Historical information

These are handmade crocheted buttons on the original card which indicates that they are from France. French crochet buttons and Irish crochet motifs were learned by watching another person. Then the onlooker specialized in that button or motif repeating it many hundreds of times. These buttons could be used to fasten underwear, jackets or gloves among other things.

Crochet developed as a craft from the early 1800s and this development was accelerated by the industrial revolution. Crochet hooks were made from metal, the use of cotton as a suitable and cheap crochet thread came into being after the invention of mercerization (1844); women learned to read leading to patterns being developed and the publication of women’s magazines such as Godeys Lady’s Book (1830), Harpers Bazaar (1867) and DMC Guide to Needlework (1886).



Significance

Churchill Island has a large lace collection, which was added to by three successive generations of the Amess family - Jane, Janet, and Unity. The Amess family owned Churchill Island from 1872 to 1929. Jane was wife of Samuel Amess, who was the first Samuel Amess to own Churchill Island. The examples of lace are notable for their variety, and provide representative examples of techniques from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries.

Physical description

Hand made French crochet buttons on original card