Accession Number

E122.002

Description

Circular cotton doily with a scalloped, leaf-shaped edge. Punch work and whitework floral and ribbon designs on the body.

Narrative

This small doily is an example of punchwork embroidery, a technique completed with the use of a specialized awl called a stiletto or punch. Commonly used for details on cuffs, linens, and doilies, punchwork would be done by Victorian women in their leisure time. 

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

Embroidered