>From time-to-time, the subject of the early 20th century Needle and Bobbin Club lace collectors arises. There happens to be quite a bit of documentation in my library about them, because Frances Morris and Marian Hague wrote a wonderful book "Antique Laces of American Collectors", published in the 1920's for The Needle and Bobbin Club. It is a "lace bible" to American lace researchers, because nearly all the laces eventually were donated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art and other American museums. Imagine my surprise to come across references to Frances Morris in the 2013 "Interwoven Globe" exhibition catalogue. There is even a picture of her on page 6! We learn that a 1927 exhibit "Painted and Printed Fabrics", containing 392 objects, was the brainchild of the museum's first curator of textiles, Frances Morris (1866-1955). She began her association with the museum in 1896, cataloguing a collection of musical instruments. In 1905 she was asked to organize the cataloguing of the lace collection, the first textile collection of importance at the museum. By 1910, she was promoted to assistant curator, in charge of the new Textile Study Room. Here, designers and students could study and be inspired by almost 9,000 textiles. She was also responsible for displays in 3 adjoining galleries. By 1923, the textile holdings numbered 12,000. From 1910 until she left the museum in 1929, she oversaw the collections of textiles and musical instruments. For the 1927 exhibition, Morris borrowed textiles from museums and collections around the United States and England, so that when the exhibit opened there were examples from most European countries, including Russia, as well as Armenia, India, Java, and Peru. In this way, she was able to impact the understanding that textile design was influenced by various nations. Text in the catalogue admits (page 5) that the 2013 "Interwoven Globe" exhibition, which required contributions from 7 different museum departments and a huge team of curators and scholars, stood on the shoulders of this one woman! In Notes at the back of the catalogue, we read (10) "Morris was one of the first two women with curatorial titles at the Metropolitan Museum....After eleven years as an assistant curator, Morris was made an associate curator in 1921; in 1929 she asked to be promoted to full curator.....The administration gave her a raise of $500, bringing her salary to $6,000 per year, but refused to promote her. A few months later she resigned to go on an extended tour of the Far East. Though she never returned to the Museum, she continued as an active force in the textile world, including as a founder of The Needle and Bobbin Club, among other projects." Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center .
- To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
