Item 26-264

This is a charming example of an antique hand-crocheted decorative mat, most likely made between 1890 and 1925, during the late Victorian to Edwardian period. 

It is worked in fine mercerised cotton thread, a popular material after the late 19th century because it produced a smooth, slightly lustrous finish.

Several features help date and identify it:

• The four raised flowers are worked separately and joined into the mesh, giving the piece a lovely three-dimensional quality.

• The open square mesh is characteristic of decorative household crochet popular around 1900.

• The unusual crocheted padded balls at each corner are both decorative and practical. They add weight so the mat hangs neatly when draped over the back of a chair or a small table.

• The scalloped edging and intricate connecting stitches reflect the influence of Irish crochet patterns that were widely published in women’s magazines and needlework books in Britain and France around the turn of the century.

This is almost certainly an antimacassar, chair-back cover, or decorative table mat. It would have been placed over the back of a parlour chair to protect upholstery from hair oils, or used as an ornamental mat on a side table or occasional table. The weighted corners would help keep it in place.

It measures 40x40cm and is in pristine condition.