In 1886, Grover Cleveland, the 22nd President of the United States, was in office. R. L. Stevenson wrote “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor on October 28th. John S. Pemberton first introduced Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia. And this table cloth was made.
Aunt Nancy is my husband’s great, great aunt and this table cloth was discovered in her attic. His family knows I love and appreciate antiques, especially family pieces, so they gave it to me.
Can you imagine how long this lace work took to make? I’m impatient when I’m waiting for my pictures to load, so I can write a post. I would’ve had a tough time finishing a project like this.
“Things of quality have no fear of time”
This table cloth is evidence of that.
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41 Responses
What a find. That tablecloth is definitely a treasure, one that you will cherish always. how nice that they thought of you when they found it. You must be honored.
Beautiful. So sweet of your family to think of you!
LOVELY! lovely, wonderful acquisition. It is a very delicate and rare nowadays.Please, sorry for my English, correct me if necessary. Hugs,Fatima-Scrapart.
How lucky you are! I love to be surrounded by things from the past, especially when they are from your own family. They have a special feel to them of comfort, home and love ~
How sweet they knew you would treasure it.
Enjoy today!
Sarah
Wow you are a lucky girl! It's gorgeous!
That is stunning! My great grandmother crocheted tablecloths and told me when I graduated that she would make me one "after" her current work for my grandma (her daughter). Sadly she passed away that summer. When I see these treasures, I smile in memory of her.
Enjoy it so much,
Mikal
What a wonderful treasure. I have several pieces made by my grandmother way back in the early 1900's. My mom said since TV wasn't invented yet, my grandmother and her sisters would sit on the front porch and crochet things for their hope chests. They would embellish pillow cases, washcloths, make bedcovers, aprons, etc. They learned very young and did this for several years. The intricate lace is amazing to me and can't fathom making something so time consuming. It is definitely a lost art.
How beautiful! It is rather a lost art. None of us slow down long enough to do any of these things. Very pretty!
I'm again wondering why no one in my family has an attic…..
What a special item to have, interesting quote, I don't know if I have heard it before. Certainly true. My grandmother made many things like this and it amazed me, the time and patience it must have taken.
Janell
Beautiful work! What a treasure to be given. Jackie
Beautiful tablecloth. How lucky they passed it on to you. My grandmothers were the same way with me – knew I would take care of the family things, so they gave me things before they passed away. I suppose it gave them some comfort knowing the pieces would be taken care of and loved.
My mom has a gorgeous tablecloth similar to yours, but no spaces filled with cloth. We've enjoyed many holidays with it, and I hope to get it one day.
Allison
Atticmag
How truly beautiful! And it's so sparkling white. My goodness. I wonder how it was stored… wrapped in tissue paper? You certainly have some sweet relatives who knew how much you would appreciate this heirloom piece.
Have a great Wednesday!
Karen
Ladybug Creek
Beautiful
This is, indeed, a wonderful and beautiful treasure you were gifted.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Did you leave a message or two on my giveaway post? The drawing is on Friday night..:)
It's stunning work! Lovely that they gave it to the right person in the family.
Di
"things of quality have no fear of time"… PENETRATES on so many levels…
How beautiful! What patience she must have had. Of course there were no blogs to keep up with back then. If I didn't have so many great blogs to read, I could probably get a lot more done. 🙂
It's beautiful! Love the ribbon detail on it.Or what she made to look like ribbon. Reminds me of the work my Nonna from Italy used to do years ago.
Beautiful. What a treasure to keep in the family!
this is so exquisite! You get the best stuff Marian, just glad you are the kind of lady that appreciates the history and work of it all 🙂
What a treasure, so beautiful!
This is so beautiful. Wow the history, how great they passed it to you!
Wow– what a lucky find; and in such beautiful condition! How wonderful they gave it to you! It's gorgeous.
What a find! I wish I had some relatives with attics!
Both of my grandmothers crocheted and I have lovely doilies etc. that they made.
I know all too well how long it takes to make something like that.
If I really buckle down, I can knit a pair of socks in a month…
Time consuming, but lots of fun.
Oh goodness it's beautiful! I can't imagine the time/effort it'd take for such a dainty piece!! Love it!
~Terrell @ FrouFrouDecor~
You're killin' me! You come from a l-o-n-g line of artisans.
The hand made lace is lovely. I think today we are all too wrapped up in our business to do a lot of hand work. Sitting and tatting or crocheting or quilting were social times. The hands were never idle, and neither was the social discourse!
Oh my word, this is just gorgeous. I love it. So pretty. What a wonderful treasure to have. Hugs, Marty
My home is full of items that other family members considered too old or out of date. The family heritage is lost on them. I treasure these items and have been teaching my children to do the same. It's important to remember to use them, not just display them. Our grandmothers would have wanted it that way.
Oh my! what a great item to have in your possesion!
That's art, without a doubt. Simply beautiful.
As I grow older, I have such an appreciation for lovely things. The funny thing is, I am not a pack rat! I will quickly get rid of my things, too! (I wish I could say this was from some great virtue, but has more to do with discontentment!) That being said, I so appreciate the pieces that have a story in one's family. This is so lovely and I am seeing in my head all the wonderful places you will use it! I just retrieved an 1800's fireplace mantel from my pop's house when he was a boy…one of thirteen children! Come see at http://threepixielane.blogspot.com/2010/07/1800s-fireplace-mantle.html! Thanks for sharing your treasure! So lovely!
What a treasure it is!!
That tablecloth is absolutely gorgeous and so YOU and it looks so nice on the dark brown top of your table. I crochet what I think are nice doilies for friends and accents and my daughter doesn't want anything to do with them. Can I adopt you? 🙂
x0x0
Nancy
Just absolutely gorgeous!!! How blessed you are that your family has great things like that and that they would share them with you!
It is absolutely gorgeous! It is great that you know the year it was made and by whom. My maternal grandmother had amazing patience when it came to crocheting and I have several of the pieces she created. She taught me how to knit and crochet but I have not really done much with the knowledge other than to practice every once in a while so that I do not forget.
~ Tracy
i can't imagine the time spent! it's so beautiful priceless. glad that it was passed to you.
i think if we lived with/closer to family & friends sitting together and doing such while talking would be awesome… i often wish i was born in a different era- but then again, God knows what he's doing and i'm probably much too lazy to survive back in the day :O)
That is beautiful! How great that it was found and passed on to you.
Wow, how precious. It is hard to believe that someone actually made that! And even more exciting that it is a relative. Thanks for sharing.
Brittany
http://www.prettyhandygirl.com
Oh, swoooooooooooon!