Chats on Household Curios

by Fred. W. Burgess

Some time ago an old lady made a small collection of thimbles. It was not a very expensive hobby, but the variety she secured was truly remarkable. There were thimbles of bone, ivory, steel, brass, enamel, silver, and even gold. Some were chased and engraved, some stamped and punched. There were thimbles of huge size and others with open ends, the same that sailors use.

It is said that the thimble dates back to 1684, when one Nicholas Benschoten, of Amsterdam, sent one as a present to a lady friend with the dedicatory inscription: "To My frouw van Rensclear this little object which I have invented and executed as a protective covering for her industrious fingers." It is said the name in this country was originally "thumb-bell," so called because of the shape being of bell-like form. Of the thimbles of the wealthy it is recorded there are thimbles of onyx, mother-o'-pearl, and of gold, encrusted with rubies and diamonds—the seamstress has, however, to be content with useful if less costly "baubles."

Quaint Woodwork.

By way of contrast the outfit of the worker often includes wooden needles and occasionally utensils made of wood, but covered with evidences of love and tender regard for those who were destined to use them. The knitter seems to have been peculiarly fortunate, for knitting sticks and sheaths afforded the amateur carver ample opportunities of showing his skill; and, like the carved lovespoons, of which there is such a famous collection in the Cardiff Museum, the knitting sheaths and sticks seem to indicate that in a similar way the amorous swain gave vent to his feelings in the curious designs, mottoes, and names which he carved upon knitting sticks and kindred objects used by the lady of his choice. In the Victoria and Albert Museum there are some beautiful boxwood needle sticks; one example is cleverly carved with emblems of Faith, Hope, and Charity. Another beautiful needle stick in the same collection is mounted with silver. On some of the woodwork used for similar purposes there are cleverly designed pictures, and these were not always associated with private use, for the clothworkers in many districts used quite fanciful tools, especially in the villages, where time was of small moment, and the long winter evenings could be occupied with cutting and carving the handles and framework of the tools which in everyday practice served such a useful and often wage-earning purpose. In the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a remarkable cloth-measure made of walnut, bearing date 1745, three-sided, one being covered over with letters of the alphabet cut in deep relief, thus serving a useful purpose in the home or as an educational standard. On the second side there are cleverly designed pastoral and hunting scenes, and on the third the arms of the Swiss cantons. Other portions of the measure illustrate the implements and tools used by clothworkers at that period.

Switzerland has long been famous for its wood carving, and many of the curios found in this country have come from the Swiss mountain villages. No doubt some of our readers have come across the old pin poppets which boys and girls carried with them to the village school half a century or more ago. The girls filled them with pins and needles, bodkin and stiletto, and the boys with pencils and pens. In Fig. [75] two curious old pin boxes are illustrated. The pins shown on the same page are, however, of much older date; they are, in fact, merely thorns; these interesting and authentic relics of the "common objects of the home," or perhaps more correctly described, of dress, are to be seen in the National Collection of Wales at Cardiff, the measuring stick shown in the photograph giving their size. The pin poppet, as its name denotes, was, however, intended originally for the requirements of the early needleworker who at the dames' school won renown in those great achievements—the samplers of old. These, however, do not exhaust the wood-carving curios of the workbox, but they may serve to remind collectors of what they may hope to discover in their hunt for household curios.

The Needlewoman.

The curiosities much prized to-day, the work of the needlewoman, or those who plied the needle chiefly for purposes of amusement or to give pleasure to those on whom they bestowed the products of their skill, are met with in many distinct forms. This is not a work on needlework, or we might tell of the various stitches which are indicative of certain periods. It is, however, admissible to mention some of the household curios, the product of such patient labour applied to the skilful manipulation of silks and threads and cottons and wools, of all colours and substances, embroidered or worked on canvas or other fabric.

FIG. 76.—THREE OLD WORKBOXES.
(In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin.)