Part 3

The lady being thus provided, and having her materials, implements, &c., placed in order upon her work-table, to the edge of which, it is an advantage to have a pincushion affixed by means of a screw, may commence her work, and proceed with it with pleasure to herself, and without annoyance to any visiter [_sic_] who may favor her with a call. We would recommend, wherever practicable, that the work-table should be made of cedar, and that the windows of the working parlor should open into a garden, well supplied with odoriferous flowers and plants, the perfume of which, will materially cheer the spirits of those especially whose circumstances compel them to devote the greatest portion of their time to sedentary occupations. If these advantages can not be obtained, at least the room should be well ventilated, and furnished with a few cheerful plants, and a well-filled scent-jar.

These suggestions are followed by directions for making underclothes and bed linen and by pictures of various stitches, so carefully described as to be quite clear to anyone. There follows the

CONCLUSION:

The space already occupied leaves us but little opportunity for concluding remarks: but we can not dismiss the little manual we have thus prepared, without a word or two to our fair countrywomen, on the importance of a general and somewhat extensive acquaintance with these arts, in which so much of the comfort of individual and domestic life depends. Economy of time, labor, and expense, is an essential requisite in every family, and will ever claim a due share of attention from her who is desirous of fulfilling, with credit to herself and advantage to others, the allotted duties of her appointed station. To those who are at the head of the majority of families, an extensive knowledge of the various departments of plain needlework is indispensable. The means placed at their disposal are limited—in many instances extremely so; and to make the most of these means, generally provided by the continual care and unremitting attention of the father and the husband, is a sacred duty, which can not be violated without the entailment of consequences which every well-regulated mind must be anxious to avoid....

Volume 3, on “Fancy Needlework,” contains in the fourth chapter the following injunction, an evidence of the honesty of feeling of the time:

In working a landscape, some recommend the placing behind the canvass [_sic_] a painted sky, to avoid the trouble of working one. As a compliance with such advice would tend to foster habits of idleness and deception, and thus weaken that sense of moral propriety which should, in all we do, be ever present with us, as well as destroy that nice sense of honor and sincerity which flies from every species of deceit, we hope the fair votaries of this delightful art will reject the suggestion with the contempt it merits.

In Volume 5, “Embroidery on Muslin,” we are given directions for all kinds of embroidery, including that on net. The directions last named read in part:

This is the most difficult and delicate, but at the same time, the most beautiful of all white embroidery.

... The designs can be varied, and we strongly advise all who have a taste for drawing, to improve it by designing new and elegant combinations; they will thus be perfecting themselves in the art of design, while they are adding additional attractions to the elegant ornaments of attire.

[Another method of executing designs on net is] by sewing round the edges of each leaf, &c., in glazed cotton, and on the inside of each, darning with fine cotton, doubled, leaving the centre of the flower vacant, which is afterward to be worked in herring-bone stitch, extending from one side to the other. Sometimes, instead of darning, the leaves are worked in chain stitch, which is done in rows to the extremity of the leaf, &c., and the cotton is turned back, and the process is repeated, until the whole space is occupied.... One beautiful variety is formed by filling up the centres of flowers with insertion stitch.

Then follow directions for making bobbin lace. And finally, in the Conclusion, we read:

In the foregoing pages we have endeavored to impart a knowledge of one other branch of those interesting and delightful occupations, in which female activity and skill appear so preeminently beautiful; and we trust we have succeeded in rendering our description so clear and lucid, as to preclude any serious danger of their being mistaken. We hear much in the stories of the olden time, of the potency of the magician’s wand, but it would be indeed presumption to affirm, that any magic ever exercised a more potent sway over trembling nations, than the apparently insignificant needle has exercised, and does exercise, over the most cherished interests of civilized man. As the compass has conducted, by its mysterious influence, the bewildered mariner to the port of safety; so the needle, under the guidance of female skill and affection, has ever been the pole-star of human hopes; and its important fabrications have, in all ages, led the way to increased civilization, assurance, and happiness. With such a fact before us, who would not breathe the wish, that the influence of female skill and taste might be still more widely extended, and that fairy fingers might still guide the mighty helm, which is to direct the storm-tossed vessel of society into a haven of plenty, security, and peace.

In the sixth and last volume are given directions for millinery and dressmaking, from which we quote as follows:

CONCLUSION.

In the foregoing pages, we have imbodied, in a concise but intelligible form, a mass of information, which experience and observation have convinced us was much needed by thousands and tens of thousands of those who are the glory of the land that gave them birth, and who, amid their scanty and limited means, are most laudably ambitious to appear, in the truest sense of the word, respectable. To those, and to the affectionate mothers and devoted wives, who are anxious to make the most of the means placed at their disposal, we trust that our labor, and it has been truly a “labor of love,” will prove an acceptable offering....

In whatever light we view it, the needle is an object of the most fascinating character. It is a home friend; and while it confers upon us all unnumbered blessings, it is a source both of utility and pleasure, that is within the reach of all. In joy and in sorrow, in health and in sickness, in life and in death, it is our companion, our solace, and our helper. Thus, ever ready to obey our guiding will, let us be sure to profit by its silent but eloquent instructions. As the needle turns not to the right hand or the left from the occupation assigned, so let us pursue, with undeviating footsteps, the appointed path of duty; and as it ever points with strict fidelity to the attracting magnet, so let us in all our works, whether useful or ornamental, turn to HIM “in whom we live, and move, and have our being.”

There is something calculated to afford high delight to the heart which expands at the prospect of any increase in the sum of human happiness, in the fact that, since the commencement of the present century, much more attention has been paid to the subject of dress, by the mass of society, than had been previously bestowed upon it. This is one of the most favorable signs of the times, since it is closely, and in some respects inseparably, connected with the elevation of the mental standard, and the development of those higher powers by which human nature is so prominently distinguished above the animal creation. No one who has paid the least attention to the subject can doubt, for a moment, the close alliance which subsists between the honest pride of appearance and the desire to secure the highest attainable amount of intellectual culture and improvement; and no one really possessing a heart can refuse to rejoice in this undeniable mark of general progression. We are sensible, that if not under proper guidance, this desire to attain a more respectable and elevated position in society may degenerate into a mere love of show and finery. But we are disposed to look on the bright side of things, and to come to the conclusion that elements are now at work which will produce not only a refined and elevated taste, but a correct and well-regulated judgment. We consider it the peculiar glory of our age, that woman is acknowledged to be fully capable of, and worthy to share in, the most exalted intellectual pursuits. To her, as well as to the boasted lords of the creation, the treasures of art are freely opened; and she is invited in the society of those most loved, to walk through the glorious paths of knowledge, and to drink with them full draughts from the opened fountains of enlarged information.

To render herself worthy of this her improved and still improving condition, is the duty, and should be the pride, of every female. And when it is considered how much a neat and becoming mode of attire adds to the attractive force of woman’s charms, it will be at once seen, that to attain that object with the least unnecessary sacrifice of time, labor, and expense, is a matter of no mean consideration; and that any effort tending to this end, however humble, is deserving of the countenance and encouragement of all who are desirous of co-operating in the designs of the benevolent Creator, and who, recollecting that He himself has declared that “it is not good for man to be alone,” are desirous of investing the fair forms of those intended for our comfort and delight with every personal and mental excellence, calculated to render them worthy of the highest esteem and most devoted affection of the wise, good, and accomplished among mankind.

These quotations taken from writings of the time give something of the characteristics and surroundings of the young women who made the laces of the colonies and of the early 19th century. The surroundings were unusual, and the results in lace compare favorably with those in the silver and furniture of the same period.

That lace-making in America attained an artistic excellence realized by few is conclusively proved by the illustrations which follow.

_PLATES_

[Illustration: _Plate 1._

Samples of lace from the lace-bark tree, or _Lagetta lintearia_, illustrating its manner of growth. These were brought from the island of Jamaica, West Indies, by Miss Edith Beach, of West Hartford, Connecticut. She has also a piece, resembling them, which was sent to her from Australia. It is reported that a similar variety grows in South Africa. Owned by Miss Beach.]

[Illustration: _Plate 2._

_Figure 1._ Peruvian lace bag found in a tomb. Probably four thousand years old.

_Figure 2._ Peruvian lace. Prehistoric.

These are owned by the American Museum of Natural History, New York City.]

[Illustration: _Plate 3._

Peruvian lace, two to four thousand years old. Lent by Miss Marian Powys, of the Devonshire Lace Shop, New York City. The American Museum of Natural History, New York City, which gave it to Miss Powys, states that “it was made with an oblong piece of wood like a net measure.”]

[Illustration: _Plate 4._

Eight lace bags made by the Balienti Indians of Central America. Owned by the American Museum of Natural History, New York City.]

[Illustration: _Plate 5._

Lace bag made by the Balienti Indians. Owned by the American Museum of Natural History, New York City.]

[Illustration: _Plate 6._

Four details of the lace bags made by the Balienti Indians. (See Plates 4 and 5.)]

[Illustration: _Plate 7._

Four lace bags made by the Honduras Indians of Central America. Owned by the American Museum of Natural History, New York City.]

[Illustration: _Plate 8._

Lace headdress trimmed with eagle and partridge feathers, made by a Hopi Indian. Less than one-half size. Owned by Miss Frances Morris, of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.]

[Illustration: _Plate 9._

_Figure 1_ (at the top). Very old style of lace, knotted, not netted, made only by one aged woman who lives in the interior of the island of Porto Rico and produces but little.

_Figures 2_ and _3_. Pillow and bobbin lace made in Porto Rico. Makers unknown.

Originals of _Figures 1_, _2_, and _3_ owned by the Litchfield Historical Society.]

[Illustration: _Plate 10._

Hand bag of linen cut-work.

(_Plates 10–13 show work done by the Oneida Indians of North America, whose reservation is in Wisconsin. The lace was awarded gold medals at the Paris Exposition, 1900; at the Pan-American at Buffalo, 1901; at Liège, 1905; at Milan, 1906; and at the Australian Exposition, 1908; and at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904 it was awarded the Grand Prize, which is the highest recognition possible. Miss Carter’s association has eight centers, in which six tribes are represented: Onondagas, Oneidas, Chippewas, Sioux, Pueblos, and Mission Indians of Southern California. Loaned by the Sybil Carter Indian Lace Association, New York City, which owns the originals shown in Plates 10–13._)]

[Illustration: _Plate 11._

Bobbin lace pillow cover with Indian hunting ducks, squaw with papoose on her back, and an Indian tepee introduced into the design. About one-third size. (See description of Plate 10.)]

[Illustration: _Plate 12._

Bobbin lace bed-spread. (See description of Plate 10; also Plate 13.)]

[Illustration: _Plate 13._

Detail of bed-spread shown in Plate 12.]

[Illustration: _Plate 14._

Lace pillow with bobbins. Made by Lydia Lakeman, born at Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1781. Originals of Plates 14–16 lent by Miss Sarah E. Lakeman.]

[Illustration: _Plate 15._

Parchment patterns used in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1790; blue-print pattern used in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1909, at the time of an effort to revive lace-making in the town; and samples of pillow and bobbin laces made there. The narrow lace, of the pattern which was called “the cat’s eye,” was made by Sarah Sutton Russell, born in Ipswich in 1775. The wider laces were made by Mrs. Thomas Caldwell, who was born in the same place in 1780. Her great-grandmother was a lace-maker, born there as well, in 1736. The patterns all had local names, one of the wider ones being called “two and thrippenny.” The pillow, patterns, and laces have come down to a granddaughter of Mrs. Caldwell, Miss Sarah E. Lakeman, of Ipswich, Massachusetts. She makes lace now and lectures on the old industry.]

[Illustration: _Plate 16._

Ipswich laces. Owned by Miss Sarah E. Lakeman. (See description of Plate 15.) Makers unknown.]

[Illustration: _Plate 17._

Samples of the _réseaux_, or grounds, enlarged, which fill up the patterns of pillow and bobbin laces; also of the darned net called Limerick, still on its pasteboard frame. Makers unknown. Owned by the Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.

Text from image:

DETAILS OF BOBBIN, OR PILLOW LACE

Toile of Bobbin Lace Half stitch

Toile of Bobbin Lace Cloth stitch

Reseau of Valenciennes

Reseau of Brussels

Reseau of Mechlin

Reseau of Lille

Reseau called “Cinq Trous”

Reseau called “Fond Chant” or “Point de Paris” This is used in Chantilly Lace. ]

[Illustration: _Plate 18._

Bobbins made of bamboo, wood, and ivory; linen thread for making lace; and samples of Limerick lace, or darned net. Makers unknown. Owned by the Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.

Text from image: Darned Lace on machine net about 1830 Gift of miss Lucy Baker ]

[Illustration: _Plate 19._

Samples of American darned laces. Collected by Miss Anna P. Thompson, daughter of Hezekiah Thompson and his wife, Mabel Roberts, of New Haven, Connecticut. Owned by Miss Esther H. Thompson, of Litchfield, Connecticut. Mabel Roberts was born in 1814. At nine years of age, in the winter while at school, she made the lace shown in _Figure 2_ of Plate 19 and in _Figure 1_ of Plate 20, worked a sampler, and made a ruffled shirt for her brother, who was eight years old. (See also _Figure 5_ of Plate 23 and description.)]

[Illustration: _Plate 20._

Additional samples of American darned laces. Collected by Miss Anna P. Thompson. (See description of Plate 19.) The original of _Figure 1_ (top) was made by Mabel Roberts (Mrs. Hezekiah Thompson) when she was nine years old. _Figure 2_ (middle) shows the cap border of Mrs. (General) John Hubbard. (See description of Plate 91, _Figure 3_.) Owned by Miss Esther H. Thompson, of Litchfield, Connecticut.]

[Illustration: _Plate 21._

A collar in the same collection (see descriptions of Plates 19 and 20). Brought from Savannah by Mrs. Erastus Merwin, of Cornwall Hollow, Connecticut. Maker unknown. Worked about 1830. About one-half size. Owned by Miss Esther H. Thompson, of Litchfield, Connecticut.]

[Illustration: _Plate 22._

A guimpe in the same collection (see Plates 19–21 and descriptions); about one-half size. Maker unknown. Owned by Miss Esther H. Thompson, of Litchfield, Connecticut.]

[Illustration: _Plate 23._

One page from a sampler of darned net laces owned in Ipswich, England, brought from there by Mrs. Guy Antrobus (Mary Symonds), and lent by her for reproduction here. _Figure 5_ of this plate (middle of second row) proved to be of the same design as that of the American lace in _Figure 1_ of Plate 19. There are one hundred and forty-three different designs for darned net, insertion, and trimming lace in this little sampler book, made simply of sheets of blue paper on which the lace is sewed.]

[Illustration: _Plate 24._

Unfinished hand-run, or darned net, veil. Made by Mrs. Thomas L. Rushmore about 1825. Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.]

[Illustration: _Plate 25._

Part of a dress skirt of white net. Worked by Cornelia Kingsland, born in 1806, died in 1890, daughter of Stephen and Mary Kipp Kingsland, cousin to Mayor Kingsland, of New York City. She married Captain Hatherly Barstow, who was lost at sea two years after her marriage. She was taught lace-making in her girlhood by a French lady, was an expert needlewoman, and made two whole lace dresses—this skirt in 1822. This lace was given by her niece, Mrs. Eleanor T. Smith, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.]

[Illustration: _Plate 26._

White veil, 46 inches long and 42 inches deep. Worked in chain stitch, or tambour, by Catherine Roosevelt Kissam, of New York, daughter of Benjamin Kissam and his wife, Cornelia Roosevelt. She married Francis Armstrong Livingston in 1822. She attended the Moravian school at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where she was probably taught lace-making. Mr. Livingston died in 1830. This veil is owned by Miss Helena Knox. (See also Plates 27–29.)]

[Illustration: _Plate 27._

Detail of veil shown in Plate 26.]

[Illustration: _Plate 28._

Front of cap. Worked with a variety of lace stitches, probably by the same hand as the original of Plates 26 and 27. Both originals are owned by Miss Helena Knox, granddaughter of Catherine Roosevelt Kissam. (See also Plate 29.)

The school at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was the outgrowth of a religious community founded in 1722 at Herrnhut, Germany, by Count Zinzendorf. A number of its members came to Pennsylvania and there started a colony, which later developed into two schools, one for boys and one for girls. The one for girls became very popular. Fine needlework was taught, but as an extra; as the school records say, “Tambour and fine needlework” at the rate of “seventeen shillings and sixpence, Pennsylvania currency.” Here and there are remains of the fine work done by pupils of that school—all kinds of embroidery as well as pictures. Needlework was also taught at Miss Pierce’s Female Academy in Litchfield, Connecticut, from which a number of examples remain, besides pictures painted in water-colors.]

[Illustration: _Plate 29._

Crown of cap shown in Plate 28.]

[Illustration: _Plate 30._

White veil, 48 inches long, 38 inches wide. (See also Plate 31.) The linen thread used to work this veil, like much of that used in the other white lace, is of peculiar texture, much resembling silk.

This veil was made about 1827 and worn at her wedding by Mary W. Peck, stepdaughter of Dr. Abel Catlin, who lived in Litchfield, Connecticut, in the house on the west side of North Street now occupied by Mr. Frederick Deming. Her name is on the list of pupils of Miss Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy for 1811. (She also appears on the list for 1825, but as teacher of drawing.) She married Edward D. Mansfield, a student of the Litchfield Law School. Her son, Charles, paymaster in the United States Navy, gave the veil, a baby’s dress (see Plate 89), and his mother’s album (which is ornamented with water-color paintings and contains written verses and sentiments, with autographs, of all the people prominent in Litchfield at that time) to the Litchfield Historical Society about 1890.]

[Illustration: _Plate 31._

Detail of veil shown in Plate 30.]

[Illustration: _Plate 32._

Veil. Worked by Elizabeth Hannah Canfield about 1830. The maker was a daughter of Judge Judson and Mabel Ruggles Canfield, of Sharon, Connecticut, and a sister of Caroline Canfield. (See Frontispiece and Plates 51, 52, and 76–81.) She attended the well-known school kept by Miss Sarah Pierce in Litchfield, Connecticut. This school was contemporary with the first law school founded in the United States, also in Litchfield. Miss Canfield, being very handsome, was called by the law students “the Rose of Sharon.” She married Frederick Augustus Tallmadge, son of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge and Mary Floyd, of Litchfield. She lived subsequently in New York City. The veil was given to the Litchfield Historical Society by her daughter, Mrs. Edward W. Seymour. (See Plates 33, 35, 51, 52, 54, and 55; also the description of Plate 81.)]

[Illustration: _Plate 33._

Detail of veil shown in Plate 32.]

[Illustration: _Plate 34._

Detail of similar white veil, 38 inches long by 38 inches wide. From the collection of Ellen McBride, wife of Judge Aaron Vanderpoel, of Kinderhook and New York. Made probably by her or a sister about 1835. Owned by the Litchfield Historical Society.]

[Illustration: _Plate 35._

Lace cap. Worked by Elizabeth Hannah Canfield (Mrs. Frederick Augustus Tallmadge) about 1830. Owned by the Litchfield Historical Society. (See Plates 32, 33, 51, 54, and 55; also description of Plate 81.)]

[Illustration: _Plate 36._

A piece of Limerick trimming lace made in Limerick, Ireland. Bought in 1922 of Arnold, Constable & Company, New York City. This shows that the kind of lace taught by the girls taken to Limerick by Mr. Charles Walker in 1829 is still being made there and is of the same technique as that made in New England a hundred years ago. Owned by the Litchfield Historical Society.]

[Illustration: _Plate 37._

White veil. “Made by Sarah Elizabeth Johnson, descended on one side from the first president of King’s College, New York, and on the other from Jonathan Edwards. She married in 1827 her second cousin, George Pollock Devereux, of Raleigh, North Carolina. The ten years of her married life were spent with him on a lonely plantation in Bertie County, North Carolina, and it was during this time that the lace was made. (Probably from 1830 to 1840.) She then returned to her old home in Stratford and New Haven and died in 1867.” (Extract from a letter written by her granddaughter, Miss Marianna Townsend, who owns the veil.)

The example given in this plate measures as a whole 42 inches wide by 33 inches long. (See also Plates 38 and 39.)]

[Illustration: _Plate 38._

Detail of veil shown in Plate 37.]

[Illustration: _Plate 39._

Detail of a second veil made by Sarah Elizabeth Johnson (Mrs. George Pollock Devereux). (See Plate 37.) Owned by Miss Marianna Townsend.]

[Illustration: _Plate 40._