Pair of silk passementerie tassels, each on its own twisted cord, as curtain tiebacks sourced from a French château.
Tassels 10 in, of which the skirts are 7 in. Cords over 70 in.
Each cord is a heavy plied silk rope in terracotta, a smooth lustrous red twisted against a textured pale coral, the ends bound and whipped.
Each tassel is built on turned wooden forms. A dome worked in an open lattice mesh sits at the top. Below it, a ring of applied rosettes — padded silk centres set within dark gimp rings, alternating with small looped buds. Then a long waisted neck, covered in a strapwork of flat silk ribbon and fine braid laid in chevrons and lattices over a corded ground. A second and wider ring of the same rosettes sits at the foot of the neck, and the skirt falls from it.
The skirts are bullion, 7 in deep, worked in deep rose, terracotta and straw run together, the cords looping at the base rather than cut.
The two tassels are not identical in tone. One has kept a stronger terracotta and the other has lightened toward coral. This is what a pair of tiebacks that hung on a window for a century looks like: the side nearer the light fades first.
Passementerie of this construction is French work of the nineteenth century.
Tassels 10 in, skirts 7 in. Cords over 70 in. Sold as a pair.
CONDITION
One tassel has lightened more than the other, most visible across the neck and the upper skirt. The difference is apparent side by side and slight at a distance.
Fraying at the cord ends and light surface fuzz along both cords.
Occasional loose loops in the skirts and a few cords sitting proud.
Both tassels are otherwise sound. Both rosette collars are complete on both tassels, with no rosettes missing from any of the four rings. The lattice mesh over both top domes is unbroken. The strapwork on both necks is intact with no lifting. Both skirts are full with no bald areas and no losses, and both sets of looped ends are present.
DETAILS
Form — pair of tassels, each on its own cord, as curtain tiebacks
Tassels — 10 in each (25.5 cm)
Skirts — 7 in deep each (18 cm), bullion
Cords — over 70 in each (178 cm)
Construction — turned wooden forms, lattice-mesh dome, two rings of applied rosettes, strapwork-covered waisted neck, three-colour bullion skirt looped at the base
Colour — terracotta, deep rose and straw; the two tassels differ slightly in tone
Provenance — French château
Date — 19th century (assessed; comparable work dated 1870s to 1890s by a specialist dealer)
Sold as — one pair, two separate tiebacks
Pair of silk passementerie tassels, each on its own twisted cord, as curtain tiebacks sourced from a French château.
Tassels 10 in, of which the skirts are 7 in. Cords over 70 in.
Each cord is a heavy plied silk rope in terracotta, a smooth lustrous red twisted against a textured pale coral, the ends bound and whipped.
Each tassel is built on turned wooden forms. A dome worked in an open lattice mesh sits at the top. Below it, a ring of applied rosettes — padded silk centres set within dark gimp rings, alternating with small looped buds. Then a long waisted neck, covered in a strapwork of flat silk ribbon and fine braid laid in chevrons and lattices over a corded ground. A second and wider ring of the same rosettes sits at the foot of the neck, and the skirt falls from it.
The skirts are bullion, 7 in deep, worked in deep rose, terracotta and straw run together, the cords looping at the base rather than cut.
The two tassels are not identical in tone. One has kept a stronger terracotta and the other has lightened toward coral. This is what a pair of tiebacks that hung on a window for a century looks like: the side nearer the light fades first.
Passementerie of this construction is French work of the nineteenth century.
Tassels 10 in, skirts 7 in. Cords over 70 in. Sold as a pair.
CONDITION
One tassel has lightened more than the other, most visible across the neck and the upper skirt. The difference is apparent side by side and slight at a distance.
Fraying at the cord ends and light surface fuzz along both cords.
Occasional loose loops in the skirts and a few cords sitting proud.
Both tassels are otherwise sound. Both rosette collars are complete on both tassels, with no rosettes missing from any of the four rings. The lattice mesh over both top domes is unbroken. The strapwork on both necks is intact with no lifting. Both skirts are full with no bald areas and no losses, and both sets of looped ends are present.
DETAILS
Form — pair of tassels, each on its own cord, as curtain tiebacks
Tassels — 10 in each (25.5 cm)
Skirts — 7 in deep each (18 cm), bullion
Cords — over 70 in each (178 cm)
Construction — turned wooden forms, lattice-mesh dome, two rings of applied rosettes, strapwork-covered waisted neck, three-colour bullion skirt looped at the base
Colour — terracotta, deep rose and straw; the two tassels differ slightly in tone
Provenance — French château
Date — 19th century (assessed; comparable work dated 1870s to 1890s by a specialist dealer)
Sold as — one pair, two separate tiebacks
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