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its subdivision into feet and inches, this was a reaction to the wider use of feet and inches, rather than the impetus for it. In Western Europe the common was the Ell, the length from the elbow to the fingertip or from the shoulder to the wrist. In Holland the measuring stick was known as an ‘Ellemaat’ and they were made in different sizes – the , the half and the whole. They had a turned handle, simple inlay or carving for the divisions and often incorporated the thumb as a unit (an inch). Across the world there were clearly problematic differences in the units of measurement. A degree of international uniformity occurred with the intro- duction of metric measurement in 1799, Two white wood early Tunbridge ware tape measures, one as a circular cottage and the other a turret or folly. These wonderfully decorated tapes often include details such as a rake leaning against the wall or a bird cage. Both c.1800-30. £60-£100 THE RULE OF THUMB, AN ELL AND A NAIL each. The development of the tape measure in sewing although the centimetre was not widely winders are of the coffee-grinder type, by Robert Bleasdale adopted until the end of the 19th and a suspension loop to the top century. A pressing need for standard- indicates use on a chatelaine. isation was stimulated by the develop- By the end of the 18th century ment of international trade. needlework, as opposed to sewing, The measuring stick became a was a fashionable recreation for the n earliest times, simple sewing method for a lady to carry her valu- body parts, the and the thumb – household item used at the door to middle class and wealthy. The range of I tools were fashioned from natural able necessities, including her essen- hence the expression ‘a rule of thumb.’ measure cloth and material purchased tools began to expand well beyond the materials such as a needle from a fish tial sewing tools. These chatelaines, In England the unit of measurement from travelling salesmen. As oppor- facility of the chatelaine. As a social bone or thorn. As civilisation developed often elaborate and made of precious was standardised in the 12th century tunities for trade and shopping devel- group activity needlework was very the materials varied but the range of materials such as gold and agate, by Henry I who decided it should be a oped it became an inconvenient tool. much a female recreation and an sewing tools remained almost static. carried cased scissors, a cased or 36 inches – the length of his The markings from the household stick opportunity to display skills and show By the 15th century bronze thimbles thimble, needlecase, pincushion and arm. This measurement was held at were transferred to a ribbon which off the tools and trappings that went were becoming common, but tools other essentials, but the focus of this local Guildhalls in the form of a stick could be rolled and conveniently carried. with them. such as scissors were still rare, a knife article – the tape measure – doesn’t from which others could be made; it When the ribbon wore out a new one being more common. appear on a chatelaine until the early was known as a ‘meteyard’ or ‘yard was re-marked from the stick, short and Elizabeth I had ‘a nedell case of 19th century. Why? stick’. The sticks were subdivided by long strokes representing inches and cris tall garnysshed with silver gilt, letters at lines, ‘Y’ representing the feet. As silk and other ribbons were with two thimbles in it’, but sewing The development of measurement whole yard, ‘HY’ a half yard, ‘Q’ a fragile it became common to roll the for pleasure was an activity for the The earliest recorded form of any quarter yard, ‘HQ’ half a quarter yard tape and keep it protected in a small

1 wealthy, tools for everyday work were standardised measurement was the and ‘N’ measured a nail or 2 ⁄4 inches. cylindrical container. The portable tape limited and poor. Those who had which was used in primitive In England, Parliament authorised measure had come into being. wealth displayed it by keeping their construction in Egypt as early as the Imperial Standard Yard in 1855 and valuables on a chain or chatelaine 8000 BC. The cubit was the length of Early tapes suspended from the waist, sporting a forearm to a fingertip – clearly this Although inventories in the 17th cen- a dagger, watch, keys and other was a variable unit unless measured tury occasionally list tape measures ‘luxury’ goods. By the 18th century from the same arm. Other early units they were in the possession only of the chatelaine had become a common of measurement were also based on the wealthy elite. By the mid-18th century tape measures became more common, in the form of a marked A wonderful Tunbridge stick ware A Tunbridge end-grain mosaic tape Above, left to right. An English silver filigree tape, c.1780, in this case the loop at the ribbon stored in a cylindrical container combination tape measure with a waxer measure wound by the overhanging top of the dome is the winder rather than a loop for a chatelaine. £80-£120. A silver (usually of silver) and wound by a to the base and pin cushion to the top. top, c.1850. Note the printed name chatelaine tape with coffee-grinder style handle, Chester 1905. £50-£80. simple spindle projecting through the Note the original tape end. The value is ‘Nye’. Although the tape lacks its last Right. An English silver filigree combination tape measure and thimble, c.1780, enhanced by the perfect printed label top, the tape end emerging from a slit inch it still has the delicately turned note the printed tape with trailing leaves, the thimble unscrews to reveal on the base for Thomas Barton. £150- in the side. Other popular early shapes tape end – so much care over some- a glass scent bottle. £300-£600. £200. are the barrel or ball. Occasionally, thing so trivial. £50-£80.

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the emery used for cleaning lightly rusted needles. Alongside these the box would often contain a matching set of six or eight reels for cottons and other tools en suite. By the 1830s the Industrial Revol- ution and the evolution of travel had taken effect. There was virtually no material that wasn’t fashioned into a tape measure container, and specialist manufacturers, as well as more indi- vidual craftsmen, sought to bring new models to the market.

Souvenir tapes Two brass novelties: a lion and ball (note the tape in centimetres) and an elephant wound from the tail. Lion £40-£60; elephant £60-£100. Many tapes exist manufactured in Tunbridge ware. Tunbridge Wells had Three Mauchline ware tape measures. Note the photographic image on the centre become a fashionable spa town interest in Scotland and wares small cowrie shell, the tape wound by example as opposed to transfers on the other two. Bell £60-£100; cylinder £40-£60; following the discovery of chalybeate became another perfect format for a a spindle and emerging through the churn £50-£80. waters in the 17th century. Local whole range of sewing tools; these often natural aperture of the shell or a slit craftsmen first developed plain wooden have a small gilt label identifying the cut in the surface. These must have white wares decorated with painted A bone combination double-ended name of the tartan used. been commercially produced judging pedestal pincushion surmounted by a lines and small inscriptions applied in Shells were also used to make by the numbers that exist and the tape, probably French, c.1850. £80-£120. the form of oval or circular labels. souvenir tapes. These are usually a ingenuity of their construction. More decorative wood ware emerged in the form of inlaid van dykes and cubes and then in end-grain mosaic. Pictures and patterns could be built up from different coloured square sticks and sliced off in the same way the lettering goes through a stick of rock. The stick ware and end-grain tech- niques provided a perfect format for sewing tools to be purchased as

(Left to right) A cowrie shell tape measure c.1850; a vegetable ivory example with typical pierced and carved decoration, c.1860; and a boxwood drum form example with coffee-grinder handle. £60-£100; £30-£50; £20-£40. A gilt brass novelty tape measure in the form of the coronation coach, the tape emerging underneath and wound from the top. £80-£120. The evolution of the work box and ary skill for a young woman of sewing table substance. Many readers will be familiar with the By the mid-18th century sewing identifiable souvenirs of a visit, and stumpwork caskets that emerged in tables and boxes began to appear. tape measures were no exception. the 17th century. Contrary to popular Often they had a lift-out tray neatly Occasionally one can find a Tunbridge opinion these were not sewing boxes and uniformly divided, but tools, tape with the manufacturer’s name in which to store sewing tools and cottons and silks were not mass- printed at the start of the tape. work in progress, they were caskets to produced and such boxes contained a Mauchline and tartan ware were store precious possessions. While this random assortment of collected tools. equally popular. Although manufactured might have included a thimble and a Towards the end of the 18th century in Scotland, pieces were sold all over the few other tools, they were equally boxes began to contain sets of tools in country. Mauchline ware, of varnished used for documents, ‘toys’ and other matching materials – gold, silver, ivory, sycamore, was decorated with transfer important personal items. The panels pearl and bone. By the 1830s the tape prints, and later, photographs of holiday were executed to printed designs and measure had become part of a set of and other locations. The turned wooden

sent to London to be made up and tools and was arranged towards the A turned and pierced bone cylinder tape containers themselves could be in the housed in an outer plain box for pro- front of the box as part of a trio of measure, the spindle with a ball finial form of a barrel, ball, skittle, milk churn A fine rosewood sewing box with lower writing drawer. Note the three cylinders tection when travelling. The execution uniform cylinders: the tape measure, incorporating a ‘Stanhope’ or ‘peep’, or other novelty form. The vogue for divided by thimbles at the centre front: tape measure, waxer and emery. The silver of a casket was considered a necess- the waxer used for waxing thread, and c.1880. £50-£80. tartan brought about by Queen Victoria’s fittings dated for London, 1847. Sold for £3,840.

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Vegetable ivory tapes may also include ‘Stanhopes’, normally incorpor- ated into the winding spindle, and developed by Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Stanhope, who was born in 1753. He invented a powerful micro- scope lens, basically a circular glass rod about 3mm in diameter, convex at one end and flat at the other. With the advent of micro photography it became possible to in clude single or multiple images viewable when the ‘peep’ was held to the light. Two celluloid novelties, a hat and galleon. £30-£50 each. A bone cylinder tape measure with (Left to right) A bone tape measure, c.1840; a turned wooden pear, c.1880; and a The Palais Royal overhanging mother-of-pearl top turned rosewood cylinder tape measure. £40-£60 each. Silver-cased tapes American palm Phytelephas macrocarpa. Of all sewing tools sought by collectors (sometimes known as a ‘mop top’). Among the most collectable of the silver- Each nut is roughly ten inches in those manufactured at the Palais Royal Typical of the form that fitted into boxes as trios. £30-£50. cased tape measures are the filigree diameter and when cut open the seeds are the most desired. The Palace was examples, which seem to have emerged resemble ivory but after exposure to built for Cardinal Richelieu in 1629 and as early as the 1760-80 period. They are light become a warm honey colour. upon his death it passed to the French craftsmen-made tools but the working matically re-wound the tape. This mech- years ago and have become more occasionally found in combination with a Combination tools include the Royal Family. In the 18th century it was classes had access to a whole host of anism was later refined so the tape prevalent recently in the form of thimble, the thimble unscrewing from a cylinder needle case surmounted by a rebuilt as a place of recreation and then machine-made tools. The novelty tape stayed out until the button was pressed. animals – crocodiles and rabbits. circular base to reveal a small facet-cut tape measure, double-ended cylinder again in 1804 when Napoleon Bonaparte measure was mass-produced and cheap. As anyone who has enthusiastically scent bottle. Examples with original tape, pincushions incorporating a central became Emperor. This time three sides of Every conceivable form seems to have pushed the button will know, the result is Further reading bottle and stopper are rare. Other popu- tape, or pedestal forms, the stem to the courtyard incorporated shops, selling emerged – copies of household items in pleasing until the end stop flies off and Nerylla Taunton, Antique Needlework Tools and lar silver shapes were of cylinder and take a reel of cotton below a pin- only the finest craftsmen-made wares. copper and other metals, teapots, choc- the tape disappears forever within the Embroideries, Antique Collectors’ Club, 1997 Kay Sullivan, Needlework Tools and octagonal section; these could be cast or cushion surmounted by a tape or the Palais Royal boxes were often fashioned olate pots, coffee grinders, watering mechanism! Accessories – A Dutch Tradition, Antique engraved with flowers or birds, or left in tape included in the pedestal. exclusively from mother-of-pearl, in gilt cans, irons and garden rollers. Other Collectors’ Club, 2004 simple forms such as acorns. All these popular subjects include hats, shoes, Values and fakes Genevieve. E. Cummins and Nerylla. D. patterns and shapes were also created in There are a few tape measures that will rollerskates, clock cases, musical instru- Taunton, Chatelaines – Utility to Glorious ivory, bone or mother-of-pearl, the ments, buildings (actual and imaginary), cost more than £100 but many are avail- Extravagance, Antique Collectors’ Club, 1994 cylinder form with an overhanging circu- motor cars, bathing huts and even a able in the £25-£50 range. As in any lar top that would act as the winding zeppelin, many of which were made in collecting field quality is the usual key to mechanism, or with a central top- Germany. The novelty value was only value and even a Palais Royal tape mounted spindle winder. enhanced when a tape measure in the measure can be found for less than Like the silver filigree tape/thimble/ form of a donkey or a pig could be £100. An exception to the quality rule is scent, the tape measure could form wound by its tail, or a fruit had a tape scarcity, some novelty examples such as part of a combination tool. Many of end modelled as a fly – the opportunities zeppelins and cars, although cheaply these were in bone, ivory or one of the were endless. made are rare and difficult to find and so-called ‘vegetable ivories’ – the The evolution of moulding techniques can command prices in excess of £100. coquilla and the corozo nut. Coquilla in celluloid in the 1920s (although Points that add to value are: the original comes from the Brazilian palm tree, invented much earlier) only served to complete tape in good condition starting Attalena finfifera and was an ideal increase the number of novelties at 0 not 1; the original tape end; mark- substance to turn, carve or pierce. available; most were again made in ings in nails or handwritten rather than Three vegetable ivory tapes. Those left and centre incorporate ‘Stanhopes’ or ‘peeps’ Corozo is the hard albumen of the in the ball finials. Typical turned, pierced and carved decoration. (Left to right) £30- Germany where ceramic examples were the more common printed feet and seed found in the nut of the South £50; £40-£60; £30-£50. also manufactured. The market for inches or centimetres. Replacement celluloid tapes moved to Japan in the tapes are often gaudy and crudely A group of early printed Tunbridge ware metal frames with matching tools fitting 1930s and their advanced modelling marked and rarely include any form of showing typical printed labels. The techniques led to the introduction of numerals or lettering. tightly into the elaborate tray; some tools sewing clamp to fix to a table with pin carried the enamel pansy motif. Many of realistic fruits, figures and heads There are very few fakes on the cushion top and incorporating a tape the tools are superbly crafted and carved, (including easily identifiable politicians, market, however there are a number measure, £120-£180. (Front) A girdle and while tape measures include the celebrities and ethnic minorities), birds, of ‘bone’ tapes with scrimshaw-type pincushion, £50-£80. (Left) A double- usual cylinder forms, there was a fashion animals, fish, insects, bouquets and decoration that started to appear ten ended example, £50-£80. in the Palais Royal boxes for folding and baskets of flowers – no subject or fixed mother-of-pearl rules. object was safe from being converted into a tape measure case. Robert Bleasdale has been involved in the auction business for over 35 Novelties These novelty tapes often involved a years, previously as Regional and Group Managing Director of Bonhams. He By the mid-19th century, sewing and feature first developed in the 1860s and now runs his own company, Bleasdales Ltd, which holds specialist sales of An English silver ribbed cylinder tape measure, c.1820, with coffee-grinder handle, needlework was fashionable with all which replaced the spindle winder: a sewing tools and related items. and an English floral scroll cylinder tape measure, c.1840. £60-£100 each. classes, the wealthy had elaborate spring activated retractor which auto-

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