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Allison-Antrim Museum's featured June exhibit is Antique Lace from the collection of Shirley Baker, State Line, Pennsylvania.
Open house was on The exhibit may be viewed at any
other time by calling 717-597-9010
Lace, as we know it today, came into existence about 1500. Because of fragility, many early examples have disintegrated with time and the origins of early lace have become obscure. Both Italy and Flanders claim to have Lace making is both a craft and an industry. Lace was, in most European countries, a cottage industry. The art can be traced to the Dark Ages when only the rich could afford to wear its beauty. It is considered the "Queen of Textiles" – no textile fabric has contributed more largely to the elegance and luxuries of life. Formerly it was the ultimate status symbol reserved mostly for the very wealthy. Valenciennes lace, for example, was and is one of the most costly of the many kinds. A skilled worker could make only about 1-½ inches of lace per day and it often took a whole year to produce 24 inches. Before lace came into general use, nuns made it for church vestments and altar cloths. Purists insist that there are only two genuine laces – needlepoint and bobbin. Needlepoint is made with an ordinary needle and a single thread. Often this lace was simply called point lace. Twisting and plaiting large numbers of threads together is how bobbin lace is made. Many different laces were then derived from these two basic styles.
Perhaps John Ruskin best sums up the
value of lace as a possession. "If you think of it," he wrote,
"you will find the whole value of lace as a possession depends on the
fact of its having a beauty which has been the reward of industry and
attention. The real good of a piece of lace is that it should show first,
that the designer of it had a pretty fancy; next, that the maker of it had
fine fingers; lastly, that the wearer of it has worthiness or dignity
enough to obtain that which is difficult to obtain." Today we take for granted the lace edging on a pillow or garment and lace’s availability in any fabric shop. How little do we appreciate the hardship of lace's beginnings?
Present on Sunday, June 10 will be Mary Grim and Adele Parrott members of the Bob-in-ettes, a chapter of the Chesapeake Regional Lace Guild. Members of the Bob-in-ettes hail from West Virginia; Washington County, Maryland; and Frederick, Maryland. The ladies will be demonstrating the art of handmade bobbin lace. The imported Belgium thread (size 150) that they use is much finer than sewing thread.
Also present will be Elizabeth Graff, Hagerstown, Maryland, who will be demonstrating handmade needlepoint lace. Graff is curator of the Washington County Historical Society, Hagerstown, Maryland as well as being a charter member of the Hagerstown Chapter of the Embroiderers Guild of America. For more information on the exhibit call 717.597.9010 or email the museum.
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An exquisite array of antique laces will be displayed.
In the collection is an Ozark wedding 
Bobbin lace was a cottage industry from mid 17th
century through most all of the 18th century. Traditionally
women and girls made bobbin lace. This money supplemented the men’s
wages. Sometimes men would also assist in making the lace after their day’s
work. The men would often know of this art because children of both sexes
were taught the craft from the age of three. Especially noted for making
laces were clergy, teachers and sailors. Young children worked for
approximately 5 hours per day while the mother or parents would work for
15 hours.
