Early embroidery style now known as stumpwork
HTerry & Kim Kovel
ave you ever noticed stumpwork in an antiques auction or shop?
Stumpwork is a type of early embroidery that makes raised areas on a flat textile to make a three-dimensional design.
This difficult type of embroidery was popular in England from about 1650 to 1700, but it was called "raised" or "embossed" work until the 1890s.
Stumpwork was used on clothing, decorative boxes and pictures. Girls as young as 8 learned to embroider, and the training culminated with the production of a box, often with the name and date of the embroiderer.
Today, these boxes sell for thousands of dollars. An example was made in 17th-century England on silk fabric with flowers, insects and birds, two well-dressed women framed in wreaths, and many other figures and bits of flora and fauna. The piece, estimated at $2,500 to $5,000, sold recently for $9,225 at an auction in Massachusetts.
Q: I have some old Avon aftershave bottles that depict Ben Franklin and presidents, such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. The heads are cream-colored, and the bottoms are white. Do they have any value?
A: Avon Products dates This stumpwork box sold for $9,225.
back to 1886, although it didn't start using Avon as a product name until 1928. The company's name was officially changed to Avon Products in 1937.
The bottles, made in the 1970s. were made of painted glass and the heads, many
of which discolored over the years, were white plastic. They contained 6 ounces of aftershave products called Wild Country, Tai Winds and Everest. Most of the bottles, even mint with the original box, sell for only about $5 today. Current prices
Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.
• Coffeepot: creamware, flowers, blue transfer, Copeland & Garrett, 1800s; 5 inches; $60
• Candelabrum: four-light, silver plate, Georgian, Corinthian twist support, swags; 25 inches, pair; $400
• Mustard ladle: monogram, coin silver, Witherspoon family of York; 5 inches; $540