‘Modern’ point lace

 

My 1882 edition of the Dictionary of needlework describes how to work this type of needlelace which was a popular pastime in the late nineteenth century. It describes point lace as any needlelace, except cut and drawn work, which is worked in buttonhole stitches on a parchment pattern. It goes on to explain that this modern type of point lace has been made since 1855, particularly in France where it is known as dentelle renaissance. The materials required are tracing cloth on which to draw the design, Toile Cire (which seems to be oil cloth) ‘to give firmness to the lace while in progress’ so I assume it is used as a backing cloth for the work, needles, linen braids and linen thread. A variety of linen braids were obviously available at the time but the book notes you could also make your own in bobbin lace if you preferred. It recommends using a fine thread such as Haythorne’s linen thread (I assume this is a brand name).

The first step is to draw the outline of the lace onto the tracing cloth and this is the suggested starting pattern. Then tack the braid loosely to the cloth. After that overcast all the edges of the braid, drawing up the thread at the inner edges of the curves so they sit flat. Then join the separate parts of the design with bars as shown by passing a thread across a space three times, buttonholing over the threads to the centre of the bar, where a picot is formed, and then continuing by buttonholing the other half of the bar. The centre of the braid shapes can then be filled with needlelace filling stitches. For beginners they suggest using point de Bruxelles as the filling stitch, which is a series of interlocked rows of loose buttonhole stitches. This seems quite a difficult stitch for beginners, as it is hard to maintain a good tension, but of course Victorian women all knew how to stitch and most were quite adept at something as well-known as buttonhole stitch.

A series of draughts for the Nottingham lace curtain machine

 

This set of four lace machine draughts are all variations on a theme of roses. They all have the same heading and a similar pattern along the base, while the main parts of the design are all variations on a series of roses, four-petalled flowers and leaves. I have previously seen a variety of designs produced this way and thought they were variations produced by the designer for the manufacturer to choose which one they preferred. I didn’t realise that manufacturers produced a variety of fairly similar designs for sale and therefore the designers were probably producing a suite of designs that complemented each other to make a range for that season.

These draughts were painted by hand by a draughtsman based on the designers original drawing. They are basically instructions converting the design into a pattern that can be made on the Nottingham lace curtain machine. Each draught contains the information for one pattern repeat and the places where the repeat begins and ends are marked. The red and green rectangles indicate different operations for the lace machine – generally red indicates back spool ties and green means Swiss ties. The draughts also provide other information such as the fineness or point size of the lace, its width and depth and whether the edging is overlocked or a picot edging. Following this stage, the draughts would have been sent to the card puncher who would have converted the information into a set of punched Jacquard cards which would have been ‘read’ by the machine to make the lace. A stamp on the draughts says ‘Lace textile designers draughtsmen 40 Upper Parliament Street, Nottingham’ which suggests that the people making these draughts were a specialist company of designer draughtsmen and not part of a larger manufacturing company, as was often the case. They probably produced a range of designs for several lace manufacturers.

Lacemaking at the Great Exhibition 1851

Bucks point lace made from this draught won a gold medal at the Great Exhibition in 1851. According to Thomas Wright, Miss Elizabeth Clayson from Olney demonstrated lacemaking at the exhibition and was working on this pattern when Queen Victoria visited the show. The Queen asked the usual question ‘Are the different coloured bobbins a guide to which thread you turn over?’ and was told this was not the case. Whether she highlighted its similarity to tatting is not recorded! (These are the two observations everyone makes at lace demonstrations!)

The pattern was designed by John Millward from Olney, a well-known Buckinghamshire lace-making town, for the lace manufacturers Messrs. Copestake and Co. The Jury report of the exhibition suggests that the medal was awarded to the company, not the designer or lacemaker, and was for their complete range including Bucks point, Honiton and tambour lace as well as embroidered muslin. Particular mention is made of ‘very wide Buckinghamshire lace of fine quality’ which presumably refers to this pattern. The lace was made in three widths and we are not told which one Miss Clayson was working on when she met the Queen, I do hope it was a smaller, more manageable, version and not the very wide one.