Saturday, July 11, 2009

For Sale

It's amazing what you can find on Ebay nowadays. This evening I came across an authentic calash bonnet from the 1780's. The craziest part is that it is currently under $200 and, from what I can tell, in pristine condition. If any of you fellow history buffs end up buying this fantastic find, you must tell me!

4 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous piece! I love the colour! I notice that while it is under $200, the reserve hasn't been met yet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ugh, I hate reserves! What's the point of them anyway? The reserve price should be the first price you put the item up for if you ask me!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ooh, it looks lovely!! Hopefully someone will buy it and give it to a museum.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes it is a beautiful colour, unfortunately Paris Green was commonly used as a fabric dye at that time , prepared from copper acetate and arsenic trioxide, it was also used to kill rats in Parisian sewers, hence the common name Paris Green, sorry to be a kill joy but maybe it killed its original owner.

    If anyone here does buy it, test it with a little dab of liquid ammonia in a spot that doesn’t show it will turn blue if arsenic is present, and do not let the fabric come into contact with the skin or breath too deeply near the bonnet until you are sure.

    ReplyDelete