Forage
Flea Market Item 26-300
Flea Market Item 26-300
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These are excellent examples of the antique specialist thread and yarn spools materials that supported France’s celebrated embroidery and couture industries during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
These French metallic embroidery threads on original wooden reels, both date from approximately 1890–1920. These fine metal-wrapped threads were used for embroidery, ecclesiastical work, military braid, couture dressmaking and luxury decorative sewing.
SCI Metallic Thread
The green label reads:
• SCI
• 1er Choix (“First Quality”)
• 25 Grammes
The lettering around the edge is worn, but this was clearly sold as a premium-quality metallic embroidery thread.
The thread itself has a warm antique gold tone and consists of an extremely fine metal strip wrapped around a textile core. This construction gave the thread flexibility while retaining the brilliance of metal.
The attractive wooden spool and Art Nouveau-style green label suggest a date of around 1900–1915.
Comptoir Parisien spool
The red label reads:
• Comptoir Parisien
• N° 80
The thread is fine and has a cooler silver-grey metallic appearance.
Number 80 indicates a very fine gauge suitable for delicate work such as:
• Couture embroidery.
• Passementerie.
• Fine lace embellishment.
• Millinery.
• Decorative hand embroidery.
The Comptoir Parisien name refers to a Parisian supplier or distributor of sewing materials rather than necessarily the manufacturer. During the Belle Époque, Paris was home to numerous specialist merchants supplying metallic threads to couture houses, church embroiderers and luxury textile workshops.
