Honiton (East Devon) lace sprig
This floral lace sprig is part of a collection of samples of British and Continental lace put together by Charlotte Treadwin, an important lace manufacturer with a business based in the Cathedral Yard, Exeter.
This sample represents flowers held by a decorative bow. It is worked in a combination of half stitch and whole stitch. Most of the outlines have a ribbed edge which brings the work to life and gives it a three-dimensional appearance. The sprig is completed with a filling of leadworks used to decorate the bow and two of the leaves.
Treadwin’s collection was donated to the museum in the late 1860s for lace-makers and designers to study. Treadwin once stated that there was not a single lace-designer in the whole of Devon, and strove to improve this, employing an artist to draw out her designs, and studying samples to better inform her practice and experimentation with lace-making patterns and techniques. By 1869, the lace manufactory and showrooms were already based at 5 Cathedral Yard (now known as the Cathedral Close).
This sample represents flowers held by a decorative bow. It is worked in a combination of half stitch and whole stitch. Most of the outlines have a ribbed edge which brings the work to life and gives it a three-dimensional appearance. The sprig is completed with a filling of leadworks used to decorate the bow and two of the leaves.
Treadwin’s collection was donated to the museum in the late 1860s for lace-makers and designers to study. Treadwin once stated that there was not a single lace-designer in the whole of Devon, and strove to improve this, employing an artist to draw out her designs, and studying samples to better inform her practice and experimentation with lace-making patterns and techniques. By 1869, the lace manufactory and showrooms were already based at 5 Cathedral Yard (now known as the Cathedral Close).
Object Summary
- Accession Loan No.
- 29/2006/179
- Category
- Decorative Art
- Collection Class
- Textiles and equipment
- Common Name
- Honiton (East Devon) lace sprig
- Simple Name
- lace sprig
- Period Classification
- Victorian (1837-1901)
- Production Town
- Exeter
- Production County
- Devon
- Production Country
- United Kingdom: England
- Production Date
- 1848
- Production Person Initials
- Charlotte
- Production Person Surname
- Treadwin (nee Dobbs)
