In a message dated 9/15/03 2:31:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
I sure would enjoy sitting just 9 inches off the ground on the 1780
lacemakers stool on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=2558646236category=120
9
or search for item number 2558646236
--
Dear Lacemakers,
It is interesting what antique dealers will attach the label Lace to, and
there has been some disbelief expressed. Perhaps there is information about
this type of George III (1780) stool in a lace magazine or antique magazine in
England.
In the meantime, I've found a reference to very low chairs for lacemakers in
Lace Magazine International, Vol. 44, Winter 1997, page 9: The article is
Lace Days in Javea, Spain, written by Ivo Baekelmans. LMi ordering
information at:
http://www.lacemaking.com
The most interesting feature of the Spanish lacemaking setup is the very low
chair. The lace pillow rests on the knees and against a low table. Old
chairs for lacemaking are no higher than 10 inches off the ground. Apparently,
the lower the chair, the easier it is for the legs to bear the weight of the
cushion for hours on end. Another reason is perhaps that the people of Spain
used to be much shorter The author goes on to note that her 3-year old
daughter sleeps in a 120-year-old bed and her chair was previously used by adults
in the 18th C. She also reminds us that poor children made lace at the time,
that they were often undernourished, and the implication is they may not have
grown to heights we might think of as normal.
This article is illustrated with a photo of the well-known statue of a young
Spanish lacemaker in Barcelona. Her large bolster pillow is held on her knees
in an upright position, propped at the top against a special stand. The
pillow measures about as long as the distance between her knee and foot, and is
almost as large in circumference as her head. Very bulky and heavy in
appearance. Very much in need of sturdy bracing. Her knees are bent so that they
look
level with the ground, and her feet are pulled way back under her. It looks
to me as if the bench she is sitting on is low. If she planted her feet flat
on the ground, her knees would be elevated and could not support the pillow for
an extended period of time!
I've been thinking about my reaction to cold In the old farmhouse I lived in
as a child. It was normal to draw one's knees up to bring body heat together.
(I was actually called Miss Muffet by an uncle, for so often assuming this
curled up sitting position -- sitting on an old-fashioned low footstool.) With
an old wood-burning furnace supplying heat through one register in the center
of the house, it was around that register (open metal grillwork set into the
floor) that I played -- as low and close to the warmth as possible.
Carry this thought a bit further, to the stories of lacemakers working in old
cottages where cattle were sheltered below. In some countries where the
finest threads were used to make lace, some lacemakers relied on the heat from the
bodies of cows to rise to the room above through cracks in the wooden floors.
They did not use fires for fear of drying out the very fine threads.
Imagine the need for warmth. The chairs and stools were probably very low.
If the bottoms of legs of chairs or stools became damaged by moisture, it was
not unusual for them to be cut down to a lower height. I looked at the
picture of the stool being auctioned, and it occurred to me this might have been
done many years ago.
The concept of a low stool does not seem far-fetched to me. But, that an
antiques dealer can say with certainty that a specific article of furniture was a
lacemaker's stool circa 1780 does raise questions!
The dealer refers to Miller's Antiques Price Guide. I can tell you with
certainty that no price guide would influence how much I would pay for an antique.
Perhaps I should write about one that has many errors, so you'll appreciate
what I mean!?
Jeri Ames in Maine USA
Lace and Embroidery Resource Center
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