Part 1
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.
AMERICAN LACE AND LACE-MAKERS
PUBLISHED ON THE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHED IN MEMORY OF AMASA STONE MATHER OF THE CLASS OF 1907 YALE COLLEGE
[Illustration: _Frontispiece._
Black net, embroidered with colored carnations, by Caroline Canfield (Mrs. William Mackay). Owned by the Litchfield Historical Society of Litchfield, Connecticut.]
AMERICAN LACE & LACE-MAKERS
BY
_Emily Noyes Vanderpoel_
_Author of “Color Problems” and “Chronicles of a Pioneer School.”_
EDITED BY _Elizabeth C. Barney Buel, A.B._
[Illustration: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW HAVEN]
_New Haven, Yale University Press._ LONDON, HUMPHREY MILFORD, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS _Mcmxxiv._
_Copyright 1924 by Yale University Press._ _Printed in the United States of America._
THE AMASA STONE MATHER MEMORIAL PUBLICATION FUND
The present volume is the fifth work published by the Yale University Press on the Amasa Stone Mather Memorial Publication Fund. This Foundation was established August 25, 1922, by a gift to Yale University from Samuel Mather, Esq., of Cleveland, Ohio, in pursuance of a pledge made in June, 1922, on the fifteenth anniversary of the graduation of his son, Amasa Stone Mather, who was born in Cleveland on August 20, 1884, and was graduated from Yale College in the Class of 1907. Subsequently, after traveling abroad, he returned to Cleveland, where he soon won a recognized position in the business life of the city and where he actively interested himself also in the work of many organizations devoted to the betterment of the community and to the welfare of the nation. His death from pneumonia on February 9, 1920, was undoubtedly hastened by his characteristic unwillingness ever to spare himself, even when ill, in the discharge of his duties or in his efforts to protect and further the interests committed to his care by his associates.
To Robert Swain Gifford A real Artist A wise Teacher A true Friend
_AMERICAN LACE AND LACE-MAKERS_
CONTENTS
_List of Plates, Lace-makers, and Owners of Originals_ xiii
_Preface_ xix
_Introduction_ 1
_Plates and Descriptions_ 15
LIST OF PLATES, LACE-MAKERS, AND OWNERS OF ORIGINALS
In this List, the following abbreviations are used:
A.M.N.H. = American Museum of Natural History, New York City. E.M. = Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts. L.H.S. = Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, Connecticut. M.F.A. = Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts. M.M.A. = Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. S.C.I.L.A. = Sybil Carter Indian Lace Association, New York City.
_Number and Subject_ _Maker or Source_ _Ownership_
Frontispiece. Black net, Caroline Canfield L.H.S. embroidered with (Mrs. William colored carnations Mackay)
1. Lace-bark tree lace Jamaica Miss Edith Beach
2. (1) Peruvian lace bag Peruvian A.M.N.H.
(2) Peruvian lace Peruvian; prehistoric A.M.N.H.
3. Peruvian lace Peruvian; ancient Miss Marian Powys
4. Eight lace bags Balienti Indians A.M.N.H.
5. Lace bag Balienti Indians A.M.N.H.
6. Details of lace bags Balienti Indians A.M.N.H.
7. Four lace bags Honduras Indians A.M.N.H.
8. Lace headdress Hopi Indian Miss Frances Morris
9. (1) Porto Rican lace An aged Porto Rican L.H.S. woman
(2) Porto Rican pillow Unknown L.H.S. and bobbin lace
(3) Porto Rican pillow Unknown L.H.S. and bobbin lace
10. Linen cut-work hand bag Oneida Indians S.C.I.L.A.
11. Bobbin lace pillow Oneida Indians S.C.I.L.A. cover
12. Bobbin lace bed-spread Oneida Indians S.C.I.L.A.
13. Detail of the same
14. Lace pillow with Lydia Lakeman Miss Sarah E. bobbins Lakeman
15. Ipswich patterns and Sarah Sutton Russell Miss Sarah E. laces and Mrs. Thomas Lakeman Caldwell
16. Ipswich laces Unknown Miss Sarah E. Lakeman
17. _Réseaux_ of various Unknown E.M. laces
18. Bobbins, thread, and Unknown E.M. samples of Limerick
19. Samples of darned Mabel Roberts (Mrs. Miss Esther H. laces Hezekiah Thompson) Thompson
20. Additional samples of Mabel Roberts (Mrs. Miss Esther H. darned laces Hezekiah Thompson) Thompson
21. Embroidered collar Unknown Miss Esther H. Thompson
22. Lace guimpe Unknown Miss Esther H. Thompson
23. English darned net Ipswich, England Mrs. Guy Antrobus laces (Mary Symonds)
24. Darned net veil Mrs. Thomas L. M.M.A. Rushmore
25. White net dress skirt Cornelia Kingsland M.M.A. (Mrs. Hatherly Barstow)
26. White lace veil Catherine Roosevelt Miss Helena Knox Kissam (Mrs. Francis Armstrong Livingston)
27. Detail of the same
28. Front of white lace Probably Catherine Miss Helena Knox cap Roosevelt Kissam (Mrs. Francis Armstrong Livingston)
29. Crown of the same
30. White lace veil Mary W. Peck (Mrs. L.H.S. Edward D. Mansfield)
31. Detail of the same
32. White lace veil Elizabeth Hannah L.H.S. Canfield (Mrs. Frederick Augustus Tallmadge)
33. Detail of the same
34. Detail of white veil Probably Ellen L.H.S. McBride (Mrs. Aaron Vanderpoel)
35. Lace cap Elizabeth Hannah L.H.S. Canfield (Mrs. Frederick Augustus Tallmadge)
36. Limerick trimming lace Limerick, Ireland L.H.S.
37. White lace veil Sarah Elizabeth Miss Marianna Johnson (Mrs. Townsend George Pollock Devereux)
38. Detail of the same
39. Detail of a second Sarah Elizabeth Miss Marianna veil by the same hand Johnson (Mrs. Townsend George Pollock Devereux)
40. English wedding veil An unknown member of Miss Clara Ray the Stodart family
41. White lace veil Marietta, or Mary, L.H.S. Smith
42. Detail of the same
43. Second detail of the same
44. Black net shawl Mrs. John Savage L.H.S. (Miss Barringer)
45. Detail of the same
46. (1) Black trimming Elizabeth, or Betsey, Mrs. Samuel H. lace Peck (Mrs. Camp Street Newton)
(2) Black trimming Pamela Parsons Mrs. Charles B. lace Curtis
47. Black lace veil An unknown member of L.H.S. the Buel family
48. Detail of the same
49. Black lace veil Polly Marsh Mrs. Lewis Marsh
50. Detail of a second Polly Marsh Mrs. Lewis Marsh veil by the same hand
51. Black lace veil Either Caroline L.H.S. Canfield (Mrs. William Mackay) or Elizabeth Hannah Canfield (Mrs. Frederick Augustus Tallmadge)
52. Detail of the same
53. Detail of black lace Louisa Lewis (Mrs. L.H.S. veil Henry Phelps)
54. Black lace veil Elizabeth Hannah L.H.S. Canfield (Mrs. Frederick Augustus Tallmadge)
55. Detail of the same
56. Lace pillow and Nina Hall Brisbane L.H.S. bobbins with black trimming lace
57. Costume of 1825 Veil by Mary Bacon Mrs. Edward W. (Mrs. Chauncey Preston Whittlesey)
58. Lace cap Elsie Philips M.F.A.
59. Lace flounce on dress Charlotte Webster M.F.A. skirt (Mrs. Charles Sever)
60. Lace veil Delia I. Beals M.F.A.
61. Detail of the same
62. Embroidered kerchief Rachel Leonard M.F.A.
63. Infant’s embroidered Unknown Miss Katherine cap Egbert
64. Embroidered waistcoat Unknown Mr. William S. Eaton
65. Wedding-dress and Catherine Van Houten Mrs. William marriage reception- (Mrs. Ralph Nelson dress Doremus)
66. Detail of skirt of wedding-dress in the preceding
67. Details of waist of the same
68. Wedding veil Catherine Van Houten Mrs. William (Mrs. Ralph Nelson Doremus)
69. Lady’s and infant’s Catherine Van Houten Mrs. William cap (Mrs. Ralph Nelson Doremus)
70. Collar or cape Catherine Van Houten Mrs. William (Mrs. Ralph Nelson Doremus)
71. White lace Mary Bacon (Mrs. L.H.S. Chauncey Whittlesey)
72. Silk net wedding veil Martha Harness (Mrs. Mrs. G. Glen Gould Isaac Darst)
73. Embroidered collar Elizabeth Taylor L.H.S. (Mrs. Andrew Perkins)
74. (1) Lace cap Sybil (Bradley) Mrs. Samuel H. Hotchkiss Street
(2) Embroidered collar Elizabeth, or Betsey, Mrs. Samuel H. Peck Street
75. Fichu of Irish lace Sarah McCoon Vail L.H.S. (Mrs. George Gould)
76. Patterns for borders Caroline Canfield L.H.S. (Mrs. William Mackay)
77. Design for cap Caroline Canfield L.H.S. (Mrs. William Mackay)
78. Copy of design from Caroline Canfield L.H.S. Paris (Mrs. William Mackay)
79. Ruffle embroidered for Caroline Canfield L.H.S. wedding petticoat (Mrs. William Mackay)
80. Design for embroidery Caroline Canfield L.H.S. (Mrs. William Mackay)
81. India mull dress Design by Caroline L.H.S. Canfield (Mrs. William Mackay)
82. India mull dress Ruth Freeman Packard Mrs. Ruth Quincy (Mrs. George Trask) Powell
83. India mull dress skirt Louisa Lewis (Mrs. L.H.S. Henry Phelps)
84. India mull dress skirt Louisa Lewis (Mrs. L.H.S. Henry Phelps)
85. Handkerchief Eliza (Brock) Miss Edith Eliot Mitchell
86. Bed curtains Polly Cheney L.H.S.
87. Waist of infant’s dress Elizabeth W. L.H.S. Davenport
88. Front of skirt of the same
89. Infant’s dress Mary W. Peck (Mrs. L.H.S. Edward D. Mansfield)
90. Six infant’s caps Mary Ann Laidlaw Mrs. Francis H. (Mrs. Henry Buel) Blake and Miss Katharine L. Buel
91. (1) Knitted lace Mrs. Wilson Tingley Mrs. Charles White William Follett
(2) Pillow lace A California Indian L.H.S. girl
(3) Pillow lace Probably Sarah L.H.S. insertion Chedsey (Mrs. Samuel Alling)
92. Black lace scarf Pamela Parsons Mrs. Charles B. Curtis
93. Infant’s cap Isabella Woodbridge Mrs. Charles B. Sheldon (Mrs. Curtis George Lecky Cornell)
94. Altar cloth of Greek Isabel Douglas Curtis Christ Church, design (Mrs. Charles B. Rye Curtis)
95. Detail of the same
96. Tape lace Isabel Douglas Curtis L.H.S. (Mrs. Charles B. Curtis)
97. Tape lace Rachel Tracy Noyes L.H.S. (Mrs. Charles Edward Whitehead)
98. Tape lace and darned Esther Thompson Miss Esther H. net Thompson
99. Tape laces Mrs. Butterworth Miss Esther H. Thompson
100. Table cover Mrs. Hannah MacLaren Unknown Shepherd-Wolff
101. Filet lace in frame Sarah Belknap (Mrs. Miss Edith Beach Edward Rowland)
102. Filet lace Elsie Belknap (Mrs. Miss Edith Beach R. E. K. Whiting)
103. Chalice-veil Margaret Taylor Unknown Johnstone
104. (1) Pattern and Edith Beach Miss Edith Beach sample of pillow lace
(2) Bobbin lace made on a Edith Beach Miss Edith Beach pillow
105. Pillow lace for a fan Edith Beach Miss Edith Beach
106. Venetian point lace Edith Beach Miss Edith Beach and pattern
107. (1) Machine-made net Dean Walker Miss Sophia A. Walker
(2) Machine-made net Dean Walker Miss Sophia A. with stitches Walker dropped
108. (1) Trimming lace on Clarissa Richardson Miss Sophia A. machine-made net Walker
(2) Trimming lace on Julia Adams (Mrs. Miss Sophia A. machine-made net Horatio Mason) Walker
109. Cap embroidered on Julia Adams (Mrs. Miss Sophia A. machine-made net Horatio Mason) Walker
110. Medal awarded to Dean William T. Walker Walker
PREFACE
Grateful acknowledgment is due all those who have contributed the fine material from which the plates for this book have been made. They have been most generous in giving and in lending the laces and embroideries and in furnishing facts and details as to the making of them. There is a wealth of material in the country which we are not able to show for want of space. We desire to express our gratitude to the following contributors:
Miss Edith Beach, Miss Marian Powys, Miss Esther H. Thompson, Miss Sarah E. Lakeman, Miss Helena Knox, Miss Marianna Townsend, Miss Clara Ray, Miss Natalie Lincoln, Miss Edith Eliot, Miss Emily Wheeler, Miss Frances Morris, The Misses Alice and Edith Kingsbury, Mrs. Charles B. Curtis, Mrs. Lewis Marsh, Mrs. Guy Antrobus (Mary Symonds), Mrs. William Nelson, Mrs. Edward W. Preston, Mrs. Ruth Quincy Powell, Mrs. Samuel H. Street, Mrs. Charles W. Follett, Mrs. Francis H. Blake, Miss Sophia A. Walker, Miss Margaret Taylor Johnstone, Sybil Carter Indian Lace Association, New York City, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, New York Public Library, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, Connecticut.
The few books that have contributed their share to the work deserve mention. They may be consulted by those who wish more data as to the making of lace in general and as to the dates and details of the invention of machine-made lace, the importation into the United States of the machinery with which to make it, and the consequent excitement in both England and New England.
Fine Thread, Lace and Hosiery in Ipswich, by Jesse Fewkes; and Ipswich Mills and Factories, by T. Frank Waters. (Proceedings of the Ipswich Historical Society.) The Salem Press Company.
Point and Pillow Lace, by Mary Sharp. Dutton.
Development of Embroidery in America, by Candace Thurber Wheeler. Harper.
Practical Book of Early American Arts and Crafts, by Harold Donaldson Eberlein and Abbott McClure; with a chapter on early lace by Mabel Foster Bainbridge. Lippincott.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition. Article on Lace.
Too late for inclusion in the body of this volume, there came to the author the exquisite Washington-Lafayette handkerchief which has been photographically reproduced as a design for the binding. The original was worked in New Orleans by a French lady—possibly a Creole, for it is known that the Creoles of that city were remarkably expert with the needle. Its conjectural date is 1825–1830: most of the embroidery of its type was done between 1820 and 1840, and it is wholly probable that the direct impetus of this example was nothing other than Lafayette’s famous triumphal visit of 1824. The original is now owned by the Litchfield Historical Society, of Litchfield, Connecticut.
_AMERICAN LACE AND LACE-MAKERS_
INTRODUCTION
As many things can be better understood and appreciated from pictures than from even a glowing description, so the lace made by the deft fingers of many an American woman cannot be portrayed in words, but must be pictured before it can be appreciated. The half-tone process can reproduce it so perfectly by copper and acid that one is almost deceived into believing that the actual fabric lies on the paper. The plates in this book will tell of the patient, persevering, artistic women with whom we are more apt to associate only the drudgery of household work done with the heavy and often clumsy tools of a hundred years ago.
From _Point and Pillow Lace_, an excellent work by A. M. S. (Mrs. Sharp), published in London, 1899, by John Murray, from which we shall have occasion to quote again, we take the following definition: “The English word Lace is taken from the French ‘Lacis,’ a term, however, which, when properly used, denotes only the Italian work, ‘Punto a maglia,’ or Darned netting. There are two distinct kinds of Hand-made lace: first, Lace made with the needle, that is Needle-point lace, under which heading the above-mentioned Darned netting may be included, and secondly, Lace made on a pillow with bobbins, that is Pillow lace.”
Both of these kinds of lace have been made in America, but a third kind existed there, indigenous to the soil. Few people know of it, but botanists and travellers will testify to the fact. In the island of Jamaica grows the lace-bark tree, botanically named _Lagetta lintearia_. It has an outer bark. Strip that off and you will find an inner bark consisting of fold after fold of lace, white in color, delicate but strong in texture, looking much like fine net but with a different mesh. It can be used with dress goods and for small mats. It is even strong enough, when tightly twisted, for the lash of a whip. This lace must have been growing in America long before the white man ever set foot on these shores.
On investigation we find that in Peru, South America, the first American hand-made lace extant was found. The more we study the civilization of Peru the higher it appears. Many wonderful things have been dug out of the old tombs. Peruvian craftsmanship is particularly shown by its textiles, of which the Museum of Natural History in New York City has a large collection. It is affirmed there that no finer thread has ever been spun in the world than that of which an especially delicate piece of Peruvian weaving is made. The designs of these textiles are primitive but beautiful, and the colors are not surpassed for their quality and harmony by those of any other country, though they are thousands of years old.
When we turn, then, to the Indians of the West, North, and South, careful observation shows that the Papagos of lower California, the Hopis, and the Balientis made laces. These Indian laces, generally made of vegetable fiber, are original and ornamental. They, too, are to be found in the Museum of Natural History in New York City.
We are fortunate in being able to give illustrations of these early laces. We do not know the technique of their making, but they must belong to the pillow and bobbin type, even if some kind of frame was used to weave them over, instead of a pillow. Some of them resemble the “punto a groppo,” or knotted lace, made early in Italy and revived not long ago in what is called macramé, much of which has been made of heavy linen or cotton thread.
In this connection it is interesting to find that Indians are apt pupils in lace-making. Trying to find some way of helping the North American Indians, Miss Sybil Carter went to Italy and learned the Italian methods of lace and cut-work making. She had a true missionary spirit, and on carrying this industry to the Indians, as she did quite successfully, she obtained results beyond her hopes. The work even led to many improvements in the Indians’ way of living, such as cleanliness, better clothing, and more comfortable homes. The agent for this work has a shop in Park Avenue, New York City, and finds a good market for it. Samples of the work have kindly been lent for illustration.
Coming now to the subject of lace among the first white settlers in America, it is quite evident from portraits and from the remains of garments worn by them that some of them brought to this country not only good but rich and dainty clothes. The sumptuary laws, passed early in colonial times against excessive ornament worn by either men or women, give proof of this and correct the assumption that the appearance of our ancestors was either severe or commonplace. It is amusing to read these laws as well as the accounts of the clothes worn on special occasions by people who actually lived in simple huts. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston contains a suit worn on training days by the first governor of Massachusetts, made of gay and superb brocade; and nothing could be richer in men’s clothing than another suit, also in the same museum, consisting of knee breeches, coat of purple velvet, and white satin waistcoat, all three largely covered with the richest embroidery. It was made to be worn by the governor when he went as ambassador to the Court of Spain, and it is still in perfect condition.
Letters of the time speak of the use of lace. We must infer, then, that women who had learned in England to make a delicate trimming for clothing would be in demand in the colonies, both to practice and to teach the art. Although very little is known of this early lace-making, it is a matter of record that a good deal of lace was made in the town of Ipswich, Massachusetts. We find the following in the old history of that town written by Felt, the earliest record we have:
LACE: This of thread and silk, was made in large quantities and for a long period by girls and women.
It was formed on a Lap Pillow, which had a piece of parchment wound round it with the particular figure, represented by pins stuck up straight, around which the work was done and the lace wrought.
Black as well as white lace was manufactured of various widths, qualities and pieces. The females of almost every family would pass their leisure hours in such employment.
1790. No less than 41,979 yards were made here annually. After the first lace factory commenced, the pillows and bobbins were soon laid aside.
What of these survive a century hence will be viewed as curious emblems of industry, and mementoes of labor performed in months, which is now done in a factory in a day.
That lace-makers came to this country from the Midland counties of England, such as Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, we know from the town records as well as from the lace they made—lace which was originally peculiar to those counties. We are told that they were the only lace-makers in the world to use bobbins made of bamboo. The bamboo had undoubtedly come across the sea with the many oriental treasures to be found along the Massachusetts coast. Strict laws were made by the colonists obliging a certain number to spin, to take care of sheep, and to save the seed of flax and hemp.
Children were taught when very young the principles of lace-making, so that by twelve years of age they were able to earn their living by that means. We read that Bishop Alexander V. Griswold, one of the first Episcopal bishops in this country, could and did, at five years of age, make “bone lace,” a quaint term for pillow lace. The name of “bone lace” was given because bobbins were made of chicken bones. All the young people were trained thus early in habits of constant industry.
Little of this lace seems to be in existence, but enough remains to prove that in the North lace and lace-making came from England. As the Spaniards were early lace-makers, presumably the art may also have come into North America through the Spanish settlers in Mexico, and so on through New Orleans and the Southern States; but it is not so easy to trace as that by the way of Massachusetts. Happily, a pillow and bobbins used there by an early maker of lace, as well as samples of the lace itself, are still to be seen in the town of Ipswich, and have been photographed for our benefit.
The making of pillow lace in Ipswich seems to have come to an end rather suddenly, owing to the appearance of net made by machine. The origin of machine-made net is lost in an obscurity of conflicting authorities. It is known, however, that a workman in a stocking factory in Nottingham, England, about 1760, scrutinized the pillow lace on his wife’s cap and conceived a plan whereby he could copy its foundation net on a stocking frame. The resultant machine was improved upon by several inventors in turn until a good net could be produced. On this net the women worked with darning and tambour stitches—tambour being a sort of chain stitch—until quite an industry sprang up in the country.
This kind of lace acquired the name of Limerick; for, to quote again from _Point and Pillow Lace_, “The manufacture was transferred to Ireland in the year 1829 by Mr. Charles Walker, who, while studying for Holy Orders, married the daughter of a lace manufacturer, and either moved by philanthropy, or as a speculation, took over to Ireland twenty-four girls to teach the work and settled them in Limerick. It is in reality of French origin, being the same as the ‘Broderies de Luneville’ which have been produced in France since 1800.” It is also found in Spain and Italy. The art has flourished in Limerick to this day, as is shown by Plate 36, photographed from a sample recently imported and sold by Arnold, Constable & Company, of New York City. That the same kind of lace came to this country before it went to Limerick is established by the dates of the making of some of the samples shown in our illustrations.
Grave troubles, extending even to rioting, broke out between the pillow lace-makers and the machine lace-makers, and between those who wanted to come to America and bring their machines with them and those who wished them to stay at home. Details can be found in books named in our Preface. However, the manufacture of net and that of stockings became established at Ipswich and continued simultaneously until lately, when that of the net died out.