In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Helen Bell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >As I understand it, Beds lace gets it's inspiration from the Maltese >laces exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851.
Not only that, but the general designs of the time were very similar. Nowadays we tend to only design for our own discipline, which is why there has been such a cry of "what has that to do with?" when it comes to the core design module of City and Guilds Creative studies - you do the same design work whether you are studying lacemaking, floristry, sugarcraft, patchwork or any of the other subjects covered. What we forget is that in the 1800s, the general influences governed designs for everything - I found this when I was doing my research project for C&G lace part 2 - having noticed the lace-like designs used for ironwork. Architects of the day didn't only design the structure of the house, as they do now, they were responsible for the design of what went in it, too - down to carpets and wallpaper (think Voysey, etc). In the 1850s, the designs in general moved away from the intricate, busy rococo of the former years to more simple, floral designs - and using ironwork in railway architecture as my subject, I found (with the help of a friend) that the design of the canopy supports at Nuneaton Station (Warwickshire, UK; platforms 4 and 5) was of Bedfordshire leaves - and that the building of that section of the station was contemporary with the change in lace design. More of this sort came to UK notice with the exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1862, as well. It just seemed a pity that where the ironwork was involved, just as they perfected the casting techniques, so the Victorian society decided it was vulgar, and so it fell from favour. Fashion had as much to do with the change as anything, and I think Beds lace took off not just because it couldn't be copied (at first) but because it was something totally different to the designs of the previous fifty or so years. We do tend to get blinkered to our subject these days, and forget that lace in the past was influenced not only by other lace designs, but also the designs of other artefacts of the time. -- Jane Partridge -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.10.13/78 - Release Date: 19/08/2005 To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
