Accession Number

E122.001

Description

A white, square, linen tablecloth. Around the edge is a boarder of three lines of drawn work. Inside this is a floral design done in whitework with the centre of the smaller flowers done in punchwork and the leaves of the large flowers filled in with French knots.

Narrative

This whitework tablecloth is an excellent example of needlework techniques commonly used by upper class Victorian women in their leisure time. It features three different examples of drawn work, punch-work, and fine whitework surface embroidery with extensive use of French knots on the floral design. This tablecloth is recommended for the Education Collection, to demonstrate the type of work that was done with the needlework tools in the Castle’s six sewing boxes. It would be of particular use as an educational aid to specialty groups looking at more advanced techniques.

History of Use

This group of textiles originally belonged to Fanny Baird (nee May) of Honolulu. Born sometime in the 1850s in Newark on Trent, Nottinghamshire, she was brought to Honolulu with her brother, Tom May, by her uncle, Henry May, who along with business partner Sam Savage ran a successful grocery business specializing in English imports. When Henry May died in 1884 he left the business and an estate of $100 000 to his nephew Tom. Tom built a large house at the corner of Pensacola and Lunalilo Streets in Honolulu, where he lived until his death in 1910.  Fanny and her husband, William Baird lived in a smaller house on the Pensacola side of the property. These linens would have been purchased by Fanny while at this home. After Fanny’s death, they were passed to Tom’s daughter Vera. Her brother, Gerald Henderson May, moved to Vancouver Island after the First World War, a city he’d travelled through frequently as a child while travelling to England for schooling. He built the house Dunmora on the Saanich Peninsula. The textiles were passed to his family after Vera’s death and remained with his daughter until their donation to Craigdarroch Castle.

Date

1890

Material

Fabric, linen

Technique

Woven