"'Tis strange, 'tis very strange," soliloquised the Rev. Mr. Bland, as he paced the room with great agitation, and his venerable and usually placid countenance exhibited traces of feverish anxiety........

~~~~Above is an exerpt from 'The Broken Heart'...one of the many stories in my 1830 Monthly Museum that I was so inspired to read from today. I have done a bit of cleaning, and while setting a new c1830 vingette here in the Museum, I was all the while contemplating who the precious souls were who originally once filled the sillouettes that I was primping and petting.


~~~~ Shown is a wonderful late 1830s embroidered blue silk day gown for a little girl, oh...mabey 5 or 6 years old, shown together with a gorgeous cream silk bonnet drawn over wide whalebone canes.....its most likely closer to 1838-9ish, but fits with this gown nicely~ its original papered bandbox can be seen on the floor to the left, and to the right, part of a c1825-9 white linen pelisse (coat) with blue piping~ this fit for a girl age 9 or 10.

c1835-45 Childs shoes
Arent these just the sweetest lil shoes!! Made of forrest green kid leather, with cutouts backed with seafoam green silk and contrasting stitching, together with gathered silk trim on the throats. Sized for a 3-4 year old, they are in remarkable condition. Actually, I have not ever seen a pair of slippers with silk backed cutouts like these, in a childs size, other than my own here. Many hours were spent by the cobbler making these for some special, very wealthy child. One can only spend a day dreaming of what special occasions these were worn to, and what the little angel was wearing to go with them!
I LOVE shoes

Welcome! It has come time for me to finally try and keep up with these modern times. I dont know if I will be any good at this blogging thing, but I will try! I hope you will keep checking back~ here is where I plan to post all museum news, exciting new acquisitions, bits of history, and of coarse what all the happenings are with Diamond K Folk Art.
Above is a very special & precious ensemble, modeled by one of the best human mannequins on the earth, my 5 yr old, Emma. As a normal, I do NOT condone the wearing of antique garments by ANYONE. Especially pieces prior to the 1850's, which are exceedingly rare. For this photo, little Emma was dressed in all period undergarments, with particular attention to movement, as to not stress any seams.
This intance is particularly special, as it is rare for me to have an entire wardrobe gathered from different sources, that, at that time, actually fit one of my 4 children. The plush winter poke bonnet is c1836, with undercap of spotted and puffed mull, c1825. Dress & petticoats gold lustring silk, c1830-35, and gorgeous white spencer jacket & attached pelerine, 1836. Emma holds a wonderful hand painted American basket purse, c1830-35