There are a lot of antique needlework items to be found for sale on the internet, flea markets, and antique markets. And while I would love to collect all of them, I try to limit my selection to items that are un-usual, or that have a personal touch to them.
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| 1837 French embroidered picture |
This is the
latest addition to my private collection, it’s a French religious embroidery of
a bare footed woman kneeling by an altar. An interesting detail in the picture is a pair of
shackles that are hanging on the wall behind her.
Is she doing her communion,
or taking her vows as a nun ?
Her name
was Adelaide, and the date on the picture is the 7th of September
1837.
Around the
picture are the words ‘Le temps est maître de tout il n'est rien dont il ne
vienne a bout’
It
translates as : ‘Time is master of all, and there is nothing that does not
come to an end’.
The
embroidery is very fine, worked in tiny, tiny cross stitches. The frame is old, the picture is dirty and faded, but that is to be expected in a needlework
item that is over 178 years old.
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| Adelaide, le 7 September 1837 |
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| Notice the tiny stitches |
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Garden news
It’s autumn
and time to bring in my plants one at a time, I do keep my eyes on the weather
report as the first frost will mean the end of the gardening season and a rush
to bring every flowering plant indoor.
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| Busy-Lizzies cuttings, and parsley to be frozen for winter use. |
Busy-Lizzies
(Impatiens walleriana) are not so
well adapted to the Norwegian climate and do not do too good indoor either, so
every year I take some cuttings and let them take roots over the winter. It’s a
simple way of having plenty of plants for the next year, without the
inconvenience of having to protect and store large plants over the winter
months.
Every year
I plant Pansies, sometime here, sometime there, I usually let the plants die
out on their own and many go to seed, so it is only natural that once in a
while you get surprise ‘bonus’ flowers. This year I had notice several small Pansy plants growing in different places, so I left them in peace and to my delight I’ve had yellow, purple and white pansies popping up in many
unexpected places.
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| Little bonus Pansies in a Perlagonia pot |
Beautiful piece of stitchery - but cross stitch is not my thing! I've done it, but only when I absolutely needed to! Lovely addition to your collection though. Loved the idea of keeping plants going with cuttings - and the unexpected sproutings of those you'd forgotten about. Happy planting1
ReplyDeleteI love tiny stitching! I need to send you a pic of the petit-point on linen family portrait I made when Chantal was born.
ReplyDelete