When it was my birthday two years ago, 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 two of my Dewhurst's Sylko Light Pomegranate reels of cotton which date from between 1938 and 1954. The two spools sit on some vintage pale pink satin and are interwoven with some antique ribbon embroidred with pink three week clover leaves. The spools are also accesorised by a dusky pink satin rose and a beautiful German Art Deco half-doll.
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 has a bare torso and is holding a fan, so she would have been made for a lady’s boudoir and was most likely the topper for a jewellery box or powder bowl. She stands at one and three-quarter inches in height and has been hand painted. When I bought her, she was covered in a rather sticky layer of dust, probably accumulated over many years, however a lovely soak in a soapy bath and a soft toothbrush scrub quickly removed the grime and brought back her pale, gleaming beauty.
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.