Object: Mauchline Ware Pincushion

Date: 19th c

Description: A Mauchline Ware pincushion. The manufacturers of these little wooden souvenirs were always on the lookout for special wood to make their wares very desirable. In the case of this little pincushion, the wood was salvaged after the fire that destroyed the original Mounstuart House. The image on the front depicts ‘Ruins of the Marquis of Bute’s House’. On the back it states that it is made from wood salvaged from the fire at Mountstuart House in 1877.

Origin: Mauchline Ware was made in the town of Mauchline in Ayrshire and in its heyday in the 1860s, as many as 400 people were employed in the industry of making souvenir ware for both the UK and abroad. This pincushion was purchased at auction.