If the decorative pins and bands that were used to hold back curtains in the
19th century look more like jewelry than practical hardware, attribute the glamour
to a bit of celebrating. By the end of the 18th century, mechanized textile
production in England was making volumes of cloth affordable. Swathing windows
not only helped cut down on window drafts in neoclassical America but also made
a fashion statement. The attendant hardware, released from basic, economical
18th-century function, took off on its own opulent trajectory.
Today, many of those window treatments would be considered over-the-top, but tiebacks are another story. Displayed on a side table as objets d'art or used to cinch back modest floor-length panels of silk, cotton, or linen, antique pins and bands add period flavor and decorative dimension to a room.
Maryland antiques dealer Aileen Minor specializes in original neoclassical curtain hardware. In 25 years of looking, she has located plenty of ornate designs made from either embossed or cast brass, as well as ornamental glass. She sells them to historic houses and house museums and never tires of all the variations that dazzle the eye. "Think of curtain pins, bands, and tieback hardware as punctuation marks to window treatments," she says. "They kept curtains back during the daytime but drew attention to the period's highly elaborate cascades of fabrics. Even with simple curtains, they add just the right touch of elegance."
Tieback hardware originated when fabric was precious and limited to draping only the window glass to curtail drafts. A cord drew a modest length of fabric up and down the window's height. Cleated to a pair of small, 1-inch round pins driven into the wooden window molding, the cord held the shade open during the day to create "a swag and tail or a festoon," says Gail Winkler, a design historian in Pennsylvania. "The pins, positioned to one side of the window, are probably the precursor to 19th-century tieback hardware."
Ackermann's Regency Furniture & Interiors (1984) refers to the
early 19th-century practice of using cords and tassels to loop back long curtains
at about chair rail level. However, Thomas Sheraton notes in his circa-1805
Cabinet-Maker, Upholsterer and General Artists' Encyclopaedia that the
method was out-of-date. Instead, the long lengths of cloth might have rested
directly on metal pins, which were often called cloak pins.
"Cloak pins were screwed or driven into walls in the 18th century to hang clothing and hats on," says Don Fennimore, curator of metals at Winterthur. "But in the 19th century, the pin is differentiated according to what was hanging on it. Closets came in at this time, and the pin, no longer needed for holding coats, graduated to facilitating and complementing elaborate curtain styles."
