17th c Inspirations

Thomas Trevilian & the Folger Shakespeare Digital Library

 Instead of a Museum Monday post today of something from my collection, I thought I would share  a wonderful online resource that is a great study source and  the inspiration for my latest slide top spool box. Thomas Trevilian was born around 1548, his book the Trevelyon Miscellany was published in 1608,. and another work in 1616, so he was at least alive until then. The Tevelyon Miscellany is an absolutely beautiful manuscript ~ to quote the World Cat,  " The third part of the manuscript contains edifying and cautionary verses, with illustrations, on the Twelve Degrees of the World, the Five Alls, the Ten Commandments, the Nine Worthies, the Nine Muses, the Seven Deadly Sins, the Seven Virtues, the Seven Liberal Sciences, and the Twelve Apostles; as well as figures important to Protestant history, the six Gunpowder Plot traitors; Pagan, Jewish and Christian heroes; additional parables, proverbs, and lists of virtues and vices accompanied by scriptural and secular verses"

My favorite part of his work is the embroidery patterns. Within you will find hand drawn patterns for caps and borders, as well as all over repeating patterns for cushions and clothing. They are in infinite source of inspiration, and one can literally spend hours upon hours studying them. So where can you see this amazing work? You need not get out of your chair, thanks to the generosity of the Folger Shakespeare Library~  they not only have Thomas' works, but a myriad of other early and rare books you would probably never have the opportunity to see otherwise, all  happily contained in a large searchable database you can find here . (this link will open the Thomas Trevilian search results for you)

The above page is a pattern that spoke to me, and that inspired the slide top spool box that I finished up today and hope to have on eBay tomorrow.  I am really excited to share it~ so many of my favorite things, all wrapped up in one beautiful box! Until then tho, do have fun~ grab a cup of tea and go check out the Library link obove

Museum Monday

c1750 Baby Bonnet

 This summer's (rather sporadic) Museum Monday is a charming baby bonnet from the mid 18th c, 745.2013.63.  It is a deaccession from the Met's costume collection, and I am honored to be its keeper. One sees so many white baby caps...if you are 'into' early baby clothes, usually all one can see stretching endlessly in front of them is a sea of whites~ white gowns, nappys, caps, bonnets, breeches, petticoats~ everything is white....so it seems....but in truth, early childrens and infant's clothing was quite colorful.  This blue and salmon color combination was a favorite in the 18th C.

 Bonnet is made of an outside layer of thin tissue silk or lustring, and lined inside in a thick napped wool. The construction is somewhat unique, being made up of 5 tapered segments. I have seen a handful of segmented baby bonnets, none of which have a definitive date attached with them. The Met estimated this one's date to be between 1750-60. (I have yet to find reference to a segmented baby bonnet in early fashion plates, tho I have found womens day caps with somewhat similar segmentation in an 1805 fashion plate).  Hand made silk fly braid trim covers the seams of each segment.

 The center crown ends in a large loupe of fly braid ~ not quite making a full pom, but still a nice finish that trembles about then the cap is moved. 

  Fly fringe is made by knotting strands of filament silk, cutting the ends to make little tufts, and then working the tufts of knotted silk into a braid or woven tape trim. There are salmon colored tufts and white & navy blue stripe tufts to coordinate perfectly with the blue and salmon colored silks of the cap.

 The face edge is trimmed in box pleated loosely woven silk gauze

Inside the cap is lined with wool. The nap has been brushed up and left slightly long making for a super buttery soft cushion for baby's head. The same segmented construction is on the inside lining, as the outside. Face and neck edges are bound in skye blue silk to finish. 

Summer Greetings

From Yellowstone National Park

  I hope you all are having a wonderful summer(or winter!). I have been so busy this summer~ we just returned from a trip to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, so thought I would share some pictures with ya'll. It takes us 2 days to drive to the Park from here in southern Colorado. While husband and children think its 'boring', I find it quite enjoyable. Looking over the plains to the east as far as the eye can see its easy for me to understand why my Grandma Tressa didn't like visiting Washington from Kansas...(.there were too many trees for her and she felt too closed in.) I think its beautiful.

  We always spend our first night in Thermopolis, Wy. Its a really neat little place, they have the world's largest mineral hot spring in town, and just outside of town, we stayed at the Fountain of Youth R.V. Park. (above) You can see the hot mineral springs here~ all natural~ in the early 1900s, they were actually drilling for oil right behind where I took the picture from, and hit this hot thermal spring~ the water comes out of the spring 130 degrees f, and flows at a rate to completely replace all the water in the 3 large cooling pools  every 11 hours.  Not only did husband and children enjoy all afternoon, but they had to have one more hot dip in the morning before we left.

 Also in Thermopolis is the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. Its a little gem of a place~ they have one of the largest assembled dinosaur fossils in the US, and if you want to dig around and find an actual fossil, you can go on a day dig~ its all on their website. This little cutie was my favorite of all the fossils there... a bird called Phamphorhynchus sp. , 150 million years old from the late Jurassic period...if you look closely at the beak, just look at all those teeth!!!!  Something tells me it probably didnt eat nuts......

  Walking amongst the assembled fossils really makes one feel small and very insignificant

  Yellowstone is beautiful any time of year, but early spring is wonderful because everyone has their babies out frolicking. Baby buffalo are referred to as 'red dogs' because they are so red.  (There was still snow in the upper elevations while we were there). I love the buffalo, they are my favorite part of visiting the park.

  Second favorite, is Old Faithful Inn.  No...not Old Faithful Geyser, but the Inn itself.  I love it and if they ever had a winter program to be the closed in Innkeeper, IM THERE! 

   Just aside the Inn is Hamilton's Store~ my absolute favorite building, because the front and porch is composed entirely out of natural knotts and burls. 

  We stayed in Madison campground, and mama elk had their new little babies out aside the river. Elk babies have spots just like deer do~ soooooo cute.

 Every day we got to see some Buffalo~ they roam peacefully around the park....but just before we got there, we heard on the radio, some idiot extraordinaire tried to pet one on the boardwalk and got head butted and sent to hospital. Rangers said their havent been any gorings yet this year, but its still early and there are always a few, so REALLY...HONEST~ the animals in Yellowstone are wild creatures~ its not a zoo...they are not tame pets!!!!  

 Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone...spectacular, no picture could ever reproduce being there

  This is above Tower Fall, getting up into the Lamar Valley...hello...Beautiful! Wish you were here!

 Old Faithful Geyser~ just as Grande as ever

 Coming home thru Grand Tetons National Park.  If you have never been to Yellowstone, I highly recommend!