Textiles

Antique Make-Do Pincushion -- Momma Strawberry & Babies!
  • I’ve recently acquired a number of pieces from a long-time a private collection of make do and needlepoint pincushions. It is a fabulous collection that I’m pleased to offer these wonderful pieces. Ms. Hardy enjoyed these pieces for 30 years and you can see that she has an eye for the best!

    Strawberry make-do pincushions are the most sought-after of the make do pincushions and this one is a beauty! It is of such a large size that it would immediately draw the eye. Now, add to that wonderful size that the red wool strawberry has embroidered sepals AND that it has small strawberries dangling around the bottom of the large pincushion! One of the each of those stout little dangling berries also has sepals embroidered with two colors of green and the tiny seeds embroidered with beige thread (just like the Mommy strawberry on top). One of the small strawberries was lost and the collector replaced the missing piece with a wool thimble holder with lovely embroidery. Obviously, she is very creative and good with her sewing and handiwork! Want more pizzazz? Okay, the patterned glass base appears to have been the base of a fluid lamp. The hollow stem holds a dried strawflower and leaf and it is capped by a tin lid that bears a patent notice (patent date Nov. 15, 1851 to July 25, 1885). Is that enough pizzazz for you? This wonderful pincushion is in fairly good condition. The large strawberry has a few small moth holes (hard to see, especially among the embroidered “seeds”). It is stuffed with straw and is a bit loose at the base so that there is some straw leakage. I’m trying to figure out how to remedy the leakage in the least aggressive method. I’d appreciate any recommendations from you textile folks out there! I’m thinking about pushing a string of museum putty or children’s modeling clay around the loose edge—what do you think? …..really, readers, I’d love some recommendations!

    This beautiful piece of folk art stands an imposing 11 ¾” tall. The base is 6” at the longest point. As I’ve said before, I’m not a glass person but the patent notice tells me that the lantern was made somewhere between 1851 and 1885. I would say that the make do was constructed in the early 20th century. It’s a great one!

    #5787    Sold

    Provenance: Collection of Roxanne Hardy; ex-John Jacobson, Mineral Point Wisconsin.

    References for Make Do:

    Baseman, Andrew, “Past Imperfect: the art of inventive repair” http://andrewbaseman.com/blog/
    Naetzker, Donald P., Waste Not Want Not: The Art of the Make-Do, (self published) 1986.