Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tatting history - work of a legend

I'm tatting away on bracelets, Christmas presents for folks.


I made the black one with bugle bead centers and sterling silver findings. The navy one has the little silver middle beads, and some bigger ones I got Sunday at Michaels (I had a coupon for 15% off my order - woo-hoo!).

I have some final Palmetto Tat Days pictures for you. Sue Hanson came and brought some of the late, great Mary Konior's tatting. It seems that Mary's children placed no value on her tatting until she died. Mary had given the tatting to Sue, and Mary's children realized that there was some monetary value to the tatting, so they have demanded it all back. They plan to sell it off piecemeal. Sue was in tears when she told us this.

Sue brought tons of Mary's tatting and displayed it. I was in awe. I have three of Mary's tatting books, and many of these are the originals shown in her books. I've made some of these. None of mine hold a candle Mary's work.

I took pictures, and now I'm sharing.


See what I mean? Wow. Oh Wow.


8 comments:

  1. Thanks for the photos - and the story...kind of unbelievable! And sad...
    Fox

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  2. Beautiful tatting! It's sad and disgusting how Mary's family have acted since her passing. How tacky and insensitive to demand the return of them from Sue. I would tell them to go whistle in the wind because a gift is a gift, and at least it was originally given to someone who appreciated the work regardless of the monetary value. Uggh, tacky and shame on the family.

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  3. It's sad, but true that bereavement often brings out the worst in families. How lucky you were to have had the opportunity to have seen the work. Mary no doubt had chosen to give it to Sue because she knew it would have been intrinsically valued, otherwise she would surely have already given it to her family herself.

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  4. So disgusting, really. I agree, a gift is a gift, Sue can't be obliged to give them back.
    Anyway, thank you for sharing these photos!

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  5. Thank you for sharing the photos of Mary's tatting. She was an amazing designer! It's sad to read that her family is demanding that gifts be returned. What a horrible ordeal for Sue to go through.

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  6. A few years ago Sue brought the same pieces to Hector and I got to see and (gasp) touch them. Awesome! Too bad Sue couldn't have donated them to one of the lace museums before they were asked for. I think that's where they really belong.

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  7. What a shitty thing of those kids to do. So sad for her friend, too.

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  8. Somehow I missed this post! I am in awe of Mary's fabulous tatted pieces but dismayed to read about Mary's children's attitude.

    I've always been curious about Mary's tatting history. I have only one of her books (Visual Patterns) and in it there is little information about her, so I wondered if the other books have more of a biographical sketch.

    I also wondered if she had passed her skills on to someone in her family. How could the family not have valued her work! She did all that incredible tatting and designing and wrote those fabulous books - which was another major accomplishment! They should have been so proud of her and cherished her actual tatted pieces.

    Apparently Sue knew Mary rather well?
    This is a difficult situation.

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