Jen, you wrote:
Can't but help playing devil's advocate here <g>
Does every single item of lace have to become a museum piece? Is that the
best, ultimate fate for a piece of lace? What is so inherently wrong in
handmade lace being used for that which it was originally intended - ie
decoration on a special garment or other item? Yes, some precious things
should be looked after to the "nth" degree, and kept in a museum (although
they may hardly be looked at, and then only by knowledgable specialists).
But lace was made to be used/worn and displayed in all its glory.
Nothing lasts for ever, no matter how it's cared for. Yes, take proper
care
with pieces that are to be kept because of thier historic/sentimental
value or
exquisite working. But I can't see what's so terrible about using handmade
lace on a garment, even if it is old and may have been treated/used in a
manner which might make some people shudder.
Please, I'm not having a go at anyone, just wanted to mention a different
viewpoint.
Happy New Year's Eve Eve!
Jen in Melbourne, Australia
(hot and sunny, forecast temp for tomorrow 42 degs celcius (I think that's
about 108 deg F) & I don't have aircon!)
<snip>
Hi, Jen,
You're absolutely right. Every last bit we make should /*not*/ be
considered
precious, heirloom, and/or museum-quality. Some laces are made just for
fun.
How valuable a piece is supposed to be is one of the decisions we all make
when we start a piece of lace, or acquire one (whether we think all that
much
about it, or glide over it quickly :-D ). There's no reason any
lace-maker
shouldn't visualize a finite life for his/her work -- gods know, there are
plenty of worse ways to "kill" time!
The problem I have is that too much heartbreaking-ly misguided cleaning
and
preservation information is recommended without any real scientific basis
for
the recommendations. Some of this advice even claims to be up to museum
standards. Ordinary people, who have no reason to know what the latest
conservation information really is, are being mis-led and cheated into
destroying the laces they are trying to conserve (for themselves or their
families/heirs).
Look at lots of the advice given to non-textile-specialists. These folks
without background will follow the advice as stated, believing the writers
of
the magazine article/book/internet essay are the experts they appear to
be.
With the best of intentions, and /*thinking they've done their research*/,
the
owners end up with yellow, brown, or shredded textiles way before they and
their families want to, sometimes well within living memory of the days
when
the lace was new. But the advisers never "scale" the advice they're
giving to
the value of the objects they're discussing (in terms of worthiness or
desirable degree of preservation). It's not surprising, really, when they
don't even check the base scientific accuracy of their stated opinions.
There
is good science out there, why can't these advisers use it? You'd think
museum
folks kept all their information top-secret or something. (Hi, Devon!)
:-D
Easier but less-preservative kinds of cleaning and storage are perfectly
appropriate for many of the things we make (I think of the Christmas card
exchange pieces, which, lovely as they are, usually take little time to
make
and are probably all stored in and with paper, foil, stickers with plastic
and
glue, etc. -- feel free to correct me if I've got this one wrong). We're
all
grown-ups here, we get to decide these things for ourselves, don't we?
But
then, /*we*/ all know about good, bad, and terrible lace care. Not to
mention, where to go to find out more, when we need to. :-D
Bottom line is, as you feel it necessary, keep two or three different
kinds of
storage for your laces, ranging from "keeping it clean and tidy between
uses/showings" to "someday a museum (and its huge public) will want to see
and
acquire this, if I keep it as pristine and intact as I can until they
discover
it." Decide which degree of persnickety you want to bother yourself with
for
each piece of lace you own, and store each where and how you think best.
Be
flexible: you may decide you really should listen to the "expert" who
sees
your things and cries, "<GASP!!!> That's a piece of early 17th-century
Point
d'XXXX!! Why are you storing it folded into a piece of pink computer
paper?!!!?" and change a treatment now and then. Otherwise, they're your
responsibility and your burden, if not your creation: so you decide.
/*Very Important Note*/, here: the reason the
persnickety-care-to-the-Nth-degree advice is, and should be, given as
blanket
advice for /*all*/ laces is because it is the ultimate fall-back position
for
textile carers: it's the one regimen of care that no-one can be faulted
on, no
matter what happens to the lace in the end. After all, lace, once rotted
away,
can never really be repaired or re-created. And "never" is a disgustingly
long
time, as I have discovered in my cranky old age. :-D I don't suppose
there
are many on this list who'd want to see good, well-made lace stupidly or
wantonly destroyed. Me, I "make lace for the ages" whenever I can, and
it's
worth my time to take care of them that way. It's another hobby,
almost --
kind of like spangling bobbins... :-D
The other reason for using persnickety-care standards is that the values
of
laces change over time, and so, if at all possible, lace care should err
on
the side of caution. You just never know what that crossover point will
be,
when your down-valued fun-lace becomes your great-grandchild's treasured
heirloom, or becomes part of a museum's collection of art, craft, or
lovely
exemplar objects of a particular time and place. Remember pertinent
little
things about today's antique laces: like, how fine the finest thread is
that
you've ever seen, and how it matched up (or couldn't) to those super-fine
and
now un-reproducible historic lace threads; or how little the lacemakers,
lace
factors, teachers, and sellers of centuries past thought their utilitarian
little sample books were worth at the time, compared to how valuable we
think
them now.
At least /*we*/ can use lists like Arachne, among other reliable
resources, to
keep double-checking and updating the base scientific accuracy of our own
opinions. Look at how happily all of us here jump on bits of new info,
share
it around, and debate the merits! :-D
Happy New Year, everyone!
/*Beth Schoenberg*/
-- in oppressively hot-beautiful-downtown Kambah, Canberra, where in two
days
the weather has switched over to "summer lace making (bobbin lace)" mode,
since it's easier to keep my greasy fingers off of bobbin-lace threads
than
needle-lace threads. Only I can't find the thread for my current piece,
and
it's too hot to go hunting....
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