First let me apologize for not making it clear that I was not inviting criticism specifically of the vendor mentioned below, especially since most (all?) of her lace appears to be machine-made. I have no qualms about cutting samples from machine-made lace in almost all cases.
Offering samples merely reminded me of an issue I have personally struggled with in the case of antique hand-made laces. I should have changed the subject line to divorce my question clearly from the initial generous post of an interesting link. My question is not entirely abstract, however, but is based on encountering instances of this practice. I was entranced by some of the antique hand-made lace samples in a shop in Bath England, until I began recognizing multiple samples of the same design, clearly cut from an single length of the lace, in many cases 18th century laces. I had a strong emotional reaction to the situation, and left without buying anything at all (which is really drastic for me, as anyone who knows me can attest!). In retrospect I sometimes regret not having gone back to the shop. Arguments can be made both pro and con for the practice. For example, on one hand, keeping the initial length intact permits studying the variation among the repeats of the design, identifying what are isolated 'mistakes' versus the lace-maker's usual method. It also provides repeats that may help anyone interesting in reconstructing the lace. On the other hand, cutting the lace into samples enables more lace-makers and collectors to own an example of that design, and usually a more affordable example at that. It seems to me that members of this list will have additional points beyond what I have thought of, and that would help me make up my mind about the practice. I have an emotional reaction, but am on the fence rationally, and am genuinely interested in the various thoughtful positions on the subject that I can expect from our community. Again, however, I apologize for linking my question to the generous post below. My question is not meant as a criticism of either Vickie or the site she shared with us. Sorry, Vickie. It was clumsy of me. Penitantly, Nancy ________________________________ From: Vickie Green <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, September 21, 2010 6:57:22 PM Subject: [lace] Vintage lace shopping Hello lacing friends, I visited this site today and ordered some vintage lace for a project and thought you might enjoy looking around also. Click on the "bits and pieces" link from the home page, and on the 3rd page of those about midway down is a piece of yardage that is similar to the Torah cover pattern for those who have been following that discussion. This is my first order from this site so I can't yet, personally recommend it although I found out about it from a trusted person. www.maureensvintageacquisitions.com Vickie in Va. where the smell of fall is in the air! - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
