Straw work Apron
c 1860

I have had a similar shaped straw work apron before but with different design. The straw work motifs were probably manufactured by Isler of Wohlen, Switzerland. This factory dominated the European market for straw work and supplied the Paris fashion houses. Straw thread was woven on handloom, probably silk warps in strips of varying wideths and embroidered with straw splints (strips of straw) in geometric and floral patterns. Straw work was in fashion for about a hundred years, from the second half of the 18th c. to about the 1870's. The V & A Museum in London has a piece displayed in the Textile Study Room T100-1992 pull out frame H19. Johnston, Lucy Nineteenth Century Fashion in Detailp 206. Here it states all straw motifs were probably made in Switzerland. France was the leading manufacturer of straw-decorated objects until the mid-19th c. See: Main, Veronica Swiss Straw Work - Techniques of a Fashion Industry

Cataloguing

for decorative wear, probably made in France or the Iberian peninsula, the black machine net ground applied with straw work flowers and fruits, embroidered with ivory silk outlines, two patch pockets with similar work, the waistband flaring out to lapet shape and with a bow midway to one tie, scalloped edges, 20 in d ; 50 cm.

Condition

Excellent amazingly. Clearly much treasured and wondered at.

Price: £450 | $720 | €560

Ref N°: 6750