Kudos to Jeri for bringing up this aspect of lace studies. I have a large collection of Phillips textile/lace auction catalogs from the 1980s and 1990s — the days before on-line catalogs. It is always interesting to see major pieces, watch for things to resurface, track prices, etc.
Those were the days when Phillips (bought out many years ago by Bonhams) held about 6-8 auctions per year of textiles and lace, with hundreds of lots of lace each auction, dating from the 1600s to 1900s. This includes the catalogs from the Powys and Simeon sales. Audrey Field was their specialist, very knowledgeable with many connections, to gather together very interesting materials. EMK On Feb 13, 2014, at 1:25 PM, jeria...@aol.com wrote: > Reading all the disastrous things that can happen to an estate's lace > treasures prompts me to write about lace ephemera --- some of which I am > keeping > in my library for the use of future researchers. Ephemera is defined in > my dictionary as 1) Something of no lasting significance, or 2) Collectibles > not intended to have lasting value. It is 2) that I am writing about - > in this case: lace posters, lace auction catalogues, brochures and photos > of lace exhibits, supplies catalogues, etc. Presently, some of these are > searchable by computer. But, some are hard to come by, and may be useful to > historians after the owners of today's web sites have passed on and their > sites have disappeared into ether. I am not giving up on paper ephemera and > related equipment, supplies, etc.! > > Example: We read last year that Susan Cox, Principal of The English Lace > School had owned laces. Some of these laces were being sent to auction. > It did not take long to decide information about the School and something > about her collection should have a special folio in my library. > > First, I searched for the School, and located a 36-page 1983 prospectus, > offered for sale by a U.K. book dealer. It was de-accessioned by the Devon > County Council Library Services. My local independent book store gets such > things for me. What a treasure of English 20th Century ephemera about > lace this is! It provides information about classes, teachers (who became > lace book authors of the period), and tuition, and had supporting > advertising. > > Then, I began to track the auctions via computer, so there would be some > idea of auction values in 2014 (I am doing this also for Pat Earnshaw's > laces - filed in thick binders). There was the big London auction of a few > pieces. Then, Laurie Waters of Lace News listed seven smaller Susan Cox > laces > in her Ebay Alerts! Twenty-one items - December 2, 2014. Note the typo > - It was really February 2. The private dealer selling both Cox and > Earnshaw laces on Ebay is usually derbeatle, Cheltenham, U.K. > > If you subscribe to Laurie Waters' Lace News (free), here is what I do: > > 1. Wait 10 days to read Lace News, capture pictures and get auction > results. I don't want to waste time going back for the results (I never buy > lace without holding it in my hands for a personal look and feel). > > 2. Above the Subject line - to Right - click on "Show images and enable > links". This moves a picture into each description, and if you click on the > picture, you can make an enlarged print for keeping. > > 3. At the beginning of each entry is http://tinyurl.com/ etc. address. > Click on that, and see the Ebay final sale price. Print. > > Laurie is a knowledgeable expert, and gives a nice assessment of the > laces, sometimes correcting identification info given by dealers, sometimes > sharing interesting history. She also gives condition, if you are > considering > bidding. If you would like to learn lace identification, but other demands > of life permit only small chunks of free time, this is a wonderful way to > see representative examples of laces offered on Ebay, without plodding > through hundreds of entries. > ------------------------ > It would be nice to know if others are trying to keep records that our > guilds may not have resources to save. I am mindful that my Hungarian > friend > has stressed the importance of keeping information in places around the > world, so if one region is devastated by war and plunder, all is not lost. > Women need to be more aware of this. Men document everything about wars, > politics, sports, exploration, business, etc., funding with public money > from > everyone's taxes. Women? Not much documentation, though they have always > represented about 1/2 the human race. What lace makers did was once a huge > industry, and those of us doing research have difficulty reconstructing > what was not properly recorded then, and what is not being saved now. > > If you have lace-related things of historical value that should be saved > for future generations, please check with this list (Arachne), a lace guild, > or a trusted lace expert, for suggestions. > > Jeri Ames in Maine USA > Lace and Embroidery Resource Center > > - > To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: > unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to > arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/ - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
