A rare set of Seven, Finely Floral Embroidered, Antiquarian Silk Curtains in the 18th Century-style from Parham House, Sussex & by descent
11906
JUST PURCHASED, MORE INFORMATION TO FOLLOW
A rare opportunity to purchase a large set of silk floral embroidered bedcurtains from an historic house open to the public. These curtains were part of the Hon. Clive and Alicia Pearson's renovations and collection a259+t Parham House, Sussex passing into the ownership of Elizabeth Dione Pearson and by descent, most recently hanging at Penns in the Rocks where 6 of them were adapted with raw silk outside edge borders Research is currently underway to establish which room they were made for at Parham House.
The embroidery is very finely worked in a variety of stitches and applied threads. Depicting an abundance of spiralling tendrils and interlacing roses, peonies and iris's. Using silk threads in a palette of gold and silver and tones of red, green, buff on a cream silk ground. With wear, small tears and losses, conserved with net, all linen backed. The single curtain has not been altered and has less wear so it is likely that it was not hung in the bay window at Pens in The Rocks.
• the first pair (with hooks) approx 259cm drop x 132cm wide at the bottom edge (per curtain)
• the second pair (with inner curve and velcro, no hooks) approx 265cm drop x 158cm wide at the bottom edge (per curtain)
• the third pair (also with hooks) 265cm drop x 130cm wide at the bottom edge (per curtain)
• the single curtain faced with tassel fringe (with rings and hooks) 285cm high cm drop x 121cm wide at the bottom edge
Pattern Repeat Height 62.5cm
Pattern Repeat Width 30cm
Parham's story - The name Parham (the "par" is pronounced like the "par" in parrot) is thought to derive from the Old English "perham", a compound word meaning "pear enclosure". The land was granted by King Henry VIII to Robert Palmer of Henfield, and on 28th January 1577 the foundation stone of the current House was laid by his two-year-old grandson Thomas, a custom thought to bring good luck. When he grew up, Thomas sold Parham to Thomas Bishopp, whose descendants lived here for eleven generations until 1922, when it was sold to the Hon. Clive and Alicia Pearson.
Clive Pearson was the second son of Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray. He married Alicia Knatchbull-Hugessen, daughter of 1st Lord Brabourne. They fell in love with Parham as soon as they saw it. The House was in a very bad state of repair, and the Pearsons employed the architect Victor Heal to supervise renovation works during the 1920s and 1930s. Everything was done with the greatest care and sensitivity, with minute attention to detail and historical accuracy.
A precious collection - The Pearsons spent more than 40 years filling Parham with a sensitively chosen collection of furniture, paintings, books, textiles and clocks. They also acquired interesting items which had once been at Parham or had a historical or family association with the House. The portraits are particularly notable, and there are many very fine rugs and carpets. Alicia Pearson was a skilled needlewoman, and she created at Parham one of the finest and most important collections of early needlework in the country.
Needlework & Tapestry - The range of objects embraces an unparalleled group of Stuart embroidered pictures and panels, covers for furniture, room hangings, bed hangings of the most remarkable quality, a royal saddle, samplers and many other items executed by both amateur and professional embroiderers. In addition to the seventeenth-century collection, representative examples of the work for the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries are also to be found throughout the House. The collection is complemented by the many portraits, whose sitters show off a wealth of needlework detail in their splendid clothing.
 approx 259cm drop x 132cm wide at the bottom edge (per curtain)•	the second pair (with inner curve and velcro, no hooks) approx 265cm drop x 158cm wide at the bottom edge (per curtain) •	the third pair (also with hooks) 265cm drop x 130cm wide at the bottom edge (per curtain) •	the single curtain faced with tassel fringe (with rings and hooks) 285cm high cm drop x 121cm wide at the bottom edgePattern Repeat Height 62.5cmPattern Repeat Width 30cmParham's story - The name Parham (the "par" is pronounced like the "par" in parrot) is thought to derive from the Old English "perham", a compound word meaning "pear enclosure". The land was granted by King Henry VIII to Robert Palmer of Henfield, and on 28th January 1577 the foundation stone of the current House was laid by his two-year-old grandson Thomas, a custom thought to bring good luck. When he grew up, Thomas sold Parham to Thomas Bishopp, whose descendants lived here for eleven generations until 1922, when it was sold to the Hon. Clive and Alicia Pearson. Clive Pearson was the second son of Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray. He married Alicia Knatchbull-Hugessen, daughter of 1st Lord Brabourne. They fell in love with Parham as soon as they saw it. The House was in a very bad state of repair, and the Pearsons employed the architect Victor Heal to supervise renovation works during the 1920s and 1930s. Everything was done with the greatest care and sensitivity, with minute attention to detail and historical accuracy. A precious collection - The Pearsons spent more than 40 years filling Parham with a sensitively chosen collection of furniture, paintings, books, textiles and clocks. They also acquired interesting items which had once been at Parham or had a historical or family association with the House. The portraits are particularly notable, and there are many very fine rugs and carpets. Alicia Pearson was a skilled needlewoman, and she created at Parham one of the finest and most important collections of early needlework in the country. Needlework & Tapestry - The range of objects embraces an unparalleled group of Stuart embroidered pictures and panels, covers for furniture, room hangings, bed hangings of the most remarkable quality, a royal saddle, samplers and many other items executed by both amateur and professional embroiderers. In addition to the seventeenth-century collection, representative examples of the work for the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries are also to be found throughout the House. The collection is complemented by the many portraits, whose sitters show off a wealth of needlework detail in their splendid clothing.){kind=link}