Dear Friends,
In our list of those who have received awards for lace making, we
must also remember Miss Norma Benporath who was honoured with the
Order of Australia not long before she died in 1998 in a Queensland
nursing home.
Although born in New Zealand (in 1900), Norma spent most of her life
in Melbourne and produced many wonderful Tatting books up until the
early 1950s. It was only when I read a biography on her that I
learned Norma was virtually blind!!!
Here's a brief bio from The Power House Museum in Sydney:-
Norma Benporath (1900-1998) was an expert in tatting techniques and
taught and published extensively on the subject. These examples of
her work and instruction present a detailed account of the
development of the technique which achieved significant popularity
for women in Australia from 1930-1960. In 1952 she published her 164
page 'Every Woman's Guide to Tatting Illustrated' which was
circulated in Australia and New Zealand. In conjunction with the
Australian thread maker, Semco, Benporath developed special threads
to suit the technique. Benporath also had a long association with the
magazine 'Australian Home Beautiful' which requested articles for
their glossy magazine. These were subsequently published in 'The
Australian Home Beautiful Tatting Book' which progressed to a series.
Benporath's crowning achievement was to be presented in 1998 with the
Order of Australia for her 'service to the craft of tatting as a
designer and through international publication of her patterns.'
David in Ballarat
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