Ipswich Lace
Photo needed Remembering that the Mayflower voyage was in 1620, consider the information
in the U.S. AAA Tour Book for Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island: "In
1633 Ipswich was settled by a group of 12 Colonists, among them several
'proper gentlemen' who developed the town into a cultural center. Clothing
industries, including shoemaking, lacemaking and machine knitting, later
became the town's economic base." For those of you who remember Michael
Auclair (deceased), he made reproduction copies of Ipswich laces for the
museum, which you may see diplayed there. The originals are in the Library
of Congress, Washington D.C.You may still be able to get from Boston University "Textiles in Early New
England: Design, Production, and Consumption" which reprints The Dublin
Seminar for New England Folklife Annual Proceedings 27 through 29 June 1997.
14 papers were presented, including Laces of Ipswich (by Cotterell), and Lace
Schools and Lace Factories: Female Outwork in New England's Machine-Lace
Industry 1818-1838 (by Candee). My copy cost $25 in 1999. It was ordered
from B.U., Office of Scholarly Publications, 985 Commonwealth Av., Boston, MA
02215. Pictures show plain carved wooden bobbins that look like tubes with a
little indented area for thread. They are described as very lightweight,
often hollow, no spangles. And, there is an explanation that because of
their lack of weight there was inadequate tension on the threads, resulting
in lace which often had an uneven texture.For some years, Marta M. Cotterell has been presenting papers, and writing
articles, about the Ipswich lace industry. She has been writing a book on
the subject, which we have been told will be published this year.Jeri Ames in Maine, USA