Wednesday, 17 June 2009

The History of Lace Making in Calais

by Kathryn Hadley

The Cite internationale de la dentelle et de la mode in Calais was inaugurated last Thursday June 11th. The museum is housed in the Boulart factory, one of the last surviving mechanical lace making factories in Calais, which has been renovated and extended over the past three years.
Industrial lace making techniques were imported from Britain at the beginning of the 19th century and Calais became, and remained, the French capital of mechanical lace making for over two centuries.
A series of displays chart the history of lace making, the development of lace making techniques, its impact on the social and economic history of the region and the ways in which lace has been used in fashion, from 1850 to the present.

Cite internationale de la dentelle et de la mode de Calais
Quai du Commerce
62100 Calais
Telephone : 00 33 3 21 00 42 30
http://www.citedentelle.calais.fr/




Pictures:
- view of the museum
- embroidery weaving loom in another Calais factory
- series of dress models from 1920, 1970 and 2004

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Your readers may be interested in the series now running at Venetian Red—A History of Lace in Seven Portraits, which discusses lace as seen in portraits by Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Bernini and other artists. The installments start here: Lace Prologue

Liz
Venetian Red contributor

 
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