Dear Pene, I have just returned from Paris and it is singularly devoid of lace. This seems counter-intuitive, doesn't it?
There is none on display at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs. The Mode Museum occupies the same building as the Musee des Arst Decoratifs, but it has adopted the model of only having special theme exhibits, no permanent collection on display. The current theme exhibit is about a modern designer, so while interesting to people who are not specifically looking for lace, it is a disappointment if you are. There is none in the Cluny museum despite the story about how the very name Cluny devolves from lace at the Cluny museum. Ditto the Orsay, although their decorative arts were of better quality than the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, making us wish we hadn't wasted our time by going to there first, hoping for lace. In response to my query about lace in Paris that I posted before my trip, the leads I got were outside of Paris, one being a small museum in Chantilly which is relatively near Paris. My trip also included Normandy where there are quite a few lace museums, and sights many of which are included in La Route des Dentelles Normandes, which appears to be a listing of them made by very astute tourism officials, also described in a book La Route des Dentelles Normandes by Mick Fouriscot. My one regret is that I did not force my poor husband, after treking from one lace museum to another on a relentless lace tour through Normandy, to accompany me to the Musee National de la Renaissance Chateau d'Ecouen, like Chantilly, also on the outskirts of Paris. The website claims that it has the Renaissance objects originally in the Cluny Museum. I think that the reason I didn't decide to risk my marriage on a visit there was that I detected a lack of commitment on the part of the museum to lace. It seemed more interested in its other decorative arts such as furniture, ceramics, silver, stained glass and painted fireplaces. However, now that I am reviewing the website I see that they opened their Salle de Tissus, after 10 years of closure, June 18th, a week before I was in Paris. http://www.musee-renaissance.fr/actualite/salle-des-tissus Fermée au public depuis 2004, la salle des tissus, située au dernier étage du pavillon nord ouest du château d'Ecouen, permet de présenter les collections textiles par roulement. En effet, très sensibles à la lumière, ces oeuvres ne supportent pas d'être exposées trop longtemps. Après avoir avoir valorisé les broderies liturgiques, les broderies au petit point et les dentelles, la salle des tissus rouvrira en juin 2014 avec une présentation thématique sur les étoffes d'ameublement. - If my rusty French is correct it seems that they are presenting, lace (les dentelles) although their first big exhibit is about materials used in furnishing. Perhaps, though, it is like the Mode Museum, and is only presenting thematic exhibits, in this case, upholstery fabric. Another clue that an important lace collection may be at the Chateau d'Ecouen is a book published by the museum in 1992, by Anne Kraatz, Les Dentelles, which seems to be a catalogue of its lace holdings, or possibly of an exhibit. As it is totally in French it is not clear to me which. Perhaps Pene, or someone else would like to check out the Chateau d'Ecouen and see if the room of textiles has opened and if there is any lace on display. Ideally, this would result in an article for the Bulletin :-) Devon - 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/
