Regarding cataloguing in a data base in the hopes of people finding what they are looking for, what are our thoughts about âPoint dâAngleterreâ? Writing in 1983 in Lace: A History about her terminology choices for her book, (p.2) Levey describes the guidelines of her choices. I am mixing paraphrase with quote, encouraging you to check your own copies. But she says that there are two sets of terminology, technical, referring to construction, and another set, the names by which laces are known (both lacking in consistency). Lace writers of the 19th century tended to incorporate some of the talk of the lace dealers in their terminology. The lace dealers were prone to use foreign terms wherever possible. âIn writing in English for English readers there seems to be no need to resort to foreign terms except where no English equivalent existsâ¦â The term point has changed in meaning originally being associated with the most highly valued needle lace, gradually applied to everything. These are general comments she makes about her choices. On the topic of Point dâAngleterre specifically she says, âBelgian bobbin lace, or Point dâAngleterre which, apart from having little to do with England, has been used for different types of both bobbin and needle lace from the 17th to the 19th centuries. In general therefore, the names used in this book are tied as tightly as possible to the known facts; always to the country of origin, usually to a particular centre and if possible to a proper name, but where the latter is open to misinterpretation or is clearly a later, if long-lived misapplication, it is referred to and explained but not used. Later on p. 45 and 46 she goes into an entire history of the term Point dâAngleterre opining that it was might have been called this because it was for the English market much as Point dâEspagne was for the Spanish market. (This is a somewhat less colorful explanation than the one about smuggling, which I consider to be fanciful, but with crowd appeal.) On p. 46 she says, âIn view of the variety of types and periods, the term Point dâAngleterre should be used with caution, if at all, in describing surviving pieces of lace.â
So, Levey chooses to call what others may call Point dâAngleterre, Brussels bobbin lace. But is this appropriate for an online data base in the 21st century? One observation that I will make is that I went to school in the early 1980s and using English words whenever possible was a trend at the time much as using foreign words as much as possible seems to have been the trend in the late 19th century. Is this still the trend? I have been away from academia for a long time. In the 1980s we were discouraged from using latin root based words if there was an English equivalent, a bit of English chauvinism perhaps? Is this no longer the case? What is the new trend? I think of Point dâAngleterre as being rather specific in meaning since it is a part lace joined either with bars or droschel mesh, usually 18th century and not being Honiton,. So, I am a little bit reluctant to go to Brussels bobbin lace because that seems much more general. It also brings in a certain amount of confusion since other things are called Brussels Duchesse, and Brussels application lace, for instance, which is a rather large and confusing category in itself. Thinking of the potential user of the data base I think that âBobbin lace, Point dâAngleterreâ as a medium might be a short cut to getting where they want to be, and preferable to âBobbin lace, Brussels bobbin laceâ. We also give the country of origin, so people who want to search by country and date will find what they are looking for as well. So, is it advisable to put Brussels in the medium field? Levey also feels that while Point dâAngleterre is a Bussels lace it was also copied by the French and English. I think the Point dâAngleterre might fall into what she would call âa long-lived misapplicationâ but with more adherents and a more recognizable term than Brussels bobbin lace. The needs of a data base are different, requiring a popularly known term that people would search under. In a book you can seek out obscure, but more accurate terms knowing that you can provide a terminology chapter, footnotes, etc. to explain your choices to the reader who will be reading at a leisurely rate. What are other peoplesâ thoughts on this? Have any of you made a decision like this for an online data base? Devon Sent from Mail for Windows 10 - 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/
