In a message dated 2/21/2008 11:19:09 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
What a shame I read Ipswich Lace and shot into the link to find it was Ipswich USA not Ipswich where I currently reside well never mind I'll get on with my 'Ipswich Lace' and dream on...... ------------------- Dear ??? (no signature) Sorry for your disappointment. I am surprised you have not heard references to Ipswich lace, because Americans have referred to it quite often on Arachne. On September 12, 2007, I replied privately to a lady in the UK who asked about Ipswich Lace, and the text of that letter with some additions (no copy sent that time to Arachne) may be more than you want to know, but informative to others. Ipswich Lace was made in Ipswich Massachusetts, north of Boston and near the Atlantic coast, in the Colonial period. One wearer of the lace was Martha Washington, wife of the first President. It was a cottage industry, and at one time there were 600 lacemakers within the town of 601 households. The lace has the distinction of being the only one associated with an American "handmade lace industry". At no other place in America found so far, was lace made, collected, and sold, as a somewhat organized business enterprise. It was made of white cotton or linen, or very often of black silk. Pat Earnshaw (British author of lace books) describes it as similar to point de Paris, or the black Erzegebrige laces of Saxony. Nearly always, I have seen it in black. Look in Pat Earnshaw's book, "A Dictionary of Lace", p. 5 & p. 86 for text only, no pictures. You can also look in lace identification books, though it will not be in many. Look under "American lace" and look under "Ipswich lace". ****Those who have been asking about Pilgrims wearing lace, read brief text on p. 5 of this book!**** An aside: The late Michael Auclair belonged to the same Lace Guild of New York that I belonged to in the 1970's. He was a collector of antique laces, and made lace for restoration projects at museums. He reproduced black samples of the Ipswich Lace held by the Library of Congress. These were intended to be displayed in the Whipple House (museum) in Ipswich, MA. If they were the same samples I saw just a few years ago at the Whipple House, they were (during my visit) encased in dirty plastic envelopes accompanied by silverfish (insects). Ugh! Too memorable to forget. End of aside. There is a book of 156 pages "The Laces of Ipswich - The Art and Economics of an Early American Industry, 1750-1840" by Marta Cotterell Raffel, paperback, printed by University Press of New England - _www.upne.com_ (http://www.upne.com) , ISBN 1-58465-163-6, soft cover, original cost $25 in 2003. Prior to publication of the (above) book, Marta M. Cotterell presented a paper "The Laces of Ipswich, Massachusetts: An American Industry, 1750-1840" at the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife Annual Proceedings in 1997. This earlier, shorter treatment of her subject appears in "Textiles in Early New England: Design, Production, and Consumption" published by Boston University. Another article in this book is "Lace Schools and Lace Factories: Female Outwork in New England's Machine-Lace Industry, 1818-1838" by Richard M. Candee. Anyone could do a search via Google, or whatever search engine you use, for Ipswich Lace (American). Also search the author's name separately. This particular item, Ipswich Lace, has the distinction of having examples in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. In the very early days of the United States, requests went out from the central government to communities to send detailed information about industries. Enclosed with information about Ipswich Laces were short cuttings of several examples. Most industries could not send examples in a letter envelope, but lace was something that could be enclosed - and was. Jeri Ames Lace and Embroidery Resource Center **************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living. (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/ 2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
