I emailed the Antiques Roadshow as I missed most of the bit with Pat
Perryman and they sent me the following:
----- Original Message -----
From: Antiques Roadshow
To: Dee Palin
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 5:12 PM
Subject: RE: Antiques Roadshow - yesterday
Dear Dee,
Thank you for your e mail.
We are afraid that there is no plan to repeat the Roadshow which was shown
on Sunday evening however, please see below for a transcript of the Honiton
Lace item which i hope you find helpful.
Kind Regards,
The Antiques Roadshow Team
EXPERT:
"Four and twenty ponies trotting through the dark;
Brandy for the parson, baccy for the clerk.
Laces for a lady, letters for a spy"
And lace - here we are in the centre of lace making, the lace making
industry, Honiton very close by and we're surrounded by Honiton lace, isn't
it great? And Honiton lace, as well as all other sorts of lace in the 18th
and 19th centuries was incredibly desirable wasn't it?
OWNER:
It was, yes. Much more valuable than jewellery.
EXPERT:
And that was because of the time?
OWNER:
The time, yes. Approximately ten hours for a square inch. For example we
have a wedding veil at the Museum which cost £84 in 1868.
EXPERT:
My goodness.
OWNER:
And that was an average man's annual salary then.
EXPERT:
That does put . .
OWNER:
So the question is, would you pay an average man's annual salary now for a
wedding veil? I don't think so, I have to say . .
EXPERT:
The thing that I suppose most people will know is that Queen Victoria used
Honiton . .
OWNER:
Yes she did.
EXPERT:
. . .to make the lace for her wedding veil,
OWNER
Yes, she did
EXPERT
but up until then was Honiton really looked at as a prize lace making area?
OWNER:
Yes it was, but maybe not quite as much as Brussels but yes it was and the
motifs that we make are much more realistic to nature.
EXPERT:
Yes, I mean if one looks at some of these wonderful motifs, there are roses,
there are - on this piece here we've got a lovely horse chestnut leaf which
fits so beautifully into the corners. On the lappet over here we've got a
little mermaid down at the end and so on and the actual way that the lace is
made, it was made as a - in a cottage industry system . .
OWNER:
Yes it was.
EXPERT:
.. wasn't it?
OWNER:
Yes it was.
EXPERT:
So you'd have somebody who was let's say a specialist in horse chestnuts
here who'd do nothing but those.
OWNER:
That's right.
EXPERT:
And then what happened?
OWNER:
And then the big chief lady she would gather it all together and you would
go in and say "I would like a handkerchief" and she would look at her motifs
and you'd say "oh I'd like those on the corner" and it would all be
assembled for you.
EXPERT:
So it was the putting together that was the real skill.
OWNER:
Yes.
EXPERT:
And when one looks at something like this, this, which is obviously a
hand-made net.
OWNER:
Yes it is, yes it is.
EXPERT:
But at some point that was mechanised wasn't it?
OWNER:
Yes, in about 1820 Heathcotes came to Tiverton and he learnt, he came and
watched the lace makers and he soon had a net making machine and of course
the industry went right down from practically everybody having hand-made
nets £5 maybe a square yard to 5p, I mean it was like . . .
EXPERT:
So - but that must have absolutely collapsed, collapsed the industry.
OWNER:
Oh yes it did, it did, it was the end of earning your living, be it a poor
living, but it carried on and carried on and of course it's a hobby today,
and I've been teaching for 32 years.
EXPERT:
Amazing, and the, the future of lace? Do you think there is a future?
OWNER:
I hope there is, but we've got to work hard at making sure, because it's
been made in Honiton for over 400 years and we're not about to let it stop.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Dee Palin [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 27 February 2006 11:19
To: Antiques Roadshow
Subject: Antiques Roadshow - yesterday
I switched on to your programme late yesterday, and was delighted to see the
end of an item in which Pat Perryman was talking about Honiton Lace. I am
an avid lacemaker, and have been lucky enough to attend several courses run
by Mrs Perryman. Is it possible to see the whole of this interview, and if
so where and when? Thank you for your help.
Dee Palin
Gloucestershire
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
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