Dear Liz
The copy of this I have is far older than the 3 "previous" books from the
museum. It is simply A4 photocopies of patterns "as is" from the collection
BML 377, which forms the basis of the "Patterns for Lace at the Cecil Higgins
Art Gallery, Bedford" where the patterns have been trued up and most of them
worked by modern lace makers, Barbara Underwood's pupils. This volume, for
others who do not have it, is probably THE purchase from the museum's
publications, for aspiring makers of what we now think of as Thomas Lester
lace. The introduction, on one A4 page, sets out the basic philosophy of the
lace - the need to follow the flow of the design, and use the techniques that
give it its special 3D appearance (no Cluny-style passing the plait pairs
through an area of cloth, please!) The different styles of working used for
the various laces allow you to see the effects available, and choose those you
prefer. I find particularly interesting the effects
produced by the balance between the different grounds and the cloth work.
By way of background, the BML 377 and similar patterns are mentioned in Ann
Buck's "Thomas Lester, his Lace and the East Midlands Industry", with some
illustrated, and this led Barbara to go to the museum and get them to photo
some of the prickings for her. The museum then decided, for a reasonable fee,
to make the photos available more widely, and produced 52 designs.
What you are getting in therefore in 52 designs is the original working
documents, with (say) just the first half of the corners fully worked out, and
the construction lines for the various grounds shown. You can also see the
style developing; there are several point ground patterns in which the full TL
style can be seen emerging. These point ground patterns are in the main
complete, and it would not require much work if any to make a pricking. A
summit of my ambition would be to produce the handkerchief of plate 2 in "A
Celebration of Bedfordshire Lace", the A3 volume you have. There are other
prickings of a similar standard, and several more possible - a very neat edge
with just a few acorns in the corner, for example.
Just for completeness, for others, the third volume of the set you have,
"Traced parchment patterns for lace" an A4 volume with some folded A3 pages,
contains prickings worked over sufficiently to be makable, again TL style, with
only a couple of point ground examples, but no other assistance. There is no
overlap with the other volumes, I think, as none come from BML 577, but from
other bundles in the museum, so these patterns are not readily available
elsewhere.
I paid GBP5 for the 52 designs, and consider it well worth having both for the
patterns and more importantly the insight into the design process and its
development from the increasingly elaborate point ground designs of the 1840s.
Not however for those into eye candy or making lace from diagrams or by
numbers, with someone else doing the thinking!!
[EMAIL PROTECTED], in London looking at the snow - climate change yes, global
warming - not at this precise moment...
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 12:44:08 +1100
From: "Elizabeth Ligeti" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [lace] Book review Please
Has anyone bought the book "52 designs from Cecil Higgins Museum"?
If so, can you please give a book review?
I have the 3 previous books from there that came out a few years ago -
patterns of Lester lace, and pictures in a large folio, etc.
What is this latest book like? Is it all Lester Lace, or are there other
types of lace featured?
Regards from Liz in Melbourne, Oz, where it is cold after yesterday which
was a day of gales, downed trees, power outages, etc.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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