In a message dated 3/12/05 7:44:27 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> I just happen to have got some these kinds of lace to identify and
> catalogue and have borrowed a book from the Preston Lacemakers library called
> 'Armenian Needle lace and Embroidery' by Alice Odian Kasparian. A lady from
> Angora
> who settled in the US. This book was published in 1983 by EPM Publications,
> ISBN 0-014440-65-9. It won't still be in print after all this time, but no
> doubt it will be in Guild libraries. So far I have only skimmed through the
> book but there are pictures showing how to hold the work and do the various
> stitches.I have read in one or two books that this is the oldest type of
> lace and was introduced into Europe from Asia Minor.
>
Dear Lacemakers,
The Kasparian book is in the IOLI Library. It is the first book I recommend
for this type of lace, because it gives very interesting history (some of
which Dianne has shared), plus good instructions. Surviving Armenian families
are
now settled in other places (the 1915 Genocide of the Armenian people in
Northern Turkey was almost total). Mount Ararat, where Noah's Ark rested after
the flood is located in this region. The needlework connection will be
interesting to Biblical scholars.
I have written extensively about this type of knotted needle lace twice on
Arachne, including book reviews. Other Arachnes have added much to our
knowledge base in the course of discussions. Do not want to repeat myself,
but
should mention that current Turkish lace books refer to Tatting, Crochet, and
this
Knotted Needlelace as Oya (lumping all these laces that are made with
different tools into one category, and using it the way we use the word "lace").
For us, a better understanding of the origins and travels of weaving, lace,
and embroidery techniques, many of which originated in the Orient, India, the
Middle East, and so forth, fills in bits of history about the subject we love.
The impact of wars - on artistic textile people over the centuries - is very
interestingly told in Mary Schoeser's book: "World Textiles, A Concise
History" published by Thames & Hudson 2003, ISBN 0-500-20369-5, 224 pages,
paper
cover. I purchased this book last year, in the U.S. for $15, new. Many
photos.
DEVON - there is a picture of Chinese Needlelooping, in the Philadelphia
Museum of Art, on page 79.
A instruction book that may still be in-print is Elena Dickson's "Knotted
Lace in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition", part of the Milner Craft Series.
It was first published in Australia in 1992, and has been reprinted several
times. You can probably find it in embroidery shops. ISBN 1-86351-1210, 133
pages.
English text and a lot of photos of laces in Greek museums, but very few
instructions, appear in a 251-page Greek book that is difficult to get:
Tatiana
Ioannou-Yannara's "Greek Threadwork Lace", published in Athens by Melissa
Publishing House, 1989. A beautiful book that explains early needle-made Greek
laces, and when they originated (opening up a debate that needlelace made an
earlier appearance in Greece than in Italy). There is a second book by this
author that covers bobbin lace.
Anyone who wants to understand *early textile techniques* really would
benefit from reading books on the subject. Many people hated history in
school, but
if you approach it from the needlework angle you may find the subject very
interesting. Scholars are increasingly focusing on fiber techniques. Stories
are told by fabrics and threads, clothing and home furnishings, colors,
embellishments, motifs, and symbols. Since people (especially women) were
usually
unable to write and read, this is the way we learn about them, their cultures,
their beliefs. It is through textiles that we can learn about the migrations
of people. They carried the old traditonal patterns etc. in their memories
and dowrys, and then added the new influences. Sometimes needlework techniques
spread through arranged marriages. However, the greatest impact was wars,
when women were taken as "slaves" and moved with the armies to other areas.
Weavers of unique luxury textiles were usually men. They were captured and
sent
to the conquering country's major cities to produce and teach what they knew.
Wars have been an almost-constant occurence in the world, and it is
interesting to learn of the impact on weaving, embroidery, lace, etc.
And now it is time to shovel snow, which is accumulating rapidly. Started 20
hours ago. Romantic, isn't it?
Jeri Ames in Maine USA
Lace & Embroidery Resource Center
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