Lost in lace: concealed and revealed

This exhibition, curated by Gail Baxter at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, accompanies ‘Lost in lace’ an exhibition of international artists who reference lace in their work. Gail’s exhibition in the Bridge Gallery uses lace and artefacts from the Birmingham Museum store to tell the story behind the exquisite face of lace. The exhibition shows that although beautiful lace was bought as a fine ornament and to display the status of the wearer it was also the means of earning a bare living for many in the working class.

The exhibition shows many different types of lace, both bobbin and needlemade, from fine Chantilly to homemade tape lace and discusses many aspects of lace linked to social history. There are examples of lace bobbins, prickings and a lace pillow showing how lace is made by hand. Several portraits and items of clothing show how lace was worn at different times, including one of Lady Mason wearing a Bedfordshire lace collar pinned at the neck, with a leaf pattern familiar to today’s pattern collectors. There are also examples of lace from the collection of Mrs Cadbury, a keen local collector of lace who donated much of her collection to the Museum. There is also an interesting little sketchbook belonging to Frank Taylor Lockwood with a charming watercolour of net curtains at his scullery window. In one of the many clever links Gail makes between the exhibits we find he worked at Cadburys during the war and she then goes on to describe how lace curtain machines were used to produce mosquito netting for the troops.

This is a fascinating gem of an exhibition which holds plenty of interest for the lay person and the lacemaker. Newcomers to lace will be amazed at its variety, beauty, intricacy and history while lacemakers will gain new insights and enjoy some of the interesting pieces from the Birmingham Museum store on show for the first time.

Don’t miss it when you visit Lost in Lace – it’s in the Bridge Gallery next to the shop.