By davidh. On 14th December Back in we posted a blog piece on this website about the Flemish priest Constant Duvillers and the songs he wrote for use in the lace-school he set up in the parish of Middelburg, East Flanders, in the s.
Unlike some other recent articles mentioned on this site, this one is not available open access. But if anyone would like a copy please just email David at david. A group of lacemakers and children, probably in the Kleine Nieuwstraat, Bruges. Photograph Jaak A. Reproduced by courtesy of the Stadsarchief Brugge. On 30th October In French lacemakers , Lacemakers' tools. However, if you have difficulty with the website and would like a copy, simply email David Hopkin at david.
On 22nd March The article, and the whole magazine, is available here. The article tells the story of Mechelen or Malines lacemaking in the two decades before the First World War.
Despite various attempts to revive handmade lace in this Belgian city, the industry was in terminal decline. The article follows the interweaving of their different activities. On 3rd February In Lacemakers in Italy. Around quite a few travellers, especially Americans, explored in turn the various centres of European lacemaking. For instance, Florence G. Weber, who taught lacemaking at the Society of Arts and Crafts of Boston, took a tour through Italian and Belgian lace districts at the beginning of the twentieth century.
She reported on her findings in the American publication The Craftsman in Her first stop was Santa Margherita, a coastal town about twenty miles south of Genoa, where she encountered lacemakers at work under the arcades which protected them from the sun. After you watch [a lacemaker] a few minutes, she will rise from her work, disappear into the house only to reappear at once with a finished scarf of glistening white silk.
