Early Antique PA German Show Towel 1840 Herschy family Tulips, Peacocks, very folky and great composition! Start Price USD 175.00 Current Price USD 175.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Friday, September 05, 2008 End Time Friday, September 12, 2008 Location Lake Oswego, OR See more about 'Early Antique PA German Show Towel 1840 Herschy family' Description Hi there, for your consideration is a VERY special piece.  This is a PA German show towel and it is a great one! With this show towel you get 1) dated 1840 2) a well known PA family Herschy ( this could be mispelled or not- there were both the Herschy and Hershey families in Lancaster and surrounding counties throughout early PA history to the present. 3) wonderful composition with tulips, distlefinks, peacocks, pinwheels etc...  The verse reads as follow: The grass is gren the rose is read hear is my name when I am and in my grave and all my bones are rotten when this you see remember me. her towl  Elizabeth L Herschy 1840 A little history show towels were made by young PA German ladies as their final needlework project after years of doing marking samplers and learning their basic embroidery and marking stitches their mothers would teach them at home.  Young PA German s learned their sewing and embroidery skills at home , while their " English" contemporaries were taught much of the time at young ladies schools PA German s for the most part were taught at home when the chores were done.  When these show towel's were completed they were proudly hung on the interior doors of PA German homes to show prospective suitors their needlework skills.  Once betrothed they made their way to the dower chest of the bride.  These are very very special textiles and are lovingly made with great history.  For more references see the PA German Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art by Beatrice Garvan. Show towels are located in all the major museums throughout the mid Atlantic. The dimensions of the towel are as follow length 53 1/8" long width 19".  The condition is very good, however as you can see in the photos there are losses to the embroidery and borders.  There are losses to the peacocks tails and minor losses to their bodies, slight losses to the zig zag border and slight losses to the tulips and vases.  Slight losses to the fringes...  These are outlined in the photos.  For those of you that love PA German textiles this is a great piece with a great provenance.  I bought it from a great textile dealer in CA who bought it directly from the family that migrated to the West.  You will love this piece. Thank you for looking and please check my other Country-Americana items! I accept PayPal, checks and money orders, payment must be received within 7 days of auction close. Please note the coverlet pictured in picture one is not included in this auction and is backdrop only. Thank you ! Place a Bid!