20th c Alençon Runner

Medallion: 2.5" wide, 3.125" tall (6.35cm x 7.93cm)
Linen: 13" x 29.5" (33.02cm x 49.53cm)
Excellent condition, looks unused. Original folds.

Not certain if this is true Alençon - the mesh looks right, and the detail with cordonnet work is of high quality. It might combine some aspects of Point de Gaze, and apparently Lefebure in Bayeaux did work like this. Needs resarch. The shape of the medallion and the legend (something like "Our Flowering Fields Rejoyce") is similar to the Downham shield in Lancashire, England. But if you look carefully it also seems to resemble the traditional Green Man. Inclusion in the linen scarf is unusual, might have been part of a wedding trouseau.

The seller says she bought two of these linens for $1.00 at a church rummage sale somewhere in New York.

accession number 2021.1.125
purchased 12/01/2021
first posted 12/09/2021