This past week, as a “mystery object,” I have featured a small case on the front page of our website. I found this item to purchase recently, in a small New Hampshire town whose name I cannot remember.

As is usually the case, textiles are often undervalued. By that, I mean they are not assigned much value by sellers, and are considered common perhaps because they are not “fine art.” Most antique dealers don’t know beans about them. That can be an advantage to the buyer, in some instances.

My story continues. When I spotted this embroidered linen item, I surmised, from the way that the embroidery stitches were executed, that it dated to the 19th century. A ballpark “circa” date would be 1895. I could also see that it appears as fresh and clean as the day it was constructed. The case represents a lot of work, including the handmade buttonholes worked with a shiny thread that I assume to be silk. Intrigued as to its intended purpose, I turned to my readers for their suggestions, and I also queried members of my outline stitch embroidery list.

Here’s what they said:

1) The little case might have been made to hold hankies, or embroidered table centerpieces, or doilies. With the configuration of the case being round, any of these items could have been rolled to store them inside.

2) The case could have been part of a wedding trousseau, a decorative gift item.

3) This could be a holder for gloves.

4) The case might have been used to carry a comb and a brush.

5) Perhaps, lingerie was stored in the case.

(Actually, I think it is too small for that purpose, as it is only about 10″ long).

6) Maybe it held a scented pillow, something to carry along when traveling.

Additional suggestions:

7) a hosiery holder

a jewelry holder

9) a sewing tote

10) a case to hold hair ribbons

11) a small case for mending, while traveling

The idea of this case having been used as a travel accessory had crossed my mind already. That answer seems have been right under my nose, all along. The word “traveling” caused me to remember carrying cases that the Canterbury Shakers made to give to Sisters at Sabbathday Lake, Maine. When Jim and I visited the site, to take photos and gather more information to write an article we did for magazine, we were shown two of these bags.

A photo that shows one of these carriage bags can be seen on our website. I am more and more convinced that the antique bag I found to purchase is either Shaker-made, or is based on the basic design of the Shaker Carriage Bag.

The circular embroidery that adorns each end, and the embroidery around the perimeter of the other straight edges, is a clue that leads to that conclusion. The shape of the bag is another clue, although if I remember correctly, the closures for the Shaker bags we saw were quite different. It is curious that the same initial/monogram “H” appears on both bags.

What is a little baffling is that while there are two Shaker communities in New Hampshire (these are now museums in Enfield and in Canterbury), the antique shop is not in close proximity to either of them. Of course, people do move, and the item was created more than a century ago, so I guess anything is possible. I just feel very lucky to have spotted this treasure amid other less desirable textiles that had been thrown into a basket.

To see the Shaker carriage bag, please visit our file: .

We will never know, with certainty, the origins or the wanderings of the little bag still shown on our website, but there is a certain joy in making these kinds of potential connections.

Enjoy the weekend!

Pat

This entry was posted on Friday, October 5th, 2007 at 11:38 pm and is filed under , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.