Dear Lace Lovers,
Recently, a member wrote that she found no lace of consequence in Maine.
Lacemakers of Maine have been active on Arachne since the beginning, 15
years ago. We continue to contribute a body of information that is
available to lacemakers at no cost.
The _Lacefairy.com_ (http://www.lacefairy.com/) site was the first place
so much information could be found in the U.S. - before others knew how to
build such computer sites, and even The Lace Museum (California) was not on
line. The Lace Fairy lives in Maine.
The archive of antique lace books at the University of Arizona site was
all loaned to and scanned by Tess, in Maine
_http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/lace.html_
(http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/lace.html)
Laces and books supporting the above activities came from local
collections. Books also came by mail and personal carriers from other states
and
overseas.
Elise and Diane Z write to Arachne from Maine. (There are other, silent,
members.)
The Lacemakers of Maine have met twice this Summer. Once in the Portland
area to discuss and share Romanian Point Lace with a new member. The
second time in the Augusta area to look at laces from members' collections
with
a guest from the U.K. She shared antique laces from England with us.
There was even a member who drove the very long distance from New Brunswick,
Canada, to this meeting.
Maine lacemakers are listed in the IOLI Handbook. We live throughout the
state, and are very good at networking. Nearly all our communication is by
computer. We have no need for a website. We pay no dues, take no
minutes, and have no boring business meetings. We focus on lace. We meet in
homes or public restaurants on an as-needed basis. Most of us belong to lace
guilds in other places - stateside and overseas.
No lace to be found? Lace has never been known to be a product of Maine,
nor is there sufficient interest to publish a list of a piece here and a
piece there. We know where private lace collections are located, and for
security reasons do not publicize them. As with major museums that do not put
laces on display, viewing arrangements have to be made in advance. And,
as with a museum, the interest usually needs to be more than casual to
justify laces being taken from storage.
It is possible to buy lace in Maine. As examples, in the past few months
I have acquired the following lace-related items in Maine:
1. Lovely white Honiton lace collar with bird/flowers/butterflies in the
original Anne Swift (London dealer) packaging, priced 48 British pounds. I
paid $50 U.S.
2. Assortment of machine-made and knitted laces to use when giving lace
talks, and two handkerchiefs edged in crochet/tatting - not old, but in
red/white/blue thread and useful when decorating or demonstrating on national
holidays.
3. Ecru Bedfordshire lace collar.
4. Needlelace probably intended as an insert on linen -- delicate basket
of fruit 7 1/4" x 5".
5. Filet (lacis) wire-framed box with hinged top. All 6 sides are filet,
with a dog motif in the base and 5 intact bobbles at the top. 3 1/4" sq.
by 1 1/2" high.
6. "The Modern Crochet Book" edited by Flora Klickmann. (Vintage)
7. Old Normandy lace (over pale blue fabric) heart-shaped mini-pillow 7"
high x 6" wide.
8. Black net ground/ecru Princess lace shawl that matches a vintage
blouse bought in Galway years ago. Shawl is 67" x 18".
9. Antique lacemaker's lamp from Europe. This is one large glass globe
with water spout, attached to a glass raised stand (all handblown). Total
height 14". There is a picture of a 19th Century Calvados Lacemaker using
one similar in Gertrude Whiting's "Old-time Tools & Toys of Needlework"
(Dover reprint - page 254).
Obviously, none of these (except the lamp) are very rare. They do,
however, represent what is available in shops and antiques auctions in Maine.
Jeri Ames in Maine USA
Lace and Embroidery Resource Center
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We are taking our usual vacation to Maine. (For those who are not in
the northeast of the USA, from Lancaster, PA to Bar Harbor Maine is over 12
hours driving on motorways/interstates when possible. We go almost every
year. One year we took the ferry to Swan's Island and went to their little
museum and I found a piece of lace, I think on a pillowcase. Rather
coarse, but not Torchon, either. Are there other little gems of lace on
exhibit
anywhere in Maine? I really think we need to collect these places. It's
certainly not even worth a ferry ride to see the little piece of lace, but
if you know something worthwhile is there, you're more likely to look for
it. The lace appeared to be the sort of thing that was made at home.
Certainly not Ipswich. Coarse. But handmade. But it would be nice to at
least
have such gems known. Maybe someday, we'll find that more lace was made in
the US than is presently known.
Lyn from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
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