What IS this? Clothing?

Both of my grandmothers did a lot of different kinds of needlework. They made these items for the chairs and couches. I just thought they were called head and arm covers. I also learned a new word. They pinned them to the furniture. I do remember that but, their items were all made in the 40's & 50's.

 

Ha ha, you would probably agree with my Aunt Jean. She just looked at it and said, " You are all wrong, it is a bread/biscuit warmer wrap. I used them inside my baskets. " She's 91 so I will take her answer as gospel. Ha ha.

 

@David Askett - How long is across? Could it be for a love seat style sofa? The long part would hang down to protect the sofa & the other part would hang down the back to keep it in place. That part would be decorated because should anyone look behind the piece or if it sat out in the room that part would be pretty too.

 

Those usually have 4 sides to cover all sides of the bread or biscuits.

 

Probably, but you do not argue with a 91 year old southern belle. You just say " Yes Mam ".

 

It’s about 2’ long, which doesn’t seem big enough to fit a love seat. I could be wrong!

 

We moved to SC the first time in 1979 when I was 25. The first time someone said "yes mam" to me I about flipped out. I didn't understand how little children 3 &4 years old would always say yes mam or no mam. That was until I met someone with a little one who was just beginning to crawl & get into everything. This child was never just told no, it was always no mam. Then it dawned on me. They grow up thinking that yes mam or no sir is one word.

No that does not seem long enough & unless the chair was huge it would be too big for a single chair.

 

This was likely done in the 1950s/60s from a stamped embroidery kit. They are difficult to date due to the longevity of the craft and similar designs used for decades. I don't believe it to be more modern than that due to the linen used for the ground. Modern kits generally use a poly/cotton broadcloth and such kits are still made today. Several companies, like Jack Dempsey Needle Art, are apparently still going strong:



Your piece did bring to mind a bun warmer at first, but they generally have four flaps, not three, and the shape is off. It is most definitely not a collar. I've also not seen an antimacassar shaped quite like that but it's a possibility. (EDIT: Just read in a previous post that it's too big for that.) Curious!

 

They stopped using the off white fabric in the ...50s? I found those kits in a craft store into the 90s, so they're hard to date.

 

I bought a lace-edge bread warmer in Belgium, but it has pockets for the bread.

Macassar oil was used by men in the Victorian era to give their hair that lovely shine. Even into the 50s, men were using Brylcreem (a little dab'll do ya) to keep their hair in place so my mother was using anti-macassars that she had made back in the 20s or ones her older sister had made even earlier than that. She was born in 1909. They did come in sets of three because chairs in those days were stuffed and covered in plush or brocade. It also kept the arms from wearing out. Even today you find sofas and chairs with arm coverings in the same material, but back then it was fancy work.

I agree with Book that the style of embroidery on this and the colors make it more of a "modern" piece, 30s or even 40s or 50s.

As an aside, I still have trunkfuls of "soft" antiques so if anyone here decides they need pillowcases with crocheted edging or embroidered piano scarves or dresser scarves or anti-macassars, just let me know.

 

And 2 "FEET" long DOES seem a bit long for a bread basket, as well!!!

 

So, my guess is dresser or vanity scarf. I’m thinking of a vanity that might have a central 3-sided mirror where the “bulge” of the scarf would go. The butterfly would be right side up as that part of the scarf would cover the vanity/dresser top.

 

I go with dressing table scarf too. for one like this maybe?

 

It was not uncommon to enhance images of gold jewelry with gilt. I expect there has been some subsequent chemical reaction going on between the emulsion, the ground material , and the paint.

 

Great suggestion!

 

Looks like the pieces I learned embroidery on as a child and put in my "hopeless" chest. Were used to keep the oils and pomades on hair from staining the upholstery. They were easily washed, starched, and ironed to be used again and again. The elongated part went across the back of the chair and the center piece over the back so that the hand that was moving the chair slightly would not leave dirt and oils on the upholstery--at least that's how it was done at Grandma Huston's house.
Barbara

 

Interesting! I’d assumed the elongated piece went forward, to protect the chair back from oils on the sitter’s head, but if that was true the butterfly on my Macassar would be upside down. If the elongated piece goes to the back, though, as you suggest, then it will be right side up.

 

This is possibly a scarf that was used in a basket to cover rolls etc. they were often deocarative especially if it was to be a gift for someone. Just one more possibility.