Hello everyone! A week ago I got home from my first trip to Italy. Three amazing weeks. For the first two I had the pleasure of being guided and accompanied by my friend and Cantu lace mentor, G. A few lacey highlights:
We stared at lace everywhere. In St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome we noticed the vestments of the effigy of Blessed Pope John XXIII were bordered in pizzo di Cantu'. We leaned closer to get a good look, closer and closer and closer... until the discreet guard in the dark suit and tie started to move in our direction. I can't imagine what he was thinking! Another highlight was a visit to the Mani di Fata shop in Milan. For me, living in a place where very few threads are available and no other lacemaking equipment at all, it was almost a spiritual experience! They sell many other things, but the lady who served us was more than helpful. She opened drawers, went upstairs and down, opened envelopes and boxes... I bought a smaller tombolo so I could have an edging going at the same time I have a mat or something on my bigger one, some bobbins, some patterns. I think the shop assistant was pleased to have a customer from Jerusalem; she gave us some free patterns, too. Also in Milan we visited a small jewel box of a museum, the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, with its stunning collections of objects and paintings. The museum started as the personal collection of Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoliin his family's palace and has expanded. Each room of the palace has a theme. The website is available in Italian and English: < http://www.museopoldipezzoli.it/>. Unfortunately, the lace collection is not catalogued online. It is mostly needle lace (Venetian) and darned netting, but there is also some Cantu and I think I remember some Torchon. The pieces are well preserved in drawers that you can pull out to study. The information cards are badly translated, though: "needle lace" is consistently translated as "needlepoint". Harrumph! Then came the great day: a "pilgrimage" to Cantu! I made G stop the car to take a picture of me at the sign at the entrance to the village. We visited Vanna, a lovely lady of about my age. Vanna is a third generation lacemaker who lives just a few meters away from the house where she was born (where her father was also born). First she took us to the parish church, which borders her home. The sacristan did not have time to show us the vestments that Vanna had made, which was a disappointment to me. I've seen photos of her magnificent work and I was looking forward to seeing them. I did see a very lovely 19th century baptistry curtain and a couple of other pieces that are preserved under glass in the sacristy. Of course all the altar clothes in the church itself are edged in pizzo di Cantu'. I took some pictures, and may put them online. Afterwards, Vanna invited us to her home. She has seven or eight tomboli, and something in progress on each. She showed us many, many examples of her work and that of her grandmother and her husband's mother. I gave up trying to comment and just took pictures, pictures and more pictures to enjoy and study later. She also very generously gave me some gifts, including some of her beautiful original designs. I'm sure I have left out a lot of detail, but this is long enough already! Sr. Claire, back in Jerusalem - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
