|
|
Vintage Tablecloths
By Sue Lyn, on October 6th, 2005
 For the most part, I’m not much of a collector. Outside of books and my vast assortment of kitchenware, I tend to be more of a ruthless pitcher than an accumulator. A holdover from the tough discipline of living in shared houses and studio apartments in my early years, I suppose. Despite that, I was bitten years ago by a fascination with vintage tablecloths. During the course of more than ten years’ looking, I’ve amassed what can only be called a collection of them, ranging from inexpensive cotton prints from the nineteen-fifties and -sixties to much more elegant embroidered and damask cloths in a wide range of colors and textures.
Like many collections, it wasn’t supposed to be anything of the kind. I bought vintage tablecloths at first because they were useful. In my twenties I had an old kitchen table bought at a rummage sale with a surface I wanted to cover up, and I found that flea markets and junk shops often had bright tablecloths for sale cheap. My first purchase cost twenty dollars, a printed design of bright red cherries with green leaves and stems on a white cotton ground. Somehow it made my dingy kitchen look bright and cheerful, even stylish. Such a great effect for so little money! I began to look around for others, and quickly realized that many of the cloths I found had barely been used. I’m not sure whether even decades ago women were more inclined to use placemats, or whether everyday cloths were likely to be oilcloth, both cheaper and easier to clean. Often I have the feeling I’m buying items that were secreted away with the good china and brought out only for guests and special occasions. Even linen damask cloths are easy to find and usually much cheaper than they would be new. Linen wears like iron. Provided it doesn’t have any impossible stains, the cloth I buy now may last for decades more.
The patterns and prints were what sealed my newfound fascination. Color combinations are bold, even obnoxious. Designs are fanciful and often kitschy. Many from my collection have printed leaves and fruit in colors completely unknown to nature. There are bright yellow grapes with brilliant red leaves, cabbage roses in deep blue, flower carts and trees in shades of olive and purple. While some of these are undeniably jarring to the eye, others have a sophistication that’s encouraged my own color sense to be bolder. I’m particularly fond of a design of bluish-purple wisteria with light brown leaves on a yellow background. The color combination is both unexpected and harmonious.
Unlike their previous owners, I am using my tablecloths. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that they will be spilled on and that their bright colors will eventually fade with washing and use. I don’t really mind, and maybe this is where it shows that I’m not much of a collector at heart. I think beautiful things are meant to be used, not hidden away for some future occasion that may never arrive. Each morning when I have breakfast and put my teacup down onto a blue cow or a yellow bunch of grapes, I get pleasure from the exuberance of the colors and the whimsy of the design.
During the past two years my secret passion has become somewhat harder to feed. Like with everything else in the antiques and collectibles business, eBay and the Internet have rationalized pricing so that it’s a bit harder to find those $20 damask linen tablecloths than it used to be. But treasures are still out there, if you look. If you think your own kitchen table could use some jazzing up, just take a look next time you’re in a likely thrift shop or flea market. In addition to antique shows and flea markets, be sure to check out vintage clothing shops and local antique co-ops, where the deals are sometimes even better.
Comments are closed.
|
|
