Jeri,
Thank you for your report on Marian Powys. Especially for relating the
personal anecdotes. I've only known of Marian Powys as a lace dealer and
expert but your vignettes have added so much to normally "dry" history.
Thank you.
Diane Zierold
Lubec, Maine
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2006 3:00 PM
Subject: [lace] Marian Powys - Part 2 - Long
Dear Lacemakers,
Continuing with Powys information:
I (Jeri) have had some connection with people who knew Marian Powys.
About 8
years ago there was a Maine FiberArts 3-day event in Portland. I
volunteered
on the organizing committee, and represented the interests of lace and
embroidery. In fact, I financially sponsored the participation of
Lacemakers of
Maine and of the local chapter of The Embroiderers' Guild of America, and
also
curated a sampler exhibit that was hung at the Maine Historical Society
for an
extended period of time.
We did not have enough Maine lacemakers, so several volunteers from the
New
England Lace Guild group in Massachusetts came up to Maine to demonstrate,
Laurie Hughes (Arachne member) being one of them.. An elderly lady
arrived at the
lace table. She was thrilled to see lace displayed and being made. This
turned out to be a woman who had bought lace regularly from Marian Powys.
Subsequently, I was invited to her home and was shown the laces. These
were
incredible. There was a large needlelace set of placemats plus matching
table
runner. Each featured a different French chateau in finer thread. The
needlelace
surrounding the cameo view of each chateau was different - coarser thread,
and
featuring different flowers and leaves on each one. There were several
different chateaus on the runner. (I discussed this set with Elizabeth
Kurella, and
she said she had once seen a set of these, but they must be quite rare.)
Another unique piece was a very long piece of Carrickmacross, all in the
guipure
technique. It had a lot of "Twirling" technique loops within the body of
the
lace, as well as on the edges.
Perhaps a year later, Lori the Lacefairy and I were on one of our
hunting-for-treasures trips and stopped into a shop where we found
exquisite round
Youghal lace mats of luncheon plate size. We each bought two. Later, we
learned
these were from the lady's collection, originally from - guess which shop
in New
York! I called this lady to see if she wanted to sell more of her laces,
but
she was keeping them for a daughter.
A couple Lacemakers of Maine got together and asked this interesting lady
to
join us. She conversed about Marian Powys. One story (being a textile
conservator made it memorable) was about the day she met Marian on the
street.
Marian was carrying a large bag containing laces, and had stuffed into the
bag a
shopping addition: newspaper-wrapped fish from the fish monger.
During the 1980's decade, I (Jeri) belonged to The Lace Guild of New York
(no
longer an active group). Another member was Peter Grey, son of Marian
Powys.
He delivered a lecture "Marian Powys: A Life Devoted to Lace" on February
5,
1983. Examples designed by Marian Powys were on display. Perhaps Devon's
friend at the Metropolitan will remember details of this lecture, or have
stories about her.
I think it is very important for us to get this kind of information down
"on
paper" before we depart. Americans are particularly lacking in
interviewing
our elderly lace experts. My library contains such a wealth of
information
about lace and embroidery experiences and documentation, that I hope you
will not
mind my sharing about one prominent person we must not forget - Marian
Powys.
Jeri Ames in Maine USA
Lace and Embroidery Resource Center
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