Melvin "Pete" Mark 1926-2017

[L Verge]

(06-13-2017 08:21 PM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Without proper documentation any such fabric would be considered worthless, I would think.

I agree, Bill. How much do we know about how carefully "Pete" scrutinized things he collected. A certain doctor (now deceased) sometimes bought pigs in a poke just because he thought they were related to Lincoln and the assassination. He was also competing with two other well-known collectors and tried to beat them to the punch.

I have never seen the chair up close and personal, but those defects certainly seem to be wear and tear marks, not deliberate snippings for souvenirs. My mother used to do that type of upholstering, and there were no loose ends tucked on the underside that could have been cut off and gone undetected.

Right now, I am dealing with someone who wants us to buy two quilts that were supposedly made by Mary Surratt, one is signed in cross-stitch and dated 1859 directly on the quilt. However, the fabrics are pristine and look like they never saw the light of day since 1859; the dye colors appear to be of the mid-19th century; but, there is no clear provenance that leads back to any of the Surratts; and my quilt expert thinks they look too good to be true. We have only photos to work from right now.

We have no record of Mary working on anything other than routine sewing, and by the time of her trial, her daughter and Aunt Rachel testified to her poor eyesight making it necessary for them to assist her in sewing (such as threading the needle for her).

The current owner claims that a DC doctor bought the quilts from a sale in that city in 1918. Anna died in 1904, her family was in Baltimore, she had only one daughter, Clara, who never married. We acquired Mary's desk via a cousin of Clara's who inherited it directly from Clara. That's the kind of provenance I'm looking for!