indeed a girl with an eye for beauty. ~jermaine~
I recently bought two gorgeous cartons. Would love ideas on how to display them if I want to frame/hang them. Any ideas? Thanks so much! A gorgeous post as always.
Trish — the cartoon is phenomenal and the scrap of embroidery, to me, even more so…And ALL the buttons were fab but I like the ones you got in Paris best. Thanks for putting together such visual decadence!
Those are some pretty buttons. Just stumbled upon your site. Very, very nice. Beautiful photos.
I love your photos, especially the buttons. I have some antique shoe buckles that would look lovely in an antique frame or perhaps something very modern. I have been to Paris a couple of times and love anything french. I live in a french speaking provence in Canada and I love the culture. I will go to more flea markets the next time I go and see what treasures I can find. I also have the jacket you posted but in gold. Anthropologie??? and I wear it all of the time. I love your post.
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