Exhibition

 

Lace: The Art of Needle and Bobbin

Higbee Gallery, March 23, 2007 - January 6, 2008

Jean Druesedow, Curator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Furnishing Flounce of Bobbin Lace, Non-continuous Lace

Flemish or Milanese, early 18th century

Linen

102” x 31”

These bold patterns of bobbin lace clothwork have been re-grounded with a needle lace mesh in the Alençon style.  It is this kind of combination of elements that make the definition of types of lace both difficult and confusing.  The pattern repeat is about 24” so the scale of the lace would be appropriate for a decorative furnishing.

Kent State University Museum

Gift of Jo A. Bidner, 2004.17.12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bobbin Lace Flounce, Non-Continuous Lace

Brussels, about 1700 (Re-made in the mid-19th century)

Linen

8 ½” wide

This piece of bobbin lace, with customs seals attached, was probably re-made and imported in the mid-19th century.  Re-made to be a “bertha” collar, its new shape would have been fashionable around 1845. This was originally made in the “non-continuous lace” technique.  Non-continuous lace is made in small pieces which are then joined together with separately worked bars or a ground mesh.  Because as many parts as are needed can be made separately, non-continuous lace is easier to make than a complex continuous lace.

Kent State University Museum

Gift of Jo A. Bidner, 2004.27.9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bobbin Lace Flounce, Cluny Style

European, mid-19th century

Linen

63 ¾” x 9 ¼”

Both the East Midlands of England and Le Puy in France have been credited with the mid-nineteenth century development of what has become known as Cluny lace.  In France, the Musée de Cluny in Paris holds a collection of early Genoese lace thought to be the inspiration of the lace-makers of Le Puy as they sought to revive their lace-making industry in the nineteenth century.  In Bedfordshire, in the East Midlands of England, the lace originally imitated Continental styles.  Wheatears are one of the distinguishing features of this kind of lace, and this example seems to combine characteristics of both the French and English styles.  In East Midlands lace the wheatears can be found raised above the clothwork as they are here in the central motif, while in Le Puy laces there can be long lines of wheatears, as in several areas of this pattern.  By the mid-nineteenth century the various styles of lace were no longer exclusive to specific geographic areas, thus the origin of this example is difficult to determine.

Kent State University Museum

Transferred from the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio. Gift of Mrs. F. F. Prentiss, Cleveland, 1995.17.1234

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bodice Fragment, Chemical Lace

European, about 1910

Cotton

Chemical lace is a type of machine embroidery worked in a vegetable fiber such as cotton on a silk ground.  The ground fabric is burned away with caustic soda or chlorine and the result imitates both needle lace and crochet.  The detail image shows the wrong side of the lace where the bobbin thread is visible.  The process was developed in the 1880s.

Kent State University Museum

Gift of Ann Wardwell, 2005.18.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bobbin Lace Flounce, Non-Continuous Lace, Honiton

English, Devonshire, mid-19th century

Linen

44” x 3 ½”

The thistle of Scotland and the rose of England are combined in this example of Honiton lace.  The discontinuous motifs are joined by bars decorated with picots.

Kent State University Museum

Silverman/Rodgers Collection, 1983.1.1335a

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Needle Lace Flounces in Two Widths

Italy, Burano, about 1900

Linen

Wider lace: three pieces cut apart and repaired, 62” x 7 ¾”

Narrower lace: 52 ¼” x 3 ½”

The wider lace is the same pattern pictured in Santina M. Levey’s Lace, A History, published by the Victoria and Albert Museum.  The late nineteenth century saw a revival of traditional lace making and one of the most important centers was on the island of Burano in the Venetian Lagoon.  This example is recognizable by the fibrous nature of the thread which is a darker color and creates a “fuzzy” feel and appearance.  The two flounces have one motif in common, but that of the narrower piece is reversed.  They share the same filling stitches.

Kent State University Museum

Silverman/Rodgers Collection, 1983.1.1439ab; 2365ab