Gil, I have a couple of narrow lace edgings from Sri Lanka which my mother acquired there probably sometime in the 1970s. I think I also have an illustration of Sri Lankan bobbins and/or lacemakers in one of my older books about lacemaking. I’ll look them out and send you pics and details when I get home. Jean - currently enjoying snow and sunshine in the French Alps
> On 15 Jan 2019, at 16:09, Gilian Dye <gild...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Sri Lanken Lace > > Many of the items in my lace collection are of unknown provenance, however > there are a few pieces that I know are from Sri Lanka. Two are tourist > pieces, one bought by my sister in 1991, the other by a friend in February > 2004, a third piece I bought from the* Power of Hands* display at the > Knitting and Stitching show in London in 2008. > > The *Power of Hands Foundation* was established in Gonne in southern Sri > Lanka after the devastating tsunami in 2004. Women were trained to work > bobbin lace and to make up items using the lace which can be sold to raise > much needed funds. Initially sales were mainly to tourists, however in > 2005, with the support of Andrea Galer and other members of the London film > an fashion community, contact was established with a film company, and > Power of Hands is now making collars and other lace items for period films > such as Jane Eyre. The amount of lace required for such films is more than > can be provided by the hand workers, so the company has sourced high > quality machine lace which is used alongside handmade bobbin lace. (Of the > five other pieces of Sri Lanken lace in my collection, two are machine > made.) > > > > I would love to know when and by whom lace was introduced to Sri Lanka > (Ceylon)? An early note I have was that it was introduced to the country by > missionaries (I assumed British ones); my sister in 1991 was told by the > tourist board that it was the Dutch who had introduced the craft, my recent > research indicates that it was more likely to be a Portuguese import and > that the Sri Lankan name - beeralu - is Portuguese, but that is > contradicted by another source which says the word is a local one! (The > statement that lace was introduced to the country in the 15th century can > certainly be discounted.) Some say that the lace was taught first to > fishermen's wives, others that it was the aristocracy who first learned the > craft. Today I read that it was Malays who introduced the craft. That was > the first I had heard of any lace connection with Malaysia - so I am > thoroughly confused! > > Does anyone have any reliable information? > > Gil > > - > 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/
