STAMPED LINEN, DUCHESS SET

A pink voile duchess set with stamped design by Semco, no S/966 'Gay Blooms' is one of a broad range of stamped designs for household articles available in early and mid 20th century. Irregular rectangular shaped mat with points at each short side. Floral design at each end. These were an essential part of a young lady's trouseau in Australia at the time.
In Perth in the first half of the 20th century, evenweave linen fabrics were very rare, design and pattern books few and far between. Thus stamped linens/cottons were one of the few household articles available for the lady of the house to stitch.
Patterns for household linen, mass produced by Semco, MyArt, and Deighton were often published in women's magazines such as Australiann Home Journal, The Weekly Times and the Australian Woman's Weekly and offered as a mail service to women in country areas.