The Mystery of the Penwiper

I recently was able to unravel a little mystery in a chain of linked events that I would call serendipitous
ser·en·dip·i·tous[ser-uhn-dip-i-tuhs]lucky in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries
A few years ago I found a pin cushion on Ebay that I wanted to purchase for a friend that collects antique pin cushions. The pin cushion was very primitive and featured a tiny felt mouse with bead eyes sitting on top of pinked edge circular cut wool...just like this

1.com.... very sweet and appealing to someone that treasures handmade "folksy", primitive type items. Unfortunately and quite shockingly, the price climbed to over $250.

Being the crafty person that I am I decided to reproduce the pin cushion using hand dyed wools from my collection.

I made a little pattern and tucked it away in hopes of making one for myself someday.

and then...

Last week I was following a live auction online when I saw something called a penwiper. I took a closer look at the pictures and realized that what I had thought was a pin cushion was actually a penwiper from 1862.A penwiper was used to clean the ink from a dip pen or a fountain pen.


Here are some of the whimsical images of these ancient useful treasures that sold at auction for between $500-900.
Too precious to mess up with indelible ink...don't you think?The pig...not so much.

Cats and kittens, then as now, a favored theme.Peacocks waiting for their writing plumes.

(Courtesy of Nostalgic Impressions)

A favored pet must have been a friendly companion while doing ones school lessons, ....seated in front of her inkwell, dip pen in hand, blotting on her penwiper before practicing her cursive...imagine ink stains on those pretty little white dresses.

Alas!

No Tide with Stain BustersWalter MacEwen(1860-1943 American)

(Courtesy of I am A Child(children in art history))

and then....
While researching this post I actually found, 5 years later, the EXACT same mouse (shown above) that I had bid on, for sale, at VandM.com!

Googling further I found this booklet.
Victorian Pattern eBooks

On page 18 there is a pattern, dated December 1862, for Mouse Penwiper.
The circle is complete.

Serendipitous

...don't you love when that happens!

Patchwork Felted Wool Pincushion

This is a large 7X7 inch felted patchwork wool pin cushion backed with velvet and filled with sawdust. The pincushion is adorned with a velvet embossed oak leaf and a wool felt acorn. Many years ago Martha Stewart offered a set of large leaf shaped rubber stamps in her magazine with instructions on how to make these velvet leaves. Two pieces of velvet are bonded together using an iron on bonding material. The velvet is placed on top of the rubber stamp thenplace a pressing cloth over the velvet and apply a hot iron. I think at the time Martha had made a wreath with these leaves. The acorn was made from a large bead that I covered with bits of wool felt. As you can see it makes a darling perch for a vintage pin collection. This pincushion including the 2 vintage owl pins is now available in my etsy shop.
www.whimrose.etsy.com

Felted Wool Eyeglass Cases on Etsy

I have just added my felted wool patchwork eyeglass cases to my new Etsy shop!
www.whimrose.etsy.com
Next up are my large felted wool patchwork pin cushions that are sharing the photo above...I will even include a nice little collection of vintage pins to go with.