Blog & News

There was recently a small discussion of the amazing lace-like cut book of Marie de’ Medici, and this other book just came my way today. It is too early to be lace, I think the idea of the stonework on the cathedral makes sense.

Still, it's just lovely, even if 1300s is too early for it to be a lace imitation.

A Cut Above the Rest…? Unraveling the Mystery of the Walters “Lace” Manuscript

Lynley Anne Herbert

I was looking for something else in The Met today, and came across this remarkably colorful piece. 

I don't really have anything else to add, but wanted to capture it before I moved on to what I really wanted.

Capuchin 1725-1750

What I really wanted: American 1820-1829 black silk cloak with a Ipswich-like trim.

I was alerted today that Louise West's husband had died this morning. There was a recent hospitalization and some hope that a new treatment path would be the right thing, but apparently that's not the outcome. 

I'm told it's out there on facebook now, so if you want to look for more on that it's around. 

I have a contact email for Louise if anyone wants it, but I don't want to post it publicly. Let me know if you would like it and I'll send it.

I was actually looking at this artist's work based on another thing she did for the Sanger Center -- a cholera dress and a syphilis slip -- but looking around her site I found this older work on linen. I was hoping for more science, but it was still a neat video and SPOILERS: ends with lace. Scroll down the page for the video. 

Linen: From the Field.

And if you are curious, here is the pathogen dress set. Cholera and syphilis captured in BioArt .

I recently watched a whole Rembrandt documentary just to look at the collars. 

But this art historian just did a whole post on the painting of lace and what the details tell her.

Rembrandt's Lace 

I found this short YouTube video on the conservation of a 1660 dress really interesting. It is heavily embellished with a point ground lace unique in the use of a ribbon-like gimp (described as parchment lace - paper tightly wrapped in silk thread). Take a look!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gJs84kKzdc

I mean, the whole deal with 2 NELGs is ruff... Maybe we can just use it as a tag line.

Anyway: nice piece in The Magazine Antiques about the Bard exhibit: "End Notes: Frill Seekers".

Hey fans of historic laces: the video of our talk for the Maine Historical Society is up. You can find it on youtube at this link:

https://youtu.be/edclWzhqbEQ

It also sits at a page on the MHS site, if you prefer that link. 

The Story of Ipswich Lace, a Unique American Craft of the Early Republic *NORTHERN THREADS SERIES* 

The year 2022 was OIDFA’s 40th anniversary.  In order to celebrate, OIDFA published the pattern collection.  It contains various lace patterns such as tape lace, Torchon Lace, Polychrome Lace, needle lace to name a few.  The price is $27.  I have only 2 copies left.  If anyone is interested, please contact me at traysumiko@gmail.com.  

Lace, that Most Coveted Textile [that should be a gifted article link that gets you past the paywall]

And they have Fanny Appleton Longfellow's dress. Someone in the comments talked about that as well, there's another piece about that at a different site. 

A French Gown in the Spanish Style