Fine French Christening Cape with Lavish Hand Embroidery for Boy or Girl Baby

Description

Welcome to
~FRENCH VINTAGE LINENS AND ANTIQUES~
Where You Will Find Beautiful and Unusual Vintage Linens & Apparel and Antiques from France
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fine French Christening Cape with Lavish Hand Embroidery
for Boy or Girl Baby
Very Fine French Vintage Christening Cape for Baby Boy...or Girl with Lavish Hand Embroidery
This exceptionally fine Christening cape, dating to around the turn of the last century, and for a baby boy's (or girl's) Christening is a wonderful find.
While in much of Europe, including England, baby boys most often wore elaborate Christening gowns almost identical to those for girls, in France the tradition for boys was generally an elegant cape such as this.
This exceptional piece is a double cape or rather an outer cape over a little inner coat with sleeves.
It has been make of the finest cotton Pique in a true white with richly worked hand embroidery depicting grapes and leaves.
It is the lavish embroidery that makes this cloak rare and truly exceptional.
This embroidery, has been worked by a talented and experienced needlewoman, very likely a Sister in a Convent where these special items of clothing for Baptism were often made.
Work such as this took time and patience and was a sort of meditation for the Sisters.
This cloak was likely commissioned by a very well to do family as even when made it would have been a costly thing.
This entirely hand made French Christening Cape is in superb vintage condition with no flaws that I see after careful examination, save a very few and faint age spots which would be not noticeable...but truly nothing that is major.
It is clean and without holes or repairs...in other words it is in exceptionally fine vintage condition.
This cape measures 38 1/2 (98 cm) inches long from the center back neck to the back hem.
The measurement around the neck is approx. 14 1/2 inches (37 cm).
The sleeves under the upper cape measure 7 1/2 (19 cm) inches long with an opening at the embroidered cuff of approx. 8 inches (20cm) around.
We have added a ribbon at the neck to replace the one that was likely there.
We cannot assign sizes to our vintage items but we believe this cape would fit a baby from about 3/4 months up to about 12 months depending on body type.
We think this regal and elegant cape would be most wonderful for the Christening of a baby boy as it is so difficult to find special Christening clothes for boys such as we find for baby girls.
Having said that, this would be a magnificent cloak over a special gown for a baby girl as well.
A Rare, Elegant and Romantic French Christening Cape for a special baby...and for generations to come, a true Heirloom...
Price: 0.00
Our preferred method of payment is by PayPal.
However we also accept all forms of payment offered by eBay.
++Please ask for more detailed photos if you wish ++
FVLA# 4809
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR MORE PHOTOS.
Shipping from France to Europe, the US and Canada will be .50 by French Colissimo International Airmail which includes Insurance and a Tracking number with delivery on a signature for added security.
As in the past, we are always happy to combine items to save on shipping costs.
Returns:
We hope, and even expect, that you will be satisfied with your purchase, but if for any reason you are not, please return the item in described condition within 7 days of receipt for a full refund of the purchase price. Shipping costs both ways remain the responsibility of the buyer unless a buyer feels we have grossly misrepresented an item. In that case we will refund return shipping also. As well it is our policy that an item returned to us must be insured for its purchase amount by the purchaser. Your purchase of this item assures us that you understand and agree with our shipping and returns policies.
So far we have had 100% satisfaction with our items.
Please take a minute to have a look at our Feedback.
We work hard to maintain our 100% customer satisfaction and we hope it continues.
To that end we make every effort to describe our items accurately and fully and to note any small flaws which are inevitable in these vintage items.
Also please see our Comments on Condition and Pricing below.
We welcome and encourage your questions regarding measurements, condition, etc. before purchase. We will respond in the shortest time possible. Please note that we are 6 hours ahead of EST and 9 hours ahead of PST. For example when it is noon in NYC, it is 6:00 pm the same day here in France.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally we request that you Carefully Verify Your Shipping Address
and that you provide us with a Telephone Number which we will add to the Shipping form
that will be attached to your parcel. This can help insure safe and speedy delivery.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is our policy to abide by all eBay Rules and Regulations to the best of our ability and understanding
for the protection of our customers and ourselves.
We are a fully liscensed and legal business in France. Our Siret Number is 502590573.00015
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comments on the Condition of the items we sell:
Virtually all the items we sell are "vintage" which means they have, in the majority of cases, been used, and are at least 50  to 75,  and occasionally even more than 100 years old. Having said that, we do not sell items that are so used that they are obviously  heavily worn, faded, or too fragile to use.  Almost all our items were made by hand in France during the first half of the last century--most would date from between about 1890 and 1950, although it is quite difficult to be certain of an exact date in most cases. It would be quite unusual to find this kind of fine hand work in France after about 1960. Again because these items are Vintage they have, in the vast majority of cases, been used.  However all the items we sell have been carefully selected and inspected when we purchase them for their Very Good to Superb vintage condition. Still it is inevitable that occasionally there may be a  hardly noticable tiny pin dot stain or a tiny rend on any given item.  We always carefully launder and iron our items and in doing so inspect them carefully for a second time. If we notice a small flaw on an item we put that in my description.  It is our hope that our customers understand that we would not and do not sell items which are not clean or have evident large stains or tears.
But please do understand that because the items we sell are Vintage, and usually are at least 50 to 75 years old,  they are rarely absolutely "pristine and perfect" as if  they were new. If one expects that, then it is probably best not to purchase vintage items.
Like all fine antiques, they will have their own sort of "patina." Some sellers do sell these vintage items in the state in which they find them and of course they inform their customers of that fact. We prefer to do laundering and ironing for our customers before shipping an item. In that way you can use and enjoy your purchase immediately.
Comments on Pricing:
Because the items we sell are generally much sought after here in France and abroad, they are becoming more rare, and certainly more difficult to find.  We travel far and wide in our region of France to visit flea markets, brocantes, antique shops and private sellers. We visit Paris from time to time, and we search  for these rare items in other areas of France when possible.
Generally our buying costs are rising all the time as these Beautiful Handmade Vintage items become more scarce.
Our travel costs to seek out new items are significant.   Very importantly for our customers, I spend a great deal of time laundering and ironing the items we sell.  This always involves lots of  energy (both electrical and mine!) and time, and often requires specialized laundry products which can be costly.  As well the percentage we pay both  eBay  and Paypal for listing , sale and transaction  fees  are significant.  Finally we are a legal business here in France. We accurately report our eBay income and pay taxes on it.
For all these reasons, the prices of these vintage items may seem a bit high--but the fact is that almost all these items are rare and special by virtue of being Handmade. Many are virtual works of art, (some are actually of museum quality), having been made entirely by hand by highly skilled, but sadly now unknown, seamstresses and embroiderers.
These skilled craftswomen have all but entirely disappeared.  This kind of French hand work is virtually a Lost Art and these items are rare.  Still, in the face of the expenses involved in running our business, we do our best to keep our prices as reasonable as possible because it really is a great pleasure to package something very beautiful and very special and send it off to someone who will appreciate a lovely European Treasure From the Past.
*******************************************************************************
Thank you for visiting
~VINTAGE FRENCH LINENS AND ANTIQUES~
We invite you to visit us again soon to see the new items we regularly add.
Also please do
Sign up for our email newsletters
and be sure to add us to your
favorites list
!
Click here to see our
other items
!
*******************
.