This pair of linen pillow comes from the same source as most of the bed linen in this auction. I recently went for a short break to the Basque country and at the same time visited the yearly held Brocante and linen fair which is in SARE and almost at the Spanish border. I was ticked on the shoulder by a elderly lady who had earlier seen me buying Old Basque bed and table linen. She asked me whether I was interested to see the trousseaux from her Maternal and Paternal Great Grandparents. So to cut a long story short I followed her in the car up the mountains and eventually arrived at the magnificent typical Basque style farm house dating back to 1770. Inside she showed me the beautiful and ornate Normandy Armoire in exquisite oak sculptured oak with brass hinges. In the armoire were some magnificent pieces of old bed linen and I was able to obtain 12 pieces. Every piece was in pristine condition and hardly ever used and the lady was so proud to show me all and explain to whom the linen belonged to in the family over all those decades. She had no children to leave it to and was very happy for me to obtain it all. Yet another piece of extraordinary bed linen. As already mentioned in previous descriptives these pieces were very important in those days and almost handled as if it was gold. The wedding armoires were richly and royally filled with thé most wonderful pieces of bed and table linen and both families and their children would have been hard at work. In those days ,each young girls worked to make their own trousseau. Trousseau, coming from the word "truss" which meant "to put in a package". A trousseau was the "bundle of linen" that every young girl brought when she got married. This pair of pillow cases are becoming increasingly rare as most of them ,through wear and tear, have to be disposed off and the replacement nowadays bear no resemblance to what once was!! The outfits of wealthy families could contain up to 33 bed linen and as many pillow cases. This pair with the initials H.R. ( Henry (and so very French ) and Renata ( she was of German origin ) are so beautifully made and you can always immediately see this as the front of the pillow case should be more generous than the back as it has to make room for the large goose or even swan filled pillow. The initials are "crowned" with 4 small relief embroidery and on either side is Jour de Venise ( generous open thread work.) The cases are framed with an extra 5 cm and with thread work. They have envelope finishing at the back.