Pair of silk passementerie tassels mounted at either end of a single twisted cord, as a curtain tieback sourced from a French château. Tassel 7 in, cord over 80 in.
Each tassel is built on a turned wooden form. The head is bound in fine silk cord laid in a strapwork lattice over the ball, with a corded neck above it and a knotted silk ring at the top where the cord enters. Below the head sits a collar of moulded rosettes. Below that, an openwork netted skirt worked in knotted silk with rose and olive threads run through it. The skirt is silk bullion, the twisted cords laid close and cut level.
The colour throughout has oxidised to a deep straw, with rose and olive surviving in the netting where the light has not reached.
One of the two tassels has lost its rosette collar. In its place is the bound silk foundation the collar was mounted on, now frayed and lifting. The two tassels no longer match.
Passementerie of this construction is French work of the nineteenth century. A specialist dealer in the field dates comparable tassels, also from a château source, to the 1870s to 1890s.
Tassel 7 in long, 2.5 in wide. Cord over 80 in.
CONDITION
One tassel has lost its rosette collar entirely. The silk foundation beneath is exposed, frayed and lifting away. This is the principal fault and it means the pair is no longer matched.
The netted skirts are damaged on both tassels, with broken knots, dropped loops and loose thread ends through the rose-coloured cords.
Fraying and loose ends throughout, at the heads, at the necks and along the cord.
The bullion skirts are full on both tassels, hanging straight and cut level, with no bald areas and no losses to the fringe. The wooden forms are sound and the strapwork binding on both heads is intact and tight. The cord runs its full length unbroken.
DETAILS
Form — pair of tassels at either end of one cord, as a curtain tieback
Tassel — 7 in long (18 cm), 2.5 in wide (6.4 cm)
Cord — over 80 in (203 cm)
Construction — turned wooden form, silk-bound strapwork head, moulded rosette collar, netted skirt, silk bullion skirt
Colour — oxidised straw, with rose and olive surviving in the netting
Provenance — French château
Date — 19th century (assessed; comparable work dated 1870s to 1890s by a specialist dealer)
Faults — one rosette collar lacking, netting damaged on both, fraying throughout
Sold as — one pair on one cord
Pair of silk passementerie tassels mounted at either end of a single twisted cord, as a curtain tieback sourced from a French château. Tassel 7 in, cord over 80 in.
Each tassel is built on a turned wooden form. The head is bound in fine silk cord laid in a strapwork lattice over the ball, with a corded neck above it and a knotted silk ring at the top where the cord enters. Below the head sits a collar of moulded rosettes. Below that, an openwork netted skirt worked in knotted silk with rose and olive threads run through it. The skirt is silk bullion, the twisted cords laid close and cut level.
The colour throughout has oxidised to a deep straw, with rose and olive surviving in the netting where the light has not reached.
One of the two tassels has lost its rosette collar. In its place is the bound silk foundation the collar was mounted on, now frayed and lifting. The two tassels no longer match.
Passementerie of this construction is French work of the nineteenth century. A specialist dealer in the field dates comparable tassels, also from a château source, to the 1870s to 1890s.
Tassel 7 in long, 2.5 in wide. Cord over 80 in.
CONDITION
One tassel has lost its rosette collar entirely. The silk foundation beneath is exposed, frayed and lifting away. This is the principal fault and it means the pair is no longer matched.
The netted skirts are damaged on both tassels, with broken knots, dropped loops and loose thread ends through the rose-coloured cords.
Fraying and loose ends throughout, at the heads, at the necks and along the cord.
The bullion skirts are full on both tassels, hanging straight and cut level, with no bald areas and no losses to the fringe. The wooden forms are sound and the strapwork binding on both heads is intact and tight. The cord runs its full length unbroken.
DETAILS
Form — pair of tassels at either end of one cord, as a curtain tieback
Tassel — 7 in long (18 cm), 2.5 in wide (6.4 cm)
Cord — over 80 in (203 cm)
Construction — turned wooden form, silk-bound strapwork head, moulded rosette collar, netted skirt, silk bullion skirt
Colour — oxidised straw, with rose and olive surviving in the netting
Provenance — French château
Date — 19th century (assessed; comparable work dated 1870s to 1890s by a specialist dealer)
Faults — one rosette collar lacking, netting damaged on both, fraying throughout
Sold as — one pair on one cord
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