Lace History
By Royal Appointment
Feb. 8th – May 31st 2020
Carol McFadzean & Elizabeth Trebble
The Royal Albert Memorial Museum, (RAMM ) is staging a major lace display for the first time since the Costume Museum at Rougemont closed in 1992. It is titled ‘By Royal Appointment’ and covers the heritage craft of lacemaking for which the County of Devon is world renowned.
The exhibition is about some ‘untold stories’ of those who made the lace or were in business as lace manufacturers. Items of lace and lace ephemera will, of course, supplement these ‘untold stories’.
There will also be items that have never been on display before e.g. The Woodbury Salterton Lace Find (2002), a rare black Honiton lace pall, the Albany flounce, made in 1882 for Prince Leopold’s bride and entries for the Exeter School of Art lace design competitions, regularly held during the Victorian period.
Mrs Treadwin, who was a prominent Devon figure for her business acumen and her lace designs, will also feature highly in the display. Paintings from The Royal Collection and items of interest are being loaned by local museums, including Allhallows and by local lace historians.
For more modern times the Museum commissioned a new piece of Honiton lace to be made by local lace makers under the direction of two Devon Lace Teachers, who have been volunteers at RAMM for 15 years. The design was taken from a very busy Victorian Indian ink design from the times when RAMM held lace design competitions. Elements of the entry were placed to form a more open design that has been made in coloured silk and is akin to the Colyton Chromatic shawl of 1851 and is now resident in the V&A Museum. There will also be a display of lace bobbins in the ‘What do you collect’ cabinet from March to June.
The exhibition is open from February 8th – May 31st 2020, 10am – 5pm, closed on a Monday.
Demonstrations will take place each Thursday and Sunday that the exhibition is open from 1.30 – 3.30p.m. A ‘Have a Go’ pillow will also be available – come and have a go – you may be surprised at how easy it is!!
As an additional piece of information, RAMM has digitised Mrs Treadwin’s Lace Sample Book and it available to view on the RAMM website – it’s worth a look! Click on Explore and type Mrs Treadwins sample book into the search box. Then have fun looking at all her samples from around Europe. Also in the Decorative Arts collection p23-31 are several examples of Honiton lace made by leading manufacturers in Victorian times.
Carol McFadzean & Elizabeth Trebble
The Royal Albert Memorial Museum, (RAMM ) is staging a major lace display for the first time since the Costume Museum at Rougemont closed in 1992. It is titled ‘By Royal Appointment’ and covers the heritage craft of lacemaking for which the County of Devon is world renowned.
The exhibition is about some ‘untold stories’ of those who made the lace or were in business as lace manufacturers. Items of lace and lace ephemera will, of course, supplement these ‘untold stories’.
There will also be items that have never been on display before e.g. The Woodbury Salterton Lace Find (2002), a rare black Honiton lace pall, the Albany flounce, made in 1882 for Prince Leopold’s bride and entries for the Exeter School of Art lace design competitions, regularly held during the Victorian period.
Mrs Treadwin, who was a prominent Devon figure for her business acumen and her lace designs, will also feature highly in the display. Paintings from The Royal Collection and items of interest are being loaned by local museums, including Allhallows and by local lace historians.
For more modern times the Museum commissioned a new piece of Honiton lace to be made by local lace makers under the direction of two Devon Lace Teachers, who have been volunteers at RAMM for 15 years. The design was taken from a very busy Victorian Indian ink design from the times when RAMM held lace design competitions. Elements of the entry were placed to form a more open design that has been made in coloured silk and is akin to the Colyton Chromatic shawl of 1851 and is now resident in the V&A Museum. There will also be a display of lace bobbins in the ‘What do you collect’ cabinet from March to June.
The exhibition is open from February 8th – May 31st 2020, 10am – 5pm, closed on a Monday.
Demonstrations will take place each Thursday and Sunday that the exhibition is open from 1.30 – 3.30p.m. A ‘Have a Go’ pillow will also be available – come and have a go – you may be surprised at how easy it is!!
As an additional piece of information, RAMM has digitised Mrs Treadwin’s Lace Sample Book and it available to view on the RAMM website – it’s worth a look! Click on Explore and type Mrs Treadwins sample book into the search box. Then have fun looking at all her samples from around Europe. Also in the Decorative Arts collection p23-31 are several examples of Honiton lace made by leading manufacturers in Victorian times.
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