Dear Lesley,
How wonderful that you had this experience at Gawthorpe Hall.
Sometime in the 1980's I went to Gawthorpe. At that time, it was shabby,
and very cold. Still, my friends and I had a wonderful time looking at
laces and a variety of other needlework. Many pieces had been laid out on
large tables in a room on the ground floor (kitchen?), for our enjoyment. We
shivered, and stayed as long as allowed.
The needlework collection at Gawthorpe Hall is reputed - by some - to be
second only to the Victoria and Albert's collection. In a biography of Sir
Henry Cole ("The Great Exhibitor" 328 pp/2003 ), the founding director of
the V&A, I found 3 connections to Rachel's grandfather - James
Kay-Shuttleworth. Sir Henry Cole purchased the first laces to enter the V&A
collection, and Rachel's connection through her grandfather is most
interesting. She
must have heard some fascinating stories about the V & A collections.
In recent years, a member of Arachne - Dianne Derbyshire - has been
cataloguing and photographing all the laces in the Gawthorpe Hall collection.
**Applause!** Also, Gail Marsh has written a hardback book "18th Century
Embroidery Techniques" (2006) which drew on the Gawthorpe collection. It
included case study instructions on Hollie Point lace and Knotting - for both
of which there is a lack of published information. A new Gail Marsh book
was recently published "19th Century Embroidery Techniques". I hope you got
to see these books and also the little paperback book (memoir) about
Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth (if still in print). This last book has served to
inspire me in my lace-related collecting.
Stay with us, Lesley, and little bells will ring - you will recognize
names and places with wonderful connections to lace.
Jeri Ames in Maine USA
Lace and Embroidery Resource Center
In a message dated 4/13/2009 3:04:28 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
Brenda, what an interesting survey, and what a wealth of experienced
craftsmen/women there are here; a fantastic resource for those of us who are
starting out in lace making.
Today I went to Gawthorpe Hall (Lancashire, UK) mainly to see the Rachel
Kay-Shuttleworth textile collection and was overhwelmed not just by the
incredible skill involved in the collection, but how many different techniques
there are to make lace.
For those of you who don't know the collection is of many varieties of
textiles, not just lace but embroidery, tapestry, crochet and knitting (and
probably others) from several countries. Only a small part of the collection
is on show at any one time and the display is, we were told, changed
annually. There was far too much to take in at one viewing so I think we
shall
return several times this year. As a bonus, the house itself is a great
example of a 17th century hall, well preserved and with grounds to walk in.
Lesley
Marple UK
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