The Pitter of Little Patters

Antique Half Doll Hanky Holder and Powder Patter

Powder patters, that is.  I realized it has been a very long time since I shared one of my collections with you.  This is a subset of my rather large 1920's French ribbonwork collection.  During the 1920's and into the 30's, homemakers loved to make things in their home pretty (some things never change, do they?).  As was very fashionable in the day, they would take boudoir items, vanity items, and clothing and add embellishments to them, making lovely flowers out of ribbons.  These ribbons were usually silk and were often incredibly beautiful just by themselves, even before they were manipulated into roses and pansies and other pretty little flowers and leaves.  One of the things that was very fun to jazz up was the common powder puff.  These little powder patters were basically powder puffs on little sticks.

Theoretically, you would apply talcum powder with these little gems, but it is my belief that they were usually far more decorative than something you would use, at least on an every day basis. My collection of these beauties truly makes me smile every time I look at each and every piece.  The care which was put into making these little whimsical what-nots is amazing and, of course, they are SO feminine and pretty that I just swoon over them. 

Puff and Mirror Set

Sometimes, there would be a set of a powder puff and a mirror. I only have one set of the two pieces and they reside on my vanity table.  They other pieces are in an antique curio cabinet along with some other amazing ribbonwork pieces which I may spotlight another time. 

Rare Flapper Porcelain Doll Patter

Pansy Girl~my favorite (shshshsh, don't tell the other girls!)

The pansy girl's dress is a large compartment for maybe hankies and then she holds the little small pansy puff.  I love all of the pieces in my collection, but I'm afraid this is the one that might have to be pried out of my cold dead hands (oh how morbid!) because she just takes my breath away, even with her slight tattiness.

For those of you who love vintage 1940's wallpaper like I do, I've just added some new ones for purchase on my sidebar.  Click the link to see the selection.  Note that all prices are per yard and DO include shipping to the U.S.  International buyers welcome, you just may have to pay the extra to send it to your location. 

If you haven't signed up for my giveaway of Carolyn Westbrook's new book The French Inspired Home,  click here and leave me a comment on THAT POST to be entered.

In the meantime, I'm going to pop on over to Beverly's at How Sweet the Sound to check out all of the fun posts for Pink Saturday.  Join me?

Until next time,