Valance
Tassel
Maker & role
Unknown, Maker
Production date
Late 19th Century
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Object detail
Measurements
1 - Valance, H: 197 x W: 60cm (H: 1970 x W: 600mm); 2:3, L: 34 x Diam: 5cm (L: 340 x Diam: 50mm)
Credit line
Purchase, 2018
Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Caption
Velvet valance, late 19th century
Description
This valance is made from velvet and has been decorated with thick satin stitch and 'bullion knot' style embroidery work in a design of wading birds. It dates to the late 19th century and may have been made as a window, bed or mantel valance. The piece was purchased by Mrs Linda Willits in the 1980s and was hung from a picture rail, as a display piece, in the dining room of her family home Yamin, in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga. The contents of the house were auctioned in 2017.
A valance is a piece of drapery used to decorate furnishings in the home such as windows, beds and fireplaces. The practice of draping these features was fashionable in the late 19th century and valances were produced using a multitude of home crafts, including embroidery work.
'Yamin' is a large Californian Bungalow built in 1920 for Russell Barr Cowan(1892 - 1964) and designed by Sydney architect James Peddle(1862-1930). Peddle established the firm of Peddle, Thorp and Walker (PTW) in 1889, travelled to the USA in 1911 and worked in California before returning to Australia in 1914.
The Cowan family remained in Yamin until the Wilitts family purchased the house around 1982. The house survives with many of its original features, including picture rails, polished hardwood flooring and cedar skirtings and architraves.
Wahroonga was settled by Europeans from the 1830s, with timber cutting as one of the first industries in the area. The suburb then became known for its orchards, established after the timber was cleared. Urban settlement was in the form of large mansions and Federation houses owned by wealthy businessmen and professionals. There were also small, mainly weatherboard, cottages occupied by people in service industries such as fresh produce, milk and bread, gardenening, cleaning and railway work.
A valance is a piece of drapery used to decorate furnishings in the home such as windows, beds and fireplaces. The practice of draping these features was fashionable in the late 19th century and valances were produced using a multitude of home crafts, including embroidery work.
'Yamin' is a large Californian Bungalow built in 1920 for Russell Barr Cowan(1892 - 1964) and designed by Sydney architect James Peddle(1862-1930). Peddle established the firm of Peddle, Thorp and Walker (PTW) in 1889, travelled to the USA in 1911 and worked in California before returning to Australia in 1914.
The Cowan family remained in Yamin until the Wilitts family purchased the house around 1982. The house survives with many of its original features, including picture rails, polished hardwood flooring and cedar skirtings and architraves.
Wahroonga was settled by Europeans from the 1830s, with timber cutting as one of the first industries in the area. The suburb then became known for its orchards, established after the timber was cleared. Urban settlement was in the form of large mansions and Federation houses owned by wealthy businessmen and professionals. There were also small, mainly weatherboard, cottages occupied by people in service industries such as fresh produce, milk and bread, gardenening, cleaning and railway work.
Accession number
L2018/3-1:3
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