Antique c1910 Edward VII Postage Stamp Folk Art Textile 117 Stamps Postal History
DESCRIPTION
A fascinating and highly unusual piece of early 20th-century British postal and social history.
This handmade textile panel is decorated with 117 genuine used King Edward VII postage stamps, carefully laid out in a regular 9 row × 13 column grid.
The maker has deliberately alternated the colours to form horizontal bands of 1d scarlet/red and ½d green Edward VII definitive stamps, creating a striking geometric decorative effect.
The stamps retain their original postal cancellations and many have particularly clear circular date stamps. Numerous British towns and cities can be seen amongst the postmarks, including examples from Newport, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Birmingham and Liverpool, together with others.
Several dates are clearly legible, including cancellations extending into 1910, indicating that the piece cannot have been assembled before then. It therefore appears to be an Edwardian / early 20th-century piece, probably made circa 1910 or shortly afterwards.
117 stamps in total – 9 rows × 13 columns.
The stamps appear to have been individually adhered directly to the cloth and arranged with considerable care. The surrounding textile has folded and unfinished edges, suggesting that it may originally have been intended as a decorative covering, panel, mat or component of another handmade object. Its precise original purpose is unknown.
This type of decorative work using genuine postage stamps is generally described as postage-stamp folk art, stamp collage or stamp découpage. Surviving examples can be found on period boxes and other decorative objects, although a textile-mounted example of this form appears to be considerably less commonly encountered.
Research has located a comparable late-19th-century European folk-art wooden box covered with genuine postage stamps deliberately arranged by colour into a checkerboard/grid pattern.
The stamps themselves are predominantly ordinary low-denomination Edward VII issues and the interest of this piece lies principally in the complete decorative composition, period postmarks, folk-art construction and social/postal history, rather than the value of individual stamps.
CONDITION
A genuine antique handmade piece in unrestored condition.
There is age-related staining and discolouration to the textile, fraying and irregularity around the outer edges, creasing, and general wear consistent with age and storage.
The stamps have varying degrees of wear, staining and fading. There are some small losses, tears, lifted corners and damaged areas to individual stamps. This is particularly visible in the detailed photographs.
No attempt has been made to clean, restore or remove the stamps.
Please study all photographs carefully as they form an important part of the description and show the condition, construction and postmarks in considerable detail.
An unusual survivor and an interesting crossover collectible for collectors of British postal history, King Edward VII stamps, Edwardian ephemera, antique folk art, naïve art and unusual textile work.
A genuinely intriguing piece whose original maker and exact intended function remain unknown.
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