THE LACES, THEN AND NOW

The skill required to make these exquisite, dimensional art forms is centuries old and only currently made as a ‘hobby' lace or by a few artists worldwide. The origin of lace is long and colorful, steeped with historic events, the famous and infamous, surrounded by beauty and life as well as death. An integral part of various cultures, its roots began as far back as Egyptian times but were brought into the mainstream via the Church. Below is a brief summary of a very complex history of the origin of recorded lace, the various categories of lace and the technique of bobbin lace:

Hands in motion making CLUNY lace

A POINT MILAN pattern in work

LACE BY DEFINITION

“Lace” technically is a type of needlepoint. If it is made with no fabric foundation, it is called punto in aria. This includes, for example, Venice and Spanish flat point and raised point, point de France, Alençon point and point de gaze. The designs are quite different, but they are all from the same category of bobbin point lace making. This technique incorporates small bobbins onto which the thread is wound, and then hang from the point of attachment. The ‘canvas' or pattern of the design is ‘pricked' into a special paper placed over a large, round pillow (trine a fuselli) with a slightly arched surface. The lace design is created by quickly overlapping and crossing the bobbins, almost braiding or weaving them together, therefore knotting the thread into the desired pattern. As the lace pattern is made, it is ‘pinned' into the appropriate section of the pricked pattern with small pins, sometimes using hundreds of pins to hold the various sections in place. The bobbins are used continuously throughout the process completing both the pattern and groundwork of the lace. There is no fabric incorporated into the pattern, just strands of the thread creating the weight, tension and design.

THE PROCESS OF MAKING FINE BOBBIN LACE

Preparing the lace pattern on the pillow

Winiding the Lace thread onto bobbins

Young Students learning from a Master

Lace Ladies in action

Historically, the same process has been used for making all forms of bobbin lace for centuries. The lace our India “Lace Ladies” are making is Venetian Lace, Point Milan Lace and Cluny Lace. They're all unique methods but have similarities – the use of bobbins wound with one strand of lace thread, a pattern punched into a heavy gauge paper cover over a lap ‘pillow' and the use of pins to control the pattern. The images (see photos) show how the lace is developed on top of the ‘pillow' and held in place with pins until a section is completed then pins are removed. For many designs, it may require over one hundred bobbins are attached to the pillow at one time. The thread is never touched – once it's wound onto the small wooden bobbin, fingers only touch the bobbin handle and the pins, not the thread itself. It is never washed, as is customary with other techniques of embroidery or crochet. The lace is pristine and crisp, natural and flowing. It is the technique that creates the rigidity or drape in the lace. A Venetian lace piece is much more rigid than the same type of design in Cluny lace, which is flowing, soft and airy. Examples of each are shown, although to see a photo is much different than touching the texture and appreciating the complexity of the lace weaving.

Once the lace pattern is set up and the bobbins attached, the artist moves her hands rapidly back and forth, over and under, to braid, twist and combine the threads to create the patterns. It’s unbelievable to see the speed at which these “Lace Ladies” manipulate the bobbins and the perfect tension created with each motion. Even a pattern that looks like simple mesh or a web type design is actually made of many threads being combined and ‘braided’ together to make what appears to be a simple line. It reminds me of complex overlapping techniques used in macramé, but in miniature form and not just making a straight ‘braided’ rope or wall hanging reminiscent of a 70’s art project!

The beauty of this lace, the complex techniques used and the outcome are unexpected coming from a tropical, rural community. Usually the products coming from this region of Southern India are made from local materials like coconuts, shells or palm fibers, certainly not delicate lace products. This is the uniqueness of the Lace Ladies of India.

THE HISTORY OF LACE

As early as the 1st century, Egyptians used a square knotted mesh netting, “lace” made with bobbins and lace stitches worked on linen. These were found in tombs and can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, also at the Cluny Museum, Paris. Over the following centuries, there is evidence of basic hand-worked lace which gradually developed into the more beautiful laces used during the 15th, 116th & 17th centuries. There are references to lace as “knotted white thread” in The "Ancren Riwle" of the thirteenth century. It admonishes nuns of that time period against devoting too much time to lace making to the detriment of work for the poor. Around 1312, included in the possessions inventory of the Temple Church, London, of the Knights Templars, an item listed is "one net which is called Espinum to cover the Lectern".

The church is referred to as the “first patron of lace-making”. Nuns created the finest existing specimens of lace objects used to decorate alters, Mass vestments, etc. During the Victorian era, lace transitioned into mainstream fashion for the rich and noble.

As early as the 8th century, paintings of monks of the Benedictine Order depict lace fashioned by nuns and used for the church. Most ornamented items used for the church incorporated lace, which became an integral part of the items used in religious ceremonies and in making linen vestments. The earliest known pieces of lace work used in linen vestments, or albs made by nuns, are preserved at St. Clare's convent, Assisi, one being worn by St. Francis of Assisi (d.1226). The alb of Pope Boniface VIII is part of the treasury of the Sistine Chapel. Many of the designs are formed after symbol of the cross. Cross width pieces were often designed for covers for the lectern, including one remarkable piece dating from the fifteenth century probably made by the nuns at Assisi. It is a strip of tela tirata, measuring six feet by twelve and one-half inches and in the design is a representation of St. Francis receiving the Stigmata.

Existing historic lace-pattern books date back to 1527, proving the art was already well practiced at that time. The patterns from this period are complex and could only be ‘worked’ by someone of great experience. Punto in aria was initiated in Venice at this time. It was worked first as flat point and punto avorio, evolving into the raised point, or point de neige, more commonly referred to as rosalline point, sometimes as point Milan. It is characterized by scroll and floral patterns, softly flowing together with fine detail throughout and a three dimensional quality overall, but less rigid than traditional Venetian lace.

These pillow or bobbin laces flourished in Belgium, Holland and France from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries. Rivalries existed between each country in regard to their level of ability and techniques of their designs, which included the English since the early sixteenth century. Holy point, a distinctive English needlepoint lace primarily used for baptismal garments or infants' caps, is most commonly known, although Devonshire, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire lace have always been important forms of bobbin lace in England.

Nearby Youghal, Ireland is known for needlepoint lace originated by nuns of the Presentation Convent around the mid 1800’s, at one time receiving a ‘gold medal’ from the Vatican for design and execution. Other needlepoint lace makers include the Poor Clares at Kenmare since 1862 and the Institute for Deaf and Dumb Girls, St. Mary's, Cabra, Dublin, skillful in Limerick darned lace. In Kinsale, The Convent of Mercy has made Limerick and crochet lace since 1847. The Co-operative Lace Society also has a long history in lace making, as do many European Convents. As early as the 1800’s, Christian nuns settling in other countries around the world as part of the missionary movement brought with them the skill of bobbin and other lace making techniques and taught native girls these skills. These goods were exported entirely to Europe and did not really become part of the local fabric of the community.

As early as 1811, hand workers were already protesting the use of machinery to make products, including lace. This was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and even at this early date, workers would see the demise of handwork before the next generation had passed. In this same year, Ned Ludd organized traditional home workers in Nottingham, England and began machine breaking in mills and factories. This practice continued illegally until 1817 by other “Luddites” and spread throughout the Midlands and north of England. In 1811, 13 Luddites were executed in York, which signaled the beginning of the end of the movement. In February 1817, the last significant attack took place at a Loughborough lace factory.

LACE IN MODERN TIMES

In more contemporary times, a select few European groups continue to make various forms of lace or needlepoint lace, but for the most part, the skills have died out, only being represented as part of the unique history of the region, but hardly practiced as a viable skill. It is mostly reserved for artisans preserving the art form, as is the case in Puerto Rico. Interestingly, probably the last active group of lace making women exists in southern India, primarily associated two specific convents settled in the early 1800’s by Belgian missionaries, then resurrected in part by a local community of ‘social units’ employing the village ladies to continue making the lace as a commodity.

If you would like more information regarding the process, history or our efforts to preserve this fine art form from extinction, please contact Victoria at D’Angelo Home Collections, Inc., info@dangelohome.com, or call: 877-745-5278