Historical information

This handmade lace collar includes Honiton-style motifs joined with bobbin-made brides.

Honiton lace is characterised by scrollwork and botanical motifs. Initially called 'bone' lace due to the bobbins being made from bone, it was developed in the small village of Honiton in Devon. It was thought to be brought from the Netherlands by Dutch refugees in the mid-16th century after the Dutch revolt. It grew in popularity after Queen Victoria chose this style of lace for her wedding dress and veil for her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840. It was again chosen for the royal christening gown which is still in use today.

Brides, or bars, are the narrow connections between lace motifs that do not have a mesh background. They are ornamented in line with each individual lace technique, in this case with tiny picots at irregular intervals along the bar.

Handmade items were highly sought after for their imperfections and irregularities as opposed to machine-made items which were repetitive in their perfection.

Significance

This collar is part of a 94 piece collection of small lace items accumulated by four generations of Amess women, starting with Janet Amess in the 1850s.

Physical description

Hand-made individual bobbin made lace motifs hand sewn together with bobbin made brides. Cream coloured