Historical information

This length of machine made lace could only be made on either the Raschel or the Leavers machine, however the Raschel only produced an hexagonal ground, therefore we must lean towards the Leavers machine. The pattern in the piece is a copy of a bobbin lace with a plaited octagonal ground. The Leavers machine could reproduce all sorts of grounds, it was very versatile and operated from the mid 19th century until the present day. This lace is quite fine and would look lovely as a trim on a fichu or mob cap.

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

length of machine lace with repeating 'spoked wheel' designs, trimmed on one side with a scalloped edge