Karen, it would be wonderful if you can go check this source out! I'm
slightly envious......

My late Mother had many wonderful things brought over from China but
much was destroyed by a house fire in my childhood.
Fortunately, bolts of vintage silks were stored in a carved trunk in
another area and not affected.......years later, my Mother gave me all
these bolts of silk.

I used to practically "live" in the halls of the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in NYC in the American wing admiring the many beautiful room
settings and objects of the China trade.......recall one favorite piece
was a large, tall hand carved ivory masterpiece of an incredible pagoda
full of amazing details........then there were the beautiful blue and
white ceramics....that has inspired my collection and lifelong love of
blue and white porcelains.
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
Needlework Adventures

Karen C - California wrote:

In article , Lula
writes:

romance novels where the heroine often had an attic full of old trunks
and chests filled with all manner of treasures from by-gone sea captain
ancestors

Many times I've heard from my great-aunt (whose father and grandfather were
captains in the China Trade) that beggars would come to the house, and her DM
and DGM would hand them several yards of silk as if it were any old rag,
because the menfolk had brought them so much Chinese silk they couldn't use it
all.

The old family houses in Germany have been handed down for generations, and I
would love to have a rummage through their attics. Nothing in my family's
attics on this side of the ocean that pre-dates 1930.

(Make note to self: call old auntie in Germany before it's too late and see if
I can come visit.)

--
Finished 11/18/03 -- Bird of Paradise
WIP: Angel of Autumn, Calif Sampler, Holiday Snowglobe, Guide the Hands (2d
one)

Paralegal - Writer - Editor - Researcher
http://hometown.aol.com/kmc528/KMC.html