Lace Making in the Midlands Past And Present

LACE-MAKINGIN THE MIDLANDSISKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF LACE-MAKING IN EUROPEThe history of lace-making is the history of an art. A piece of lace is an artistic composition expressed in twisted thread, just as a piece of wood-carving is the expression of the artist's idea in chiselled wood. Lace is not, like embroidery, an ornamented fabric; it is itself ornament. It is not the application of art to-a craft; the whole pattern is the fabric, and the fabric is the pattern. It is this peculiarity that distinguishes lace from needlework and from woven-work.The art is a comparatively modern one. No trace of it can be found on ancient monuments or in early records; the term " old lace" isBTable of Contents CONTENTS; PAGE; I, Progress of Lace-making in Europe i; II Progress of Lace-making in England 17; III Lace-ma king in the Midlands during the ; Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries 23; IV Lace Schools 3°; V Lace-makers at Home 40; VI Decline of the Lace Industry 45; VII Revival of the Lace Ind