Two 1840's Staff Parasols

You always know an obsession is getting bad when you start purchasing things that have nothing to do with why you originally got into something in the first place.  When I started this parasol journey, I just wanted some pretty parasols for living history.  Now I only do 1853-1875 so that's a pretty narrow range of parasols to purchase.  These parasols were my first ventures outside that realm.  To be fair to myself, I didn't actually know what the first parasol dated to when I bought her-I just noted she had wooden ribs and therefore was pre-1858.  She was not in her original cover and the cover she was in was obviously incorrect so no one was moving to buy her.  I snapped her up at a pretty good price!  I purchased her for study purposes and for dating purposes because I did want to get better at dating things and having originals always helps with that.  The other one I knew was an 1840's parasol, but I purchased her anyway.  Mostly because of her pretty intact bone finial.  I'm a sucker for parasols with complete finials (probably because most of my collection has broken finials).

I went back and forth between the first being an 1820's parasol and 1840's parasol but as my knowledge of parasols grew, I knew she was 1840's.  Rosewood handles, staff parasols, and long finials are all characteristics of 1840's parasols.

Even though her original cover was long gone, I took pictures of how I received her.  It may not be what she was originally covered in, but it is part of her history and does deserve to be preserved.

Her stick is rosewood (very, very common for 1840's parasols) and she has rattan ribs.  The tip is brass and the finial is another type of metal.  I think tin.  Here she is uncovered:

The next parasol would have been a little more expensive when she was made because of her bone pieces.  Her handle is missing, but it would have been a little knob of bone sort of like this original:

Alas, hers is long since gone.  I'll have to eventually source out a replacement.  Her cover is also not original, but is pretty and matches better than the metal parasol.

Her stick is also rosewood and ribs are rattan.  Finial is in perfect condition, which almost makes up for the fact her handle is lost.

Now, here she is uncovered:

My eventual plan is to recover both parasols.  The tin I plan on recovering in green (green and brown were common throughout the 1840's for parasols) and the other in blue.  Towards the end of the 1840's, pink and blue came out of the sea of green and brown and became very popular for parasols.  As the bone parasol was covered in blue (although a later cover), I'm going to hope that the people who recovered her at least chose a color that was similar to her original.  There is also a piece of blue polished cotton underneath her finial that may have been original to this parasol.  For these reasons, I'm hoping for a nice, pretty blue to cover her.  I haven't found fabric for either one so they'll both sit without covers for a while.

Enjoy!