Beautiful Things

My lovely orchid had dropped a bloom on the table, near to this wonderful hand embroidered 19th century whitework hankerchief which arrived in the post yesterday....and I had to play for a while.
This kind of embroidery is a favourite of mine, and I never cease to wonder at the amount and quality of the work.
They rest on the cover of my workbook, which is a 19th century ledger...the cover of which is a work of art in itself.

Conversations with Garments

At last I have been able to get down to the studio, now the horrible fluey-thing has gone, but just to do some photography of a few more antique garments which are going onto ebay this week....this is how I fund the studio and my artwork.
I thought that the clothes look as if they are having conversations with each other....the sideways ones that is....but perhaps I am being too fanciful!

The padded silk Kimono is from the early 1900s and is in very poor condition, but still very handsome and interesting....it is in conversation with one of my art-dresses.

The Edwardian Opera Cape is in much better condition, and I am in two minds whether to sell it or not....the trouble is that once I take a photograph of something that I have had for a long while, it seems to look different, and the cape looks lovely next to the art dress too...but I only have a certain amount of space, so there are several considerations.