This is a little item that I picked up at an estate sale as I thought that it was such an unusual and rare survivor.
This is a selection of intricate embroidered swatches or textiles made pre-1950s by peasants in Romanian.
Each little textile fragment has the tiniest of stitches - and each one is very intricate and must have taken ages to make. In good condition - with no fading to the colours - they must have been kept in a drawer for many years.
It is easy to date these folk art textiles to being made before the 1950s - as they have been mounted onto the back of an old 1950s thick card advert - advertising Swan Pens (as photographed). The samples would be easy for you to remove from the card if you wanted to frame them for display. They are not glued onto the card backing (phew!) but have been stitched on with huge broad stitches and you would simply cut the thread on the back to release them - and you would also have the bonus of a nice 1950s advert for Swan pens - so bonus item!
There is a little handwritten vintage label (in old fountain pen ink) bottom right: this reads: Embroideries worked / by peasants / of Romania / Mrs Ewen / Mill Bank (House) / Forfar. The lady in question seems to be a Jane Taylor Ewen - who was living at the house since the early 20th century - so perhaps these textiles are even earlier than the 1950s - and mounted up later! But nice to have a provenance for them.
Interesting item. Priced accordingly. Probably items for the more specialist collector of antique / vintage European textiles or folk art items.
The dimensions of the card is 23 x 35.5 cm. Each textile sample is 10 x 21.5 and 7 x 20 and the smallest one is 6/5 x 13 cm.
These little hand-stitched embroideries are now well over 70 years old - perhaps nearer to being 100 years and antique fragments.
How wonderful would they be put into individual frames with little acid-free window mounts for display.
You really need to see them in "real life" to appreciate the tiny stitches and how long it must have taken to make each little sample.
Royal Mail Postage will be about £5.50 and this will be applied to your order at the checkout. I will not be able to post to EU counties - but can post outside of the UK.