Hello Jane - >From the tone of your reply, I sense that you were offended by my statement >about English laces. I did not mean to offend, but was summarizing what I >have understood during my relatively short involvement in lacemaking and the >history of lace.
I have never read Mrs. Bury Palliser, and am aware that many of the "facts" in her book are suspect. I am also aware that most more recent scholars have at least looked at her work - which does not necessarily mean that they agree with it. However, in response to your statement about Honiton, may I offer this, from the introduction of "Royal Honiton Lace" by Elsie Luxton and Yusai Fukuyama: "[Honiton] was first made in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, deriving from a combination of English and European lace techniques." and "Flemish methods of lacemaking were far more advanced and superior to the local techniques, but gradually the two laces combined to give us Honiton lace as we know it today." Santina Levy, in her "Lace, A History", wrote that in the late 1600s through the 1700s (the "Classic" lace period), "The English lace industry... did not initiate any developments but was content to concentrate on the lower end of the market with cheaper, derivative pieces, although the best of these were undoubtedly close to the originals and in some cases, equal to them." When notable experts like Luxton and Levy use the term "derivative", I need some convincing evidence to refute them. Clay -- Clay Blackwell Lynchburg, VA USA -------------- Original message -------------- From: Jane Partridge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > But most lace "historians" have based their "facts" on the writings of Mrs > Bury Palliser, who was not around at the time. Dr John Yallop's thesis on > Honiton Lace goes into this myth in detail, particularly relating to Honiton, > where none of the parish registers show the existence of refugees in that > area > until much later; the refugees appear to have remained closer to the east and > south-east coasts. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
