Bobbin lace: an endangered art
Website design By BotEap.comDue to the mechanization of life, traditional arts and crafts are fading away. There was a time when achievements such as sewing, embroidery, crochet or lace making were active in any girl of marriageable age. She increased her value as a housewife.
Today, “time” is a commodity that no one seems to have, not the harried housewife or the office worker juggling work and chores. Also, earnings for hours of intricate work are slim. Website design By BotEap.comSo I was pleasantly surprised to meet an 82 year old lady in the Midlands who was eager to pass on her lace making skills before leaving this earth. However, her students were between sixty and seventy years old, her eyesight was not as good, nor were her fingers as nimble as they used to be. But what they lacked in skill they made up for in her enthusiasm. It was not only an opportunity to learn, but a time for socialization and camaraderie. Website design By BotEap.comI had never seen bobbin lace made in India (although one of the ladies said it had been introduced by colonial wives) and was intrigued by the skill and patience that went into its creation. Website design By BotEap.comBobbin lace or pillow lace differs from other types of lace in that multiple bobbins of thread are used to create the web patterns. The bobbins used can vary from 30 to 1,200, depending on the skill of the lacemaker and the complexity of the design. The coils can be simple wooden or fancy pieces with beads and colored decorations. Some of these are very expensive and have become collector’s items. Website design By BotEap.comA circular pillow filled with straw or polystyrene is used as a support. In Europe rectangular shapes are used. The pillow must be properly “dressed” before work can begin, which means the surface must be smooth and wrinkle-free. Another piece of material is spread over the lower half of the pillow, on which the coils rest. Website design By BotEap.comA paper pattern is spread out on the pillow and the outline of the design is fixed to its surface with several pins. The loose ends of the bobbin threads are hooked around selected pins. Then, braiding, twisting, flipping up or down, backwards or forwards, the most intricate patterns can be produced. “Throwing the coils,” as this procedure is called, is an art that comes with practice. It takes a long time and cannot be rushed. Carelessness could lead to a mess of tangled threads, creating frustration instead of relaxation. It could take almost three hours to make one inch of lace. Website design By BotEap.comThe thread used is mostly white or off-white cotton or linen. Colored threads may be used, as long as the colors do not run. Silk or metal threads have also been tested.
Bobbin lace first originated in Italy in the 15th century. It was from Venice and Milan that the art spread to Germany in the 16th century. It also spread to Great Marlow in England at the same time, where it flourished for three hundred years. It took almost a century for it to spread to other areas.
Because pins were very expensive, lace making was popular only among the wealthy and upper classes. But poor resourceful women used fish bones instead of pins. The expression “pin money” probably derives from the custom of giving marriageable girls money, so that they could buy pins as part of their dowry, to enable them to make lace.
Pattern books on lace making were first printed in Zurich in 1561. The intricacies of knotting techniques were graphically explained. They were only available in German. Although the author of this book was a woman, she could not write under her name, but only use her initials, since women held a very low place in society. Gradually, special books were printed for the nobility and royalty, while simple instructions became available to the common people.
Italy, France and eastern Belgium (Flanders) became famous centers of lace making. This provided a source of income for many women who were confined to their homes. Lace was used to decorate clothing, cuffs, scarves (mantillas) and even on the edges of socks. Men loved to wear lace-trimmed stockings. Lace was also used for home clothes and church accessories. Certain garments worn by the clergy were also trimmed with lace.
The nuns were the first to recognize it as a good source of income, with labor being obtained cheaply from orphans and dependent children. It was certainly a profitable industry, and “convent lace” became famous throughout Europe. Website design By BotEap.comIn France, Louis XIV promoted lace making, heavily subsidizing the industry. He even prohibited the import of lace from other countries.
In the Lauterbrunnen valley in Switzerland, I met another elderly and experienced master who is desperately trying to keep the art alive. He works out of a small room cluttered with her paraphernalia and samples of intricate lace.
“Interest in bobbin lace is fading fast,” he laments, “the advent of machines has sounded the death knell for handmade lace. And yet, this art flourished in Lauterbrunnen for three centuries from 1669 A pastor was responsible for turning it into a cottage industry, seeing the poverty of his parishioners.Special courses were started in 1830, and many joined because they could earn 30 cents an hour of work.All the patterns were original and intricate. Our lace was just as famous for its workmanship as that produced in Brussels and Saxony.”
He showed me samples that incorporated oak leaves, acorns, and flowers into the designs. She even gave me a couple of wooden coils as a souvenir. Website design By BotEap.comPatterns have varied over the centuries. During the Renaissance, geometric designs and symmetrical patterns were popular. But in the 17th and 18th centuries, under Baroque influence, they became more decorative, with intricate patterns of leaves and flowers. The most admired patterns were “English Point”, a six-sided mesh, Machelin and Valenciennes. Website design By BotEap.comThe end of handmade lace began in 1820, when John Levers invented the Levers machine. The machine combined bobbin techniques with weaving techniques and produced lace in bulk. After 1920, machines completely took over. Socioeconomic changes after World War I brought an end to lace-making as a trade. Website design By BotEap.comThe art of bobbin lace is in its last throes. In the few old lace centers such as Bruges, Brussels, Neuchatel and Lauterbrunnen, lace samples can be purchased at exorbitant prices. Website design By BotEap.comWith some old “kloppel” makers refusing to let it die and eager to pass on their skills to a reluctant younger generation, bobbin lace may still survive as an amateur art!
Today, “time” is a commodity that no one seems to have, not the harried housewife or the office worker juggling work and chores. Also, earnings for hours of intricate work are slim. Website design By BotEap.comSo I was pleasantly surprised to meet an 82 year old lady in the Midlands who was eager to pass on her lace making skills before leaving this earth. However, her students were between sixty and seventy years old, her eyesight was not as good, nor were her fingers as nimble as they used to be. But what they lacked in skill they made up for in her enthusiasm. It was not only an opportunity to learn, but a time for socialization and camaraderie. Website design By BotEap.comI had never seen bobbin lace made in India (although one of the ladies said it had been introduced by colonial wives) and was intrigued by the skill and patience that went into its creation. Website design By BotEap.comBobbin lace or pillow lace differs from other types of lace in that multiple bobbins of thread are used to create the web patterns. The bobbins used can vary from 30 to 1,200, depending on the skill of the lacemaker and the complexity of the design. The coils can be simple wooden or fancy pieces with beads and colored decorations. Some of these are very expensive and have become collector’s items. Website design By BotEap.comA circular pillow filled with straw or polystyrene is used as a support. In Europe rectangular shapes are used. The pillow must be properly “dressed” before work can begin, which means the surface must be smooth and wrinkle-free. Another piece of material is spread over the lower half of the pillow, on which the coils rest. Website design By BotEap.comA paper pattern is spread out on the pillow and the outline of the design is fixed to its surface with several pins. The loose ends of the bobbin threads are hooked around selected pins. Then, braiding, twisting, flipping up or down, backwards or forwards, the most intricate patterns can be produced. “Throwing the coils,” as this procedure is called, is an art that comes with practice. It takes a long time and cannot be rushed. Carelessness could lead to a mess of tangled threads, creating frustration instead of relaxation. It could take almost three hours to make one inch of lace. Website design By BotEap.comThe thread used is mostly white or off-white cotton or linen. Colored threads may be used, as long as the colors do not run. Silk or metal threads have also been tested.
Bobbin lace first originated in Italy in the 15th century. It was from Venice and Milan that the art spread to Germany in the 16th century. It also spread to Great Marlow in England at the same time, where it flourished for three hundred years. It took almost a century for it to spread to other areas.
Because pins were very expensive, lace making was popular only among the wealthy and upper classes. But poor resourceful women used fish bones instead of pins. The expression “pin money” probably derives from the custom of giving marriageable girls money, so that they could buy pins as part of their dowry, to enable them to make lace.
Pattern books on lace making were first printed in Zurich in 1561. The intricacies of knotting techniques were graphically explained. They were only available in German. Although the author of this book was a woman, she could not write under her name, but only use her initials, since women held a very low place in society. Gradually, special books were printed for the nobility and royalty, while simple instructions became available to the common people.
Italy, France and eastern Belgium (Flanders) became famous centers of lace making. This provided a source of income for many women who were confined to their homes. Lace was used to decorate clothing, cuffs, scarves (mantillas) and even on the edges of socks. Men loved to wear lace-trimmed stockings. Lace was also used for home clothes and church accessories. Certain garments worn by the clergy were also trimmed with lace.
The nuns were the first to recognize it as a good source of income, with labor being obtained cheaply from orphans and dependent children. It was certainly a profitable industry, and “convent lace” became famous throughout Europe. Website design By BotEap.comIn France, Louis XIV promoted lace making, heavily subsidizing the industry. He even prohibited the import of lace from other countries.
In the Lauterbrunnen valley in Switzerland, I met another elderly and experienced master who is desperately trying to keep the art alive. He works out of a small room cluttered with her paraphernalia and samples of intricate lace.
“Interest in bobbin lace is fading fast,” he laments, “the advent of machines has sounded the death knell for handmade lace. And yet, this art flourished in Lauterbrunnen for three centuries from 1669 A pastor was responsible for turning it into a cottage industry, seeing the poverty of his parishioners.Special courses were started in 1830, and many joined because they could earn 30 cents an hour of work.All the patterns were original and intricate. Our lace was just as famous for its workmanship as that produced in Brussels and Saxony.”
He showed me samples that incorporated oak leaves, acorns, and flowers into the designs. She even gave me a couple of wooden coils as a souvenir. Website design By BotEap.comPatterns have varied over the centuries. During the Renaissance, geometric designs and symmetrical patterns were popular. But in the 17th and 18th centuries, under Baroque influence, they became more decorative, with intricate patterns of leaves and flowers. The most admired patterns were “English Point”, a six-sided mesh, Machelin and Valenciennes. Website design By BotEap.comThe end of handmade lace began in 1820, when John Levers invented the Levers machine. The machine combined bobbin techniques with weaving techniques and produced lace in bulk. After 1920, machines completely took over. Socioeconomic changes after World War I brought an end to lace-making as a trade. Website design By BotEap.comThe art of bobbin lace is in its last throes. In the few old lace centers such as Bruges, Brussels, Neuchatel and Lauterbrunnen, lace samples can be purchased at exorbitant prices. Website design By BotEap.comWith some old “kloppel” makers refusing to let it die and eager to pass on their skills to a reluctant younger generation, bobbin lace may still survive as an amateur art!