The £98,000 Vercelli Mansion — Veiled Treasures of a Forgotten Silk Room

Vercelli Mansion’s silk room carried the hush of halted industry. Within these walls, £98,000 had been invested in imported silks, commissions, and trading contracts, all carefully recorded, now veiled beneath dust and neglect.

Marco Vercelli, Silk Merchant and Weaver

Marco Vercelli, born 1856 in Milan, established his reputation as a silk merchant and artisan supplying European courts and colonial markets.

Married to Giuliana Vercelli, he had one son. His life is evident through objects: partially wound spools, measuring tapes with frayed edges, ink-stained ledgers, imported silk patterns, and annotated correspondence with Indian and Chinese suppliers. Daily routines—loom preparation at dawn, fabric inspection at midday, accounting at dusk—left faint impressions on benches and floors. His temperament was exacting, deliberate, and financially minded, combining craftsmanship with commerce.

Trade Interruptions and Financial Strain

By 1913, political unrest and shipping disruptions in India and China delayed imports and voided orders. Payments stalled, debts accumulated, and some planned commissions were canceled. The silk room shows the impact: partially woven panels, ledgers ending mid-page, and spools left in disarray. Some fabrics may have been sold quietly; much remains, its monetary and artistic value veiled and unresolved.

A folded note lies beneath a partially finished bolt of silk: “Preserve until payments clear.” Payments never cleared. Vercelli Mansion remains silent, its silk room intact, its ledgers unfinished, and its wealth—textile, financial, and artistic—left veiled and unresolved.