I had expressed an interest in Honiton and 3D laces,
and Devon put out 8 carefully selected pieces for us
to look at. Some are also in the IOL list, so I won't
go on too much about them, but there are some aspects
of them that can't be ignored.
The wedding apron, obviously and understandably a
favourite of Devon's, seems to combine a refreshingly
naturalistic design with great technical skill, and
the variety of ways in which the hair and buttons etc
are done. Even without the microscope, very
impressive, but with it!
The pieces of 17 century needle lace we saw had the
same characteristic - superb workmanship, impressive
and stylish when seen from a distance, but full of
interest and detail when seen close up - what could be
stylised patterns turn into hunters, dogs etc. It's
marvellous how the great technical skill does not
deaden the liveliness of the design - I wonder if this
was helped by the designer being remote from the
workers. We now think, and I sometimes do too, that
the design can be the main thing, and a little
sloppiness in the execution does not detract.
However, there is a great added bonus when both go
right.
A piece of Honiton had a different combination of
technique design and style. It had peacocks, tails
down, not displayed. The individual feathers looked
as though they were outlined with a bundle of threads,
which gave them a lively 3-d look (hence their
inclusion - 3-d Honiton!) but did look a little
scruffy, and possibly a weak point; they could have
caught when worn, and must have been a danger when
washed. Closer examination showed that they had been
done in the roll and tie technique of raised Honiton.
In the standard modern version, generally, a leaf (or
feather) is worked in the usual way, ending up with
six or so pairs. All but two of these are twisted
together ("rolled"), one of the pairs is then wrapped
round the roll which is laid down by the side of the
worked piece, outside the pin holes. The wrapping
pair is sewn into the pinhole at the bottom, then the
remaining pair is sewn into each pinhole on the way
down, a single knot ("tie") being worked after each
sewing to hold the sewing in place. This leaves the
pairs at the base of the leaf or feather, and the
adjacent leaf can be worked up, sewing into the worked
edge of the previous leaf, over the roll. When worked
neatly, it looks very similar to raising by using a
rib, but of course it saves a lot of tying off and
restarting - it is amazing on looking at Victorian
raised Honiton using ribs and rolls how much is done
without tying off, saving time and making the work
stronger, as well as adding the textural interest.
You do of course have to be nifty with the needle pin.
A small roll can be used discreetly to get a few
pairs from a to b just for convenience. "Devonia",
writing at the beginning of the last century, states
that work with rolls instead of all ribs is thought
inferior, and her instructions make clear that a lot
of rag Honiton used very sloppily made rolls. She
recommends sewing and tying at every second or third
pin hole, where as nowadays, it's every pinhole
regardless.
The point of that digression is that looking at this
piece showed how the designer had used the "sloppy"
way of working very efficiently. He got a striking
effect by having the workers use what would be
considered a short-cut. It must have been much
quicker just to bunch up the threads, tie at just a
couple of pinholes, and start the next feather, than
tying off and restarting for each one.
This line of thinking was developed by studying
another piece, a mid-18th century cravat associated
with Marie Antoinette, I think, in point d'Angleterre,
a sectional bobbin lace akin to Honiton (its
aristocratic great grandmamma). This had the superb
workmanship, style and liveliness of the gros point
piece noted above, and again had hunting scenes, with
an Amazon on horseback (?intended to be Marie
Antoinette - possibly closer to her mother Marie
Theresa of Austria!!). We concentrated on the boar
being hunted. His body was made in half stitch, with
bristles which looked as though they were small ribs.
Even after using the microscope we were not sure how
this had been done. There was no sign of loose
threads at the base, but one view was that small
separate ribs had been worked, then the half stitch
worked on top, the odd thread being sewn into the rib
holes to attach it. That would have meant incredibly
skilful finishing off of the ribs to survive, let
alone without the ends showing. There were small
lumps at the base of the bristles which could have
been where the ends were sewn back into the rib, but
again, remarkable work, especially to survive wear and
washing. A small minority (me) thought that rib and
roll and tie had been used. The half stitch could
have been worked to the base of a bristle, the four
(say) pairs there used to continue in a small rib, and
then being rolled and tied back to the base, and the
half stitch worked on top, with a sewing into the rib
to hold it on, if thought necessary. The roll would
scarcely show; I have rolled four pairs (two plus
wrapper plus sewer) along a completed edge to get from
a to b, and it really is virtually invisible, just a
slight thickening of the outside edge. It would need
very firm working, no peacock tail sloppiness, and
would, I think give just a slight bulge where the
pairs returned to the half stitch. Any way, only one
way to tell - next time the Honiton pillow is clear,
try it out!
Well, I could go on even more about the other pieces,
but I hope this gives some idea of the opportunities
and insights available from a day in the Met; the IOL
people and those who make the next day have a real
treat in store, though 40 pieces in two hours! We
found the eight pieces more than filled our time.
Many thanks to Devon and Gundrun for making this
available to us, and for the hard work and
thoughtfulness in putting together a selection which
was so well tailored to our particular interests, as
well as being outstanding by any standard. Also
thanks to Leslie for spending the afternoon looking
after us and moving the pieces and showing the bits we
may have missed. We certainly did not let her go
early!
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