CHARACTERISTICS

A series of motifs, “sprigs” of varying sizes worked separately & then mounted, on to a net ground (at first, hand made & later made by machine) or joined by bars (brides), needle or bobbin made or bobbin made plaits.
Some lace was worked all in one pricking, including bobbin made net.
Pattern areas mainly clothwork (closely woven) + some half stitch.
A gimp thread outlines design – leaves and flowers.
Bobbin made brides often decorated with picots .
Needle-made brides from 1880s.
Background of net , machine made from early 19thC.

HISTORY

Records show that by late 17thC, lace making was well established in East Devon villages around Honiton and as likely to have been brought from Italy. Honiton was already a textile town and having a well developed system of out-workers and merchants which was suitable for the production of lace.

Honiton lace, ( good Honiton is indistinguishable from Brussels ) was very expensive to make because the thread used is very fine and so the patterns take a long time to make. The large pieces of lace were designed by an artist and comprise lots of small sprigs. These individual sprigs were made by different home workers and then assembled by a specialist for sale. The designs are based on flowers, animals and other natural objects.
It was used to decorate clothing of the nobility and rich – collars, shawls, bonnets and flounces.

Lace was very fashionable for about 300 years. The Royal family in particular loved Honiton lace. Queen Charlotte ordered a dress of Honiton Lace. Queen Adelaide ordered a dress and requested that the design be on flowers – the initial letters of each spelling out her name. Queen Victoria was married in a Honiton lace veil and Queen Elizabeth II has a Honiton christening robe which has been used by her children and grandchildren.

In 1816, Mr Heathcote perfected a machine to make net and within a few years machines could make good lace, not as fine as Honiton, but very much more quickly and therefore cheaply. Because of this, the hand made lace industry fell into decline. Lace makers tried to cheapen their lace, but they could not make it fast enough to compete with the machines. The Education Act of 1870 meant few children were available to be trained. By 1940 nobody in Honiton was making lace for a living. However the craft of lace making lives on with many folk enjoying it as a hobby.

REFERENCES :

Honiton Lace by P.M. Inder , Exeter Museums Publication No 55. 1979

LACE: A guide to identification of old lace types and techniques . By Heather Toomer Batsford , London 1989.

The History Of The Honiton Lace Industry by H.J. Yallop , Uni Exeter, 1992.