COLLECTING | ANTIQUE MONOGRAMMED LINENS

Our Linen Ship has come in! Literally. Shopping for gorgeous, antique linens is one of my favorite thing to do. {okay, I admit, almost all antiques are my favorite!} But linens? They are way up there on my list. I can't wait to shop in Parma, Italy in late September, because I'm anticipating finding the most glorious hand made laces and linens there. And I know that so many of you are right there with me in loving antique textiles and linens. Once they arrive in the shop, they fly out to make their mark in your home. Like you, I am over the moon excited about using monograms in my home decor, and on our beds and tables. Antique monograms have a story, they have quality, personality, and bring instant "cachet" to your home. The art of combining two or more letters together into one beautiful symbol or monogram is centuries old. Once only royalty or nobility could afford linens adorned with their own initials. Household linens were painstakingly embroidered with white satin stitches called "bourdon" with great finesse, each piece finely executed by hand. Could you imagine having each pillow case you own look like the ones above? le sigh.

Exceptional Society Silk Towel.

These days, most collectors happily collect beautiful antique monogrammed linens for their artistic beauty, and don't mind whose initials are emblazoned on them. Antique one-of-a-kind pieces with monograms have storied pasts, they are a amusing way to express your own personal style at home. We're so used to referring to sheets, tablecloths, and napkins as linens that we mostly forget the word actually refers to a fiber: the Flax Plant.

French Linen Sheet

Historically, Linen and Flax were used in the fine linens of France, Belgium and other European Countries, cherished by generations for their "hand", {how the fabric feels} their sturdiness, and their unbeatable quality and fine attention to detail. These linens not only have the purest linen, flax and at times cotton woven into their fabrics, they have had months of dedicated hand work lavished on them. Women long ago spent a vast amount of hours sewing, hemming and embellishing these textiles with gorgeous hand embroidery monograms. Brought into being with great love, using antique monogrammed linens is one of the best ways to express your personal style at home, they bridge the past and the future. Esteemed for their beauty and function, the joys of collecting antique linens with monograms are many, there is a certain romance to weaving your own stories into their provenance. Truly exceptional antique monogrammed linens are getting more difficult to come by. As the old chateaus and family homes are being sold, less and less heirloom quality linens are coming on the market. Collect antique monogrammed linens and buy the best you can find. Use them everywhere at home, these old treasures were meant to be seen, and pull on your heartstrings. This tablecloth and napkin set is so rare to find! I wish I could invent a touch screen for this blog so that you could feel the textures. I've never seen a heavy weight damask cloth woven right into the damask before. And it's beautifully monogrammed. It’s great fun to mix and match your linens, using antique shams with different monograms together with a contemporary duvet on your bed, or a different napkin at each place setting.

There are no rules to follow, if you love antique linens, use them every way you can think of! SHOP ANTIQUE LINENS

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