Tieback tassel and cord only. Large tassel on a cord, both tassel and cord match the tiebacks. The twisted cord has a solid strand of gold threads wrapped with twisted blue and black, and blue and yellow strands. The tassel consists of wooden beads that provide the tassel with structure. The other tassels have three beads, the first bead has broken off on this tassel. The bead are round in graduated sizes, and the third bead is a dome that supports the hanging tassel strings. The beads are wrapped vertically with gold thread, black and yellow twist, and blue gimp trim in a simple wave pattern. The black and yellow twist sits on either side of the gimp, and the gold thread is wrapped in between the stripes of trim. There is a beveled spacer wrapped in blue silk thread with yellow thread wrapped horizontally around the center that should sit in between the first and second bead, on this tassel is sits below the cord. In between the second and third bead is a ring-shaped spacer wrapped in black thread above a similar beveled spacer wrapped in blue and yellow thread. Below the largest bead is a row of alternating blue, black, and gold tied tassels form the outer edge of the tassel fringe. Inside the tied tassels the rest of the tassel strings are gold twisted cord. The multicolored tassel strings have gotten tangled and do not lay flat. The thread wrapped around the forms is breaking off in many places, almost all the gold thread is gone. The remaining wooden beads are quite brittle and are loose.
This tassel (part of a set 234919.0055a-k) was donated by the daughters of Walter Tuckerman, a prominent man in the banking, real estate, and naturalist world of Maryland in the 20th century. In his early adulthood, he was part of the Alaskan Border Survey Commission in 1909. His letters home are full of optimism and wonder at the wilderness of Alaska, he even received the honor of a mountain named after him, Mt. Tuck. After he returned from Alaska, he founded The Bank of Bethesda in Bethesda, Maryland. Tuckerman also led the development of the nearby neighborhood of Edgemoor in Bethesda, Maryland. His daughters donated the drapes with a note stating that they came “from our parent’s house” (page 178 of scanned accession file). It is likely that the house in question was the family home called Tuxeden in Bethesda.