Elmsley Rose: Price of Reproduction Embroidery, Example

19 February 2012

Price of Reproduction Embroidery, Example

Wow - the second post in a day!

I came across this .....

http://www.carolescountry.com/Artisans/AA_ItemsForSale_2010_01/AA_PamGill/AAPG001.html

One of a Kind 18th Century Reproduced Queen Stitched Ladies Pocketbook by Pam Gill $1250. This extraordinary one of a kind piece has been exquisitely reproduced. All hand done in the "queen" stitch, required months of tedious work, and has resulted in this lovely reproduction of an 18th century ladies pocketbook. The original ladies pocketbook can be seen in the Time Life American Country Series, entitled The Needle Arts book, page 26. I have included a photo of the original as seen in this book. The queen stitch was mainly used for small items during the 18th - 19th centuries because it is such a time-consuming and very difficult stitch to do. The color of threads used and the pattern design are taken from a photo in the needle arts book. The pocketbook measures 6 3/4 W x 8 3/4" H when fully open. It is lined with a salmon colored satin fabric and has two pockets. It is aged to look worn and used. $1250. Includes shipping for this one of a kind piece.

"tedious" work? I wonder who chose that word?
"very difficult to do".....not once one learns it.
"Mary Alsop" sounds familiar - probably a name that has come up on a sampler on the Needleprint blog.
....and wow! I wonder what the Masterclass, and other complex pieces of work we produce are worth, if only we had the name and an established market?

My google-fu didn't discover a site for the embroiderer.

Labels: Cup_Of_Coffee, Embroidery

10 Comments:

Stitching With Kittens said...: Am working on a small piece of embroidery
for a wedding gift right now. . . and feel a lot less "cheap" seeing this price tag! Surely justified in terms of time and effort. . . but MY GOODNESS what a large number nonetheless!; Sunday, February 19, 2012
Mary Martin said...: I've been noticing that this type of embroidered purse is really hot in fashion magazines in the US in the past two months. Most of them are just bargello with beads - this is the first queen stitch'd one I've seen. The price is a bit much for the size, but I'd say she's right somewhat on the time-consuming description. It's not a difficult stich, BUT getting the tension right is the difficulty factor.

I think the sampler on the masterclass took me about two months of straight queen stitching, with not doing any other embroidery at the time. The first month was hard - I fought it and didn't like it. The second month, I loved it and didn't want it to end. I'm looking forward to using queen stitch in the future.

Doing the Masterclass stitching is infinitely valuable, at least to me. I've noticed that even my regular hand embroidery has improved dramatically. I've improved in ways I didn't expect or hope for. Yes, I have the other two classes going on as well. I sat down last week to make a glasses case from an old Inspirations pattern, and wow - I can't wait to show you! It's almost done too. So glad you're doing well, and I promise I will come out of my cave this week.; Monday, February 20, 2012
Anonymous said...: Mary Alsop sounded SO familiar I had to google it and there a bunch of entries - this one has pictures: http://www.marybeale.com/journal/2003.html
And this one is an essay that includes a lot of references to her stuff: http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=umpress_tne
I also laugh at the word "tedious" - obviously NOT written by a stitcher!; Monday, February 20, 2012
Rachel said...: I do find myself wondering who wrote this and who they are expecting to sell to. I wouldn't want to buy something that the maker thought was tedious, and certainly not for that price. Which, I expect, is about three times what the maker will see for it...; Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Romilly said...: Normally I'd agree with the couldn't be a stitcher... I don't know about the "not written by a stitcher" thing... There were a bunch of handwork artisans a year or two ago that did a "publicity" video based on the idea of would you want to do this boring work? Theoretically so they could raise their prices. Raising prices (maybe not to the $1200 range) is a good thing, but telling people that we find our chosen job tedious kind of turned me off to the group! (And, I suspect the people they thought they were educating so they could sell things to...); Friday, February 24, 2012
Romilly said...: This is the site, if anyone is interested: http://thisishandmade.tumblr.com/
While I understand the sentiment, frankly, if it really WERE that boring for me, I wouldn't be doing it at all, let alone for pay. :); Friday, February 24, 2012
Yesteryear Embroideries said...: Hi, it's been awhile since I have gotten a chance to visit. Hope this finds all well with you! What a lovely piece! So much work and it turned out beautiful!; Friday, February 24, 2012
bookcrazzzy said...: Hi! I have really enjoyed reading your blog and expect to spend quite a bit more time here. I did a lot of embroidery growing up and am interested in it at this point from a historical bookbinding perspective. I want to make an embroidered book with a 17th century binding structure eventually and your blog is a great resource! I wanted to mention a book to you that you might find interesting - A Devotional Miscellany by Margaret H. Swain (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966). It is a printed facsimile of a 17th C embroidered book where each page is embroidery on parchment. Very lovely designs! Thanks for taking the time to blog about your work! You do a fantastic job!; Monday, February 27, 2012
Kimberly Servello said...: The sad truth is that, at $1250, for what she states is "months" of work - and we all know that's no exaggeration - it probably comes down to less than minimum wage (as we call it in the States), which no one can live on.

From what I've read, embroiderers were paid better in Elizabethan times (no to say they were wealthy, by any means), but it was equivalent to construction type work. I can't recall what book I read that in atm. Imagine today an embroider's work being considered equal in pay to a construction worker!; Saturday, March 03, 2012
خياطة وتفصيل said...: thank you so much :); Thursday, July 19, 2012

Price of Reproduction Embroidery, Example

Elmsley Rose

19 February 2012

Price of Reproduction Embroidery, Example

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