Swatch of trim, brownish, with a diamond and flower pattern.
Lace is an openwork fabric, used for trimming outer and under clothing for women and girls - and until the 19th century, men, baby clothes, hats, fans, parasols, and many decorative items, was at first a hand-made product. By the early 19th century, machine made nets allowed for new forms of lace, and modifications to those machines led eventually to the Leavers lace machine, with patterning capabilities controlled by a Jacquard mechanism. Lace became less expensive, much quicker to make, and much more available across a broad range of economic and social classes. In the US Tariff Bill of 1909, the import duty on Leavers machines, most of which were made in Nottingham, England, home of a great lace industry, was removed for a window of about 17 months. American entrepreneurs imported hundreds of these machines (and often the workers to operate them) and established a few centers of American lace manufacturing. U.S. Consuls sent samples of European made Leavers lace, such as these in the NMAH Consular Collection, to illustrate the quality and range of designs available from the long established manufacturers in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK.
Black embroidered dots on white netting. Blue & white original glued paper label."J. Bourre & Fils (/) St. Pierre-les-Calais. (/) 636 (/) Prix 90 (/) Large om 23 (/) No 637 (/) Prix 1.10 (/)."
Lace is an openwork fabric, used for trimming outer and under clothing for women and girls - and until the 19th century, men, baby clothes, hats, fans, parasols, and many decorative items, was at first a hand-made product. By the early 19th century, machine made nets allowed for new forms of lace, and modifications to those machines led eventually to the Leavers lace machine, with patterning capabilities controlled by a Jacquard mechanism. Lace became less expensive, much quicker to make, and much more available across a broad range of economic and social classes. In the US Tariff Bill of 1909, the import duty on Leavers machines, most of which were made in Nottingham, England, home of a great lace industry, was removed for a window of about 17 months. American entrepreneurs imported hundreds of these machines (and often the workers to operate them) and established a few centers of American lace manufacturing. U.S. Consuls sent samples of European made Leavers lace, such as these in the NMAH Consular Collection, to illustrate the quality and range of designs available from the long established manufacturers in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK.
