hand embroidery as an art Archives

I am posting this again; several people have asked about it!

These linens are still available today, thanks to websites like Ebay and Etsy!

When I was growing up, my mother loved beautiful linens. Embroidery was her favorite thing.

Her favorite maker was a Portugese company called “Marghab” from the island of Madeira. They had “separate boutiques” in the top department stores in the United States.

In fact; they were the very first company of any kind to have their products showcased in that way.

The company produced linens from 1932 until 1978.

Emile Marghab and his wife, Vera Way Marghab founded the company. The beautiful designs and attention to meticulous detail came from his

American wife, Vera. She grew up in South Dakota.

There is a wonderful book, “Perfection Never Less” written about her; and there is a rotating museum exhibition and more information at the University of South Dakota.

Hers is a fascinating story!

Here is a quotation from “Cynthia’s Linen Room” on line.

“Marghab is considered to be some of the finest hand embroidery in the world. The company was founded on the Island of Madeira, Portugal, in 1933, by the husband and wife team of Emile and Vera Way Marghab. Only the finest linen from Ireland and Switzerland were used. Working with Swiss weavers, the Marghabs created a special material that Vera described as “clear, crisp, true and easy to launder”. This fabric was woven exclusively for the Marghabs. They called it Margandie and it gave them a distinctiveness that was associated only with Marghab linens. The embroidery threads were from France and many of the colors used were exclusively produced for a particular design. When the linens were ready for embroidery, they were brought from the factory to the countryside homes of skilled embroideresses who were paid by the stitch! Some pieces could contain as many as eighty-five thousand stitches and could take embroideresses months to complete. It was said that more than eighty percent of the female population on the island was employed in embroidery and girls learned the art from their mothers at a very early age. There were close to three hundred pattern designs and each of them was named. The linens were sold only in Madeira or to exclusive salons selected by the Marghabs for their reputation for excellence and quality. Among these were George Jensen

, in New York, Constance Leiter in Kansas City and David Jones, Ltd. in Australia. After Emile’s death in 1947, Vera Way Marghab continued with the business until 1980 and demanded nothing but “perfection” from the factory work, the embroideresses and the salons they were sold in. She died in 1995 at the age of ninety-five.”

Imagine being paid “by the stitch” and the amount of time it took to embroider one cocktail napkin!! Not to mention a tablecloth and napkins!

The quality of the linens was unmatched. Linens especially made in Ireland were used, threads from France and England,

and the Swiss produced the exquisite almost sheer “Margandie” which was exclusive to the company.

The island of Madeira was the source of the best embroidery in the world.

And Marghab was the best of the best.

They made tablecloths, placemats, guest towels, in beautiful and imaginative patterns.

I started collecting “cocktail” napkins when I received 4 for a wedding present!

Thanks to ebay, I now have over a hundred! Most of them came in the original boxes,unused!!

People were “saving them” Oh Dear!!

So they showed up in their estate sales!

Don’t save things!!!