Category Archive: Historic Textiles

Textile Inventory from 1844

In going through the old papers from my husband’s family, I have come across an inventory from 1844, from his great-great-great-grandfather’s estate. I don’t have the original, I am working from a Xerox… Continue reading

Public Domain Day

For Public Domain Day, I am bringing you some lovely textiles from our own Museum of Fine Arts Houston.  One thing I really love about their online collections, is that they put the… Continue reading

Sailmaker on Board

If you had asked me, “When did the Age of Sail end?” I would have thought about it a while, guessing that since steamboats were invented about 1803, sailing ships must have been… Continue reading

A Compendium of Sail Information

The most interesting thing to me about the Age of Sail is the textiles used to make the sails.  But as I have tried to find out more about them, I have been… Continue reading

Souvenirs from Washington

On our way to the Maryhill Museum of Art, we had time to meander and stop at little towns and scenic overlooks. In the historic district of Ellensburg, we had a delicious breakfast,… Continue reading

In Which I Get On My Soapbox Before a Young Antique Dealer…

…and he takes it with admirable grace. Last weekend we went to an antique festival in town.  My usual routine is to cruise through quickly, snapping up anything I know I want, and… Continue reading

Links, Online Resources, and Updates

From Current Reading I came across this article in GQ, and I felt so sorry for the author — after several life-stressing events, he felt like he had lost his identity.   His solution? … Continue reading

Christo’s Running Fence: Grand Vision and Detailed Execution

The Running Fence will bring out the contours of the Sonoma hills and the seashore, the changing of the weather. The Running Fence is a celebration of the landscape.  – Christo Working within… Continue reading

What Do Christo, Sally Field, and Carl Icahn Have in Common?

Even art-apathetic* people know a little something about the artist Christo. His large-scale landscape art projects like Running Fence, The Gates, and “that thing with the pink fabric floating all around those islands”… Continue reading

A Fruitful Small Business Saturday

I talked my husband into going out to some local antique shops on Small Business Saturday, and I made some great purchases! Let’s start with this top. Nice, but not too special, you… Continue reading