February 20th, 2019

Antique fabric sample collection.

Many years ago I purchased a collection of fabric samples that someone had saved in this antique book (below). The book pages are blank, perhaps it was meant to be a journal. The fabrics have been glued to heavy cards and inserted between the pages. Unfortunately, there is no writing on the cards or pages.

The fabrics date from the early 1800's to about 1860. Many of the fabrics are Delaines (cotton and wool), the others are cottons. Most of the dyes are still bright and unfaded. The fabrics appear to have been in the book many years as some of the pages have a reverse impression of the printed fabric which has been pressed against it for probably a century or more.

​Following are some of the fabrics in the book.

Early print, perhaps c1800 or earlier.

Delaines on the right.

Unfaded purple on the left.

Delaines

Three of the Delaines.

Nice unfaded purple on the bottom right.