Latest Acquisition and Collection News

Honiton Lace Page
Museum Page
Museum Shop
Honiton and how to find us

Latest Acquisition and Collection News

We are very excited to have acquired an important example of Honiton Lace. We got a grant of 1500 pounds sterling towards the cost of 2000 pounds from the (British) National Art Collections Fund. The Honiton Lace shop found the pieces for us and Jane Page was helpful as always.

Their acquisition enhances our collection both for display and for study in the archive.

The Wedding Veil and matching flounce are of artistic and historical importance and come from the East Devon area with a good provenance. The lace was designed by Mrs. C. Treadwin, made and assembled under her supervision.

There is a close relative to this veil shown in a photograph in her book Antique Point and Honiton Lace(1874). The Veil and flounce form a matching set illustrating wedding fashion of the period and we are fortunate to have both available.

- Click the image for a larger picture -

Mrs C. Treadwin was perhaps the most important figure in 19th century Devon
lace. She ran a business at 5, Cathedral Close, Exeter, for the repair and reproduction of laces of all types and for the production of Devon laces. She acquired new lace designs from the students at Somerset House, exhibited widely, won medals and was much patronised by royalty. She was an experimenter and inventor of design and technique.

In the Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine of the period the tribute included the following:

Mrs. Treadwin's name has been for so long associated with high art in lace-making that it is not too much to say that it is to her unremitting efforts that we owe the marked improvement in the patterns of Honiton lace which have become general.

It is the Museum's policy to build up the lace collection irrespective of where in East Devon a piece was made, but this is appropriate since Honiton was the original home and chief centre for the production of this world-famous textile.

The collection has grown to include representative pieces covering most aspects of Honiton lace from 1700 onwards and efforts are now directed to extending back into the 17th century.We are building up the world's definitive collection of this material in the world's most appropriate place for it.

Our collection may not be the largest in terms of number of pieces but it can certainly be claimed that it is the world's most comprehensive.

Machine Lace Sample Book

Dr. Spriggs, whose collection of lace the Museum displays, has passed into our keeping a book of machine lace samples. The book which contains hundreds of very fine and varied white and black lace pieces all numbered for ordering purposes has unfortunately no merchant's name or other identification, but was used by the drapery firm of Hordern Bros. of Sydney, Australia. The Horderns were in business in the Sydney Colony from 1824 so it is reasonable to assume that the book is that of an English wholesaler.

The book came to Dr. Spriggs from Mrs. Faith Lillie Locke of Holbrook, New South Wales, who is the 21st grandchild of the E. Carr Hordern line. She had discovered the book stored in the roof of the stables of her grandmother, Mrs. Frances L. Hordern, in the early 1940s. The lace is in good condition but needs some conservation as the original glue holding the pieces has lost its strength. It would be wonderful if someone could give us a clue as to where the lace originated.

SEPTEMBER NEWS
Several new items have arrived in the last few months including the following:

An apron or coat big enough to go over a crinoline acquired for us at auction by the Honiton Lace Shop. It could be either a sort of coat worn under the arms or a decorative apron, certainly not for doing the dishes. It has tie strings in lace and could have been shortened some time in the past. We had nothing like it in the Museum.

Perhaps even more exciting is a gift which came in during September literally off the street. A man brought a framed sampler or banner, maybe made as a fire-screen, framed and yellow with age. He told us that it belonged to a lady of 93 in Kent who was arranging her affairs and wanted this piece to go to a fitting home. The lace had been rolled up and stored in a bank vault during the Second World War and then framed. The design and execution of the piece is reminiscent of the best piece in the Museum for which we have no history. The man said that the lady had documents relating to its manufacture and history and so we are waiting with bated breath for her to let us have them.The design is a cornucopia with flowers spilling out of it as the centrepiece and the border is a trellis with twining flowers and ferns. There are swallows and butterflies in exquisite workmanship.It needs cleaning and remounting but is destined to become one of our very best exhibits. Aren't people generous.

APRIL NEWS

The lace display has been rearranged to show a different selection of our collection including the two favourite pieces loaned recently to the Kant in Europa Exhibition in Bruges. Every lace maker loves our spider's web and the Albany flounce. The Spriggs Collection of Antique Lace has been reorganised with illustrations showing how ruffs, flounces and lappets were worn. We recently had avisit from Dr. Spriggs who told us how he collected his lace
in the fifties when people did not know the difference between Grannie's old curtains and delicate hand-made lace. The price was the same for both and he was buying lace by the bundle in order to pick out the real stuff! Lucky man.

We recently bought a hundred-year-old lace parasol cover in new condition. The magnificent piece in the shape of a shield donated last year has been washed and framed to display its beautiful design and the delicacy of the sprigs in it. The background fillins are unusual and finely made. The cornucopia and representation of flowers and birds and butterflies are of the quality of our finest lace

Honiton Lace Page Museum Page Museum Shop
Honiton and how to find us

© Original Website Design by IN2IT

		Honiton Lace Page Museum Page Museum Shop Honiton and how to find us

*Latest Acquisition and Collection News*

We are very excited to have acquired an important example of Honiton Lace. We got a grant of 1500 pounds sterling towards the cost of 2000 pounds from the (British) National Art Collections Fund. The Honiton Lace shop found the pieces for us and Jane Page was helpful as always. Their acquisition enhances our collection both for display and for study in the archive.
The Wedding Veil and matching flounce are of artistic and historical importance and come from the East Devon area with a good provenance. The lace was designed by Mrs. C. Treadwin, made and assembled under her supervision. There is a close relative to this veil shown in a photograph in her book Antique Point and Honiton Lace(1874). The Veil and flounce form a matching set illustrating wedding fashion of the period and we are fortunate to have both available.	- Click the image for a larger picture -
Mrs C. Treadwin was perhaps the most important figure in 19th century Devon lace. She ran a business at 5, Cathedral Close, Exeter, for the repair and reproduction of laces of all types and for the production of Devon laces. She acquired new lace designs from the students at Somerset House, exhibited widely, won medals and was much patronised by royalty. She was an experimenter and inventor of design and technique. In the Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine of the period the tribute included the following: Mrs. Treadwin's name has been for so long associated with high art in lace-making that it is not too much to say that it is to her unremitting efforts that we owe the marked improvement in the patterns of Honiton lace which have become general. It is the Museum's policy to build up the lace collection irrespective of where in East Devon a piece was made, but this is appropriate since Honiton was the original home and chief centre for the production of this world-famous textile. The collection has grown to include representative pieces covering most aspects of Honiton lace from 1700 onwards and efforts are now directed to extending back into the 17th century.We are building up the world's definitive collection of this material in the world's most appropriate place for it. Our collection may not be the largest in terms of number of pieces but it can certainly be claimed that it is the world's most comprehensive.
Machine Lace Sample Book	Dr. Spriggs, whose collection of lace the Museum displays, has passed into our keeping a book of machine lace samples. The book which contains hundreds of very fine and varied white and black lace pieces all numbered for ordering purposes has unfortunately no merchant's name or other identification, but was used by the drapery firm of Hordern Bros. of Sydney, Australia. The Horderns were in business in the Sydney Colony from 1824 so it is reasonable to assume that the book is that of an English wholesaler.
The book came to Dr. Spriggs from Mrs. Faith Lillie Locke of Holbrook, New South Wales, who is the 21st grandchild of the E. Carr Hordern line. She had discovered the book stored in the roof of the stables of her grandmother, Mrs. Frances L. Hordern, in the early 1940s. The lace is in good condition but needs some conservation as the original glue holding the pieces has lost its strength. It would be wonderful if someone could give us a clue as to where the lace originated. SEPTEMBER NEWS Several new items have arrived in the last few months including the following: An apron or coat big enough to go over a crinoline acquired for us at auction by the Honiton Lace Shop. It could be either a sort of coat worn under the arms or a decorative apron, certainly not for doing the dishes. It has tie strings in lace and could have been shortened some time in the past. We had nothing like it in the Museum. Perhaps even more exciting is a gift which came in during September literally off the street. A man brought a framed sampler or banner, maybe made as a fire-screen, framed and yellow with age. He told us that it belonged to a lady of 93 in Kent who was arranging her affairs and wanted this piece to go to a fitting home. The lace had been rolled up and stored in a bank vault during the Second World War and then framed. The design and execution of the piece is reminiscent of the best piece in the Museum for which we have no history. The man said that the lady had documents relating to its manufacture and history and so we are waiting with bated breath for her to let us have them.The design is a cornucopia with flowers spilling out of it as the centrepiece and the border is a trellis with twining flowers and ferns. There are swallows and butterflies in exquisite workmanship.It needs cleaning and remounting but is destined to become one of our very best exhibits. Aren't people generous. APRIL NEWS The lace display has been rearranged to show a different selection of our collection including the two favourite pieces loaned recently to the Kant in Europa Exhibition in Bruges. Every lace maker loves our spider's web and the Albany flounce. The Spriggs Collection of Antique Lace has been reorganised with illustrations showing how ruffs, flounces and lappets were worn. We recently had avisit from Dr. Spriggs who told us how he collected his lace in the fifties when people did not know the difference between Grannie's old curtains and delicate hand-made lace. The price was the same for both and he was buying lace by the bundle in order to pick out the real stuff! Lucky man. We recently bought a hundred-year-old lace parasol cover in new condition. The magnificent piece in the shape of a shield donated last year has been washed and framed to display its beautiful design and the delicacy of the sprigs in it. The background fillins are unusual and finely made. The cornucopia and representation of flowers and birds and butterflies are of the quality of our finest lace