FABRIC OF LIFE
Celia Rufey talks to antique textiles dealer Su Mason
For more than 30 years, Su Mason has dealt in antique French linens, textiles and workwear dating from the 18th century and a!er. Selling things she thinks and hopes people will like is how she describes what she does. Her visitors at antiques fairs and by appointment divide between those looking for historic homespun linens for their homes, and costume designers for "lm, theatre and fashion seeking style evidence and inspiration. Her Colchester store on the day a delivery from France had arrived was a breathtaking time capsule of clothing and furnishings from a vanished past.
Ask Su what delights her most in the midst of all this and she picks up a garment on a hanger and swings it onto the table. ‘This is a full-length biaude,’ she explains, ‘a ca#le man’s Sunday-best full-length work shirt in linen with a worn, glazed "nish. The history and feel of this garment, sewn with the tiniest stitches, is exceptional. And look at these wonderful mother-of-pearl bu#ons! It’s details like these I love most of all. This biaude dates from the years a!er 1850 and the tradition continued into the 20th century. People collect them, wear them, and the Japanese love them.’ Su’s enthusiasm for everyday wear then moves on to plain linen shi!s bought whenever she can "nd them, as they will not be around for much longer.
Examples of "ne monogrammed bed linen crop up among Su’s stock, but she is best known for French hand-loomed linen sheets. ‘Looms were only a metre wide, so these have a central seam so "nely worked you have to search for it,’ she explains. ‘Most are late 19th-century and fabulously strong. Texture and colour vary and some weaves mix linen with hemp or ne#le, though that’s scratchy.’ Her customers buy these sheets for upholstery and the so!er weaves for curtains. There is also an artist who buys them to paint on, ‘especially ones with holes’. Corn sacks in linen or hemp are another celebration of the French weavers’ skill amongst Su’s hoard. ‘They are large, usually 1.5m by 50cm and tied with a couple of strings. For such a commonplace task, the weight and quality of the cloth is exceptional,’ she says.
Su’s appreciation of beauty in what was once commonplace extends to ticking, the striped cloth used for centuries to contain feathers, horsehair, lambswool or straw, in ma#resses and seating. She has many antique examples. ‘The weave is generally herringbone, and it’s a pa#ern type that blends with other pa#erns in every interior se#ing.’ She likes all the stripe variants, she says, though blue and white is currently the most popular colourway.
Printed textiles are represented in Su’s collection by toiles and quilts. ‘I like fabrics dyed with indigo and madder pigments and am drawn to designs that use them singly or together. Most of these toile lengths come from bed hangings, and the pelmets have usually survived without fading be#er than the curtains.’ She has a wonderful 1840s pelmet in stock that is lined with the traditional large Vichy check. ‘ You can see how it was hung from the tapes still a#ached at the top,’ she says, adding that she o!en puts a toile pelmet around the top of her stand at antiques fairs. ‘A scalloped pelmet also looks fabulous above plain linen curtains and makes be#er use of the fabric than cu#ing it up to cover cushions.’
Much of the information on the date of a textile, Su explains, is found in the details. These she has learned over years of conversations with dealers, both French and English, and sometimes from clients too. ‘ What I can discover about an old French quilt will o!en come from the design of the printed fabric, the stitching and the "lling. With curtains it can be from how they were stitched and hung.’ Dealing with homespun textiles also brings admiration of past stitching, patching and darning skills. At the moment she is unpicking a quilt, and underneath a 1920s print she has found an early 18th-century print, under which there is an old blanket; the backing is a perfect piece of indigo-dyed linen. ‘The 18th-century print has disintegrated and my aim is to retrieve the indigo piece. You learn a lot about antique textiles from unpicking things,’ she says.