At some point in my lacemaking career, I observed an elderly member of my guild
who was no longer able to see well enough to make lace. She sought the help of
a member of the guild, who agreed to sell her extensive collection of Midlands
bobbins. Several years later the same elderly lady contacted me to help sell
the rest of her stuff. The first person who had helped her had taken bobbins
worth two or three thousand dollars (Archer bobbins... 20 -30+) as well as
many other highly prized English and Australian bobbins...as well as a full
collection of lacemaking books), and had told her they were sold and had given
her roughly $25 for the lot!
My advice is that when you have a collection to sell, be sure that you involve
an entire guild, and not just one member. If you have no heirs, then leave
your guild or the IOLI to dispose of as they wish. If you have heirs, leave
them written directive as to who should handle the lace supplies/collection,
and if possible, a reasonable estimate of the worth of the collection.
The lady who was so badly served by one member of my former guild later
contacted me to sell the remainder of her things. The bobbins alone... minus
the Archers and the other fancys, fetched at least $1,500, while her pillows
and other supplies took the total to nearly $2,500... Which she received in
full from me.
Please... Take the time to document your collection, and be sure to include
this in your estate plans! Don't let it get swiped by a greedy volunteer!
Clay
Clay Blackwell
Lynchburg, VA
Sent from my iPad
On Feb 12, 2014, at 6:50 PM, Lyn Bailey lynrbai...@desupernet.net wrote:
Jane Partridge mentioned in some detail the situations various
executors/trixes face when dealing with the estate of a lace maker. It
behooves us to figure out what has value, which may not be what we spent so
many hours making, but may be our books, or the midlands bobbins, or an
expensive pillow, as opposed to the others. A word to the future
administrators of the estate as to what is known to be valuable, and perhaps
what was paid for that fancy bone bobbin from a special maker would be a good
idea, and a great favor to them, making the estate more money by pointing out
where the value is.
For many reasons it might be a good idea to take a picture of the expensive
bobbins, with date of purchase, if you remember it, maker, if it's important,
and what you paid for it. Not only for an estate, but also for insurance
purposes.
Lyn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, where we are waiting for the snow
tomorrow. That's not the most worrying, but any extensive power outages.
Everything that can be charged is charged.
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