Bobbin lace mat of the Dorsetshire Regiment badge

 

I have carried out quite a lot of research into war lace, including the Battle of Britain machine-lace panel and the war lace made in Belgium in the First World War, so I was intrigued to find this lace mat which looked as if it was celebrating a battle. I was so interested that I bought it and started some research when I got home.

It turns out it is a depiction of the type of regimental cap badge that was used by soldiers in the Dorsetshire regiment of the British army from 1900 to 1951. The regiment was originally formed in 1702, under a different name, and underwent several changes over the years. Then, in about 1898, the badge was redesigned to reflect some of the battle honours the soldiers had achieved.

The castle and key (the top of the key is the circle immediately under the castle) mark the Great Siege of Gibraltar from 1779-1783. The scroll under the castle includes the Latin inscription Primus in Indis (First in India) to acknowledge that the regiment was the first British Regiment to serve in India in 1754.

The sphinx at the top of the design and the words Marabout under it refer to a battle during the Egyptian Campaign on 21 August 1802. The design of the castle and key is surrounded by a wreath of laurels and the scroll at the bottom is inscribed Dorsetshire. The mat is made of handmade bobbin lace and was probably designed by someone who had a relative serving in the regiment. It is well designed, and I’m impressed by the way the lacemaker has achieved the lettering. Having designed bobbin lace patterns with text in them I know how difficult it is to ensure the words are legible. I like the way she has depicted the bricks of the castle and the parts of the sphinx with a series of twisted threads, and the centres of the leaves too. 

I think the piece was worked in two parts. First, the outer circle including the laurels, sphinx and lettering and, second, the central panel with the castle and key. The lacemaker then sewed the central panel inside the outer ring with an oversewing stitch linking the two edges. I find that method of joining the two parts interesting, because I would have looped pairs into the inner edge of the outer circle and worked the central panel in situ, to ensure it fitted the space correctly. It suggests to me that perhaps two people were working on this piece at the same time, may be a mother and daughter as a reminder of a husband and father far away in the army. However, the place where the beginning of the outer lace circle meets the end of the lace is also joined by oversewing, rather than looping the threads through the starting pinholes, so perhaps it was made by one person and that was just the method she used to join pieces of lace – I will probably never know!