Parasol Project: Color

I've been surfing through clouds of parasol photographs and I've found some really amazing examples.  While many of the parasols I see are WHITE:

MFA 50.3161, dated early 20th century.  Cute, this one has scalloped petal shapes!

or BROWN:

MFA 50.3160, dated early 20th century.  Boring color.. But the handle is carved to look like a thorny branch, kind of mimicking the burl handle on mine. 

or BLACK:

MFA 1987.330 about 1910-15

...There is far more variation to be found than initially meets the eye.  Just look at these paintings, for starters!

Girl in red with a parasol, Max Pechstein, 1909

James R. Jackson, Dora with Parasol, 1917

Frederick Carl Frieseke, 1905, Lady with a Parasol 

Frederick Carl Frieseke, 1901, Luxembourg Gardens

Richard E. Miller, unknown title or date, see http://www.tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica.com/2013/11/Richard-Emil-Miller.html

The Parasol, Richard E. Miller, 1911-1913

Frederick Carl Frieseke, 1908, Lady with Parasol 

The Red Parasol, 1904, Matej Sternen

Henri Lebasque, Promenade Sur L'Eau 1918

MFA The Green Parasol, John Singer Sargent, about 1911.  Ooo these bluegreens are just the colors of my striped fabric...

The predominant color of parasol in these paintings is red or green.  I realize that those colors were likely chosen for their POP in the composition of the painting rather than their fashionability, and I concede that Light is the main concern of these artists, rather than Accuracy.  However, I do think we can assume that red and green parasols (and striped versions of the same) existed at the time.  Let's look at some fashion plates:

studio sketches, circa 1915-6, http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/four-lucile-studio-sketches,-circa-1915-6,-65b-c-8eb9eaae75

Journal des dames and des modes, 1912, I LOVE the polka dot parasol to match the dress!

The Delineator, 1911

Godey Lady's Book, September 1890 (early edges of the range)

1913, http://www.bartoscollection.com/fp1913.html

Delineator, July 1916, again a parasol that matches a skirt!  :)  Stripes!

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1914, great color

Delineator, 1917, look how BOLD that purple and white one is...

1912 fashion plate from the Delineator.  Colors!  And layers of lace over color.

Even better than general fashion plates are fashion plates devoted solely to parasols!!  :D  I found two of these:

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1914, http://www.sil.si.edu/ImageGalaxy/imagegalaxy_imageDetail.cfm?id_image=11704

"Aux Galeries Lafayette" from damaged magazine, likely c1910, https://www.etsy.com/listing/126291988/vintage-french-fashion-plate-galeries?ref=shop_home_active

And then of course there are photographs.  Wonderfully for me, the first color photographs were being developed around this time, so we have some amazingly striking images to look at:

Flora Stieglitz Straus, by Nathan Straus, c. 1915.   I was thinking that this image was fake, but then I found it linked to a legit Yale library! The problem is, it keeps getting attributed to another artist on pinterest...  http://brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Record/3525030  

Mode aux courses, 1911-1914.  STRIPES!!  

Peter Ivanovich Vedenisov, autochrome photograph, Russia, 1909-1914, http://www.vintag.es/2015/04/30-early-color-photographs-of-russia.html#more  Amazing floral pattern..

Peter Ivanovich Vedenisov, autochrome photograph, Russia, 1909-1914, what looks like blue on the outside and white on the inside!

Peter Ivanovich Vedenisov, autochrome photograph, Russia, 1909-1914

Woman with a parasol - Autochrome photograph by Antonin Personnaz, c. 1910.  

And last, but certainly not least, I have a spread of fabulous parasols at the MET to share:

All colors and patterns and stripes! Stripes! STRIPES!!


I feel sufficiently justified in using my blue and green striped fabric now :)  I believe that what I am seeing is not some idiosyncratic fabric selection seen in one or two images.  There is evidence of stripes and bold colors used for parasols in a broad selection of visual media of the era--paintings, fashion plates, photographs--and the extant "archaeological record" supports this impression.

Thus and verily and so we see and all that ;)

Parasol Project: Dating

MFA 1987.329
This one is the same length and has a similarly long spike.  Also, the proportion of rib length vs overall length seems the same.  The open-work stripes are familiar, as well as the ball-tipped ferrules and the ruffle around the base of the spike.  Dated 1910-1915

MFA 1987.346
This one is a bit longer than mine and the proportions seem a little off, but the same super long brass-tipped spike is there, as well as the ball-tipped ferrules and a more subdued ruffle around the spike.  Note:  PURPLE.  Dated "about 1910".

MFA 1979.442

I'm including this one for comparison's sake.  At first glance, it looks similar, even though the spike is short, but looking at the dimensions shows that it is 15 inches shorter than mine and the description says it has a collapsible handle.  Dated 1840-65

NOPE NOPE

MFA 1987.347

This one looks different at first because of its curved handle, but the length is only a tad longer than mine, and the spike is long and brass-tipped with a fabric ruffle around the base!  The ferrules are ball-tipped, too.  And check out the amazing fabric used to cover it!  "Black silk tulle in three tiers alternating with two rows of white beads; sheer white silk lining."  It even has a "black velvet curved handle" O.O  Dated "about 1910"

MFA 47.1369

This one has a wooden burl for a handle!  Just like mine!  The length of the whole, the spike, the ribs, the balls on the ferrules, the ruching at the spike!  And the method of holding the parasol closed (that dangly bit with a metal ring hanging on the left of the picture) is the same too!  Date?  "About 1915."  

MFA 50.811

This one has many characteristics that match my parasol, and I'm sure by now you can pick them out ^^  What is interesting is that it is dated "fourth quarter of the 19th century", which is potentially a couple decades earlier than these other examples.  It might pay to keep my eyes open.  Even though I would bet that this one was wrongly dated.  

I think I can assume that my parasol is from the 1910-1915 ^^

Parasol Project, Introduction

I don't have a place to put a blog post like this.  "Winged Pilgrim" has typically been a place for travel stories, and it has served very well.  At this point in my life, I probably should be using it for travel stories some more, but I'm just not in the mood.  What I AM in the mood for is SEWING!  I'll summarize my feelings about this mood in another post (probably), but for now, I want to tell you about something Really Cool.

Two years ago, when Joel was visiting me in Boston for a month (back when he was living in Beijing and we were long distance relationshipping), we went on a weekend trip up to Acadia, Maine.  It was super cold.  That is my main impression.  We saw some cool views, but there was mostly still snow on everything, and we ran out of time, since Acadia is Way The Heck Up There from Boston.  Sigh.

On the way back, though, there was one thing I knew I wanted to do.  My mom and brother and I had taken a trip to Acadia back when I was in undergrad, and we had stumbled upon a huge barn full of antiques for sale <3 <3 <3  It was the type of place I could get lost in forever, and I found a great book on the artist J.C. Leyendecker.  Now, with Joel, I was hoping that we would stumble upon this place again.  I was counting on there being only one main road heading south from Acadia.  Guess what?  I was right.

The treasure I found this time around was a vintage parasol with a white wooden burl handle.  The white fabric was stained in some places and torn in others.  It had a simple faux drawn thread-work insertion band and these weird (seemingly rather modern) lace daisies stitched on in random places.  I gingerly attempted to open it, and the slidey thing (which I now know is called a 'runner') slid smoothly up and hooked simply into position.  No creaking, cracking, or straining sounds!  In my head I was like, I need a parasol.  I've always needed a parasol...

I fell in love with its quirky burl handle and jaunty brass spike tip, plus it only cost 25$, so I took it home with me!  And now, two years later, I am getting around to replacing the fabric and restoring it to usable and relatively historically accurate (HA) glory!!  (I may need to construct an entirely new HA outfit to go with it.. who can tell?)

Today I took it all apart, and now I am attempting to date it.  First, let's describe the frame.

The various parts of a parasol or umbrella (after Farrell 1985:91 Fig. 76)
from https://poplarforestarchaeology.com/2013/05/14/442/

Overall length 38 inches.
The handle is made of a white pine (?) burl.  13 inches long.

The stick is a pale varnished wood.  20 inches long from base of spike to top of handle.

The spike is an extension of the stick with a brass (?) cap on it.  Spike being 5 inches long, with the brass cap being 1.5 inches.

There are 8 ribs made of a dark metal but painted white (the paint is chipping in places).  Each one is 19.5 inches, including a brass rib tip (or ferrule) of a little less than one inch.

The stretchers are also white painted metal, each 8 inches long. 

The ribs and stretchers are not solid-in-diameter metal wires--they have a U-shaped cross-section, if that makes any sense, with the rounded edge facing out and the groove to the inside.  I'm assuming this makes each length stronger.

The runner and the top notch are the same brass as the spike tip.

The gits (best word ever) are all carefully wrapped in small swatches of white cotton, apparently to protect the outer fabric from the metal hinge wear and tear.

Its wingspan (ferrule to opposite ferrule) is 39.5 inches.

Now let's see about some pictures... 

As you can see, the fabric really does need to be replaced.  I have some good possible parasol fabrics in my stash....

from left to right, top to bottom: vintage lace strip (not sure I have enough), modern cream lace, thin cream silk, green and blue striped silk, sea foam green silk, pale green linen, HOT PINK cotton, and thin black silk. 

Possibly I have other options, but these are the ones that yelled PARASOL on my first dig-through.

Now, I have to say that I've wanted to use that striped silk for this parasol ever since I first laid eyes on it..  Can't you just see the stripes chevron-ing at each rib?...  *dreamy sigh*  And I like the idea of color, but I have to be honest, I think the pink is already out (it's pretty bright).  The cream silk with lace over it would create a really romantic look, though I am usually more about crisp construction than frilly details.

Before I choose any of these options, I need to know where in time this parasol belongs and what it's fellow parasol peers would be wearing back in the day.  I could make something completely off the wall and according to my whims, but honestly, the only time I'll be using it is when I want to look the part.  So HA it is! 

Off to the internet to find things out!