Mauchline Ware are wooden souvenirs manufactured in Scotland, primarily in factories in or near Mauchline and predominantly made of sycamore. The items have various finishes in a large variety of applications. Most Mauchline Ware products have transfers or photographs of popular tourist locations. There were also finishes with tartan, fern and black lacquer.
On offer here is a little new testament that has a nice Mauchline ware cover. The cover is made of honey-toned wood with a pronounced and lovely grain. The wood is very shiny and any white marks on my images are not on the book - but are reflections of light falling on the surface. It would have been an expensive Victorian souvenir which more wealthy tourists might have purchased on their travels in Scotland.
The front cover of the book has a vignette showing a view of Edinburgh Castle from Princes Street with the National Gallery of Scotland and the Gardens in the foreground. The cover is in good condition, front and back - and the spine is made of leather - this is also in good condition with no splitting. Inside the pages are nice and clean - no scribbles to the pages or inscriptions. The page edges are gilded, but the gold tone has darkened slightly with age. There is a little issue with the fly-leaf and back page - where the pages have stuck together (in the distant past). I have photographed this for your inspection.
It is a nice enough little Mauchline book - if you collect these items - and it is fairly priced.
It will be posted to you with Royal Mail Recorded postage. FREE POSTAGE
HISTORY: Mauchline Wares are Scottish wooden items which date from about the 1880s - until the 1900s. They are generally wooden souvenirs and giftware - made of fruitwood and decorated with black transfer designs. The scenes are usually of landmarks and popular towns - and spots favoured by tourists. They were very popular in their day and many pieces were exported globally.
The centre of the Mauchline Ware industry is the small village of Mauchline - which is located 11 miles inland from the Scottish coastal resort of Ayr. At its peak over 400 people were involved in the manufacture of these small (but always beautifully made) wooden souvenirs. Similar products were also made in Lanark - but most of the pieces are known by the generic name of Mauchline Ware.