The Mayhem of Marghab II

Set of Marghab Knight cocktail napkins

Yesterday I admitted I am a linen nut. And when I see Marghab linens "out and about" priced ridiculously low, I get a little crazy. I will do anything, regardless of how pathetic or ridiculous I look, to make sure they leave with me lest physically steal them from another's pile/cart (which I have had happen to me multiple times at estate sales).

A few weeks ago I went to a huge antique/vintage textile and linen sale. Huge. Aisles and racks of vintage and antique linens of all kinds. Quilts, wool blankets, every type of table and bed linen, old tribal kilim face bags - everything. And all heaped upon each other with no real organization. It was every woman for her own. The sale began at 9 am; I arrived at 9:45 and was thinking that "all the good stuff" was probably already snatched up by the dealers who had been waiting in line to get in at 9.


Various Marghab patterns, clockwise from top left: Mallard,
Knight, Jacaranda Tree, Topiary, Greek Key, Sweet Pea 

So to make a long story short, there were, on the bottom rack of one of the aisle shelves, little bins where sets of napkins, etc... had been put into plastic bags and priced so that they would not get separated in the shuffle. There were four of these bins. I made a cursory dig looking for the low hanging fruit my first time around but didn't want to waste too much time rifling through these little bins when treasures could still be lurking elsewhere.

I eventually made my way back to the bins to do a little more in-depth digging. I was on my third bin or so when another woman came down to the bins to search what I had just gone through for herself. I sort of kept a curious eye on the things she pulled out which I had discarded and noticed out of the corner of my eye in her hand all of the sudden - A SET OF MARGHAB KNIGHT COCKTAIL NAPKINS. For $3.50! Enter: rush. Major, major blood rush. I HAD to have these napkins. It was, as I mentioned in my previous post, a collector's dream to find these in THIS exact situation.

Did she know what they were? I hoped the hell not. I was hoping she'd toss them back into the bin thinking they were just stodgy old knights on horses and who liked that kind of thing. Did she appreciate them on their own simple merit of possessing absolutely exquisite embroidery? She did - and that is why she LEFT THEM IN HER PILE! NOOOOOOOOO, my heart was silently crying. NO! HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED THEM in that bin? I was at once furious with myself, sad knowing that I probably missed out on them, pissed that someone else got to them and thus jealous of them.

Who knew old vintage linens could bring out these types of emotions - all at once?!



Detail of expert embroidery on the beloved
Carrots and Peas pattern

So, this is where I get pathetic. Even though I was essentially done digging (and how could I concentrate on ANYTHING other than the Marghab now?!) I lingered around those bins like a lost puppy, waiting for her to decide what to do with the Marghab. I mindlessly looked through what was in front of me over and over again, feigning interest in ridiculous pieces, looking over bins of crap for all I was concerned at that point and a rack of tea towels for what seemed like centuries, keeping an eagle eye on the Marghab in her pile, waiting to see if she returned them to the bin.

Well, the lady took them along with some other bags back to her cart which was heaped high with linens. (I have to say here that I did NOT consider this to be a "lady" at the time... more like something which rhymed with "witch"). My heart broke. She was obviously a dealer yet I could tell she did not know they were Marghab and that really infuriated me. She did not deserve them, I was convinced. She was there with her mother, and after she had placed the pile in which the Marghab was included onto the heap, she went back for more searching. I lingered around her cart, watching to see what she would do with the napkins. I did some serious searching all the while upon the shelves around me, but my heart and mind were all about the Marghab.

I wanted to be there in case she for some reason decided against them - which I was sure she wouldn't at this point - but I was glad to take her hopeful Marghab discards. However, I realized that other treasures still buried deep within the linen shelf piles were still to be had, so I gave up. I left the Marghab alone and went where? Back to the little bins. Maybe there was more Marghab there. Another set! Yes, maybe!

Close up of a more uncommon pattern, Wild Rose.
This is a breakfast set, 1 placemat and 2 napkins.

So as I settled back in, down the woman came with who knows what: a pile she was getting ready to put back in the bins. And guess what was on top of her pile? The stodgy old knights and who likes anything like that! Being the so gracious and civil linen woman I am, I kindly offered my hand to hers and said, "Here, let me put those back in the bin for you. I'll take them." She handed them to me thinking she was getting rid of worthless stuff. But I got the last laugh.

I GOT THE MARGHAB!

The Mayhem Surrounding Marghab

Marghab patterns clockwise from top left: Carrots & Peas, Under the Sea,
 Jacaranda Tree, Knight, Mallard

If you focus any of your time collecting/searching for vintage linens, you most probably know the name of Marghab... You may not know the intricate details of the history of this most coveted name - but you know it represents quality. Quite simply it is the finest quality embroidery out there, rivaled only by firms like D. Porthault's with their character beauvais stitch. When Marghab pieces are set alongside pieces not bearing this royal linen provenance, it is quite evident even to an untrained eye that the Marghab is hands-down superior... thus why it is so coveted amongst collectors and dealers.

Marghab linens were produced by Vera Marghab in the mid-1900s. Vera sourced the linen upon which her embroidery would come to fame from the finest Irish mills. She then went to the global hotspot of embroidery at that time: Madeira, Portugal. Here, on this island, only the most skilled embroideresses would have the opportunity to work on Marghab's patterns. They were paid by the stitch - and on each piece of Marghab's work there are thousands. Marghab embroidery is absolutely elegant in every aspect, and the colors used and expertise of the embroidery work leave little room for comparison; it is simply the best of the best.

So... people get a little crazy around Marghab. It is, if you will, what every linen/textile collector or dealer hopes - no, dreams - to uncover on a day of searching, of scouring. "Perhaps here, now, I will uncover a set of Marghab" one's mind plays as one enters some sort of sale... And if, IF, one ACTUALLY does see even a tiny fragment of one of Marghab's patterns peeking out from underneath a pile of stuff - well, suffice it to say that the rush felt is probably akin to what some sort of drug will create. If there are others around you who might also see that tiny fragment... well, then, a bit of subdued mayhem erupts. Civil mayhem, of course, as we are talking linens here. But everyone gets fired up about this - and everyone wants to be the one who walks away with the prize.

I will admit here that I am a complete and total linen addict, as I have said before (and I am not ashamed of this, mind you). I know Marghab patterns, as you may as well, and I know when I see them. So when I tell you this story of how completely and utterly pathetic I have become in regards to "getting" these linens, of being the one who walks away with the prize, if something similiar has also happened to you - you will absolutely laugh. And if it hasn't happened to you, just wait. It will. When you see these linens which command premium prices priced at pennies on the dollar - you will enter the state of Marghab Mayhem.

Tomorrow I tell my story. Stay tuned!