Chats on Old Lace and Needlework. By Mrs. Lewes. Illustrated.
(T. Fisher Unwin. 5s.)—Though there are already many excellent books on the subject, lovers and collectors of lace and embroidery will be delighted with this volume, which is one of a series on old and interesting things. The results of reading it will be to send people to study the magnificent collection of lace and needlework at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and to encourage and stimu- late needlewomen to carry on the fine old English traditions of beautiful embroidery. For, as Mrs. Lewes tells us, "up to the Reformation, English work was sought after far and wide, and as opus Anglicum formed part of church furnishing and priestly vestments in every great cathedral in Italy, Spain, and France." In her summing up she exhorts women to put aside new ideas of design and go back to the best of the old patterns. Though this is wise counsel on the whole, we fear that an art which deliberately denies itself all growth must decay. Our advice to workers, with due deference to Mrs. Lewes's sympathetic insight, is to let new designs and stitches adapted to modern needs grow naturally from the love and study of the old work. The first part of the book is devoted to lace, and then come chapters on old English needle- work pictures and hangings. There are some interesting lists of the prices given at the sales of Mrs. Massey-Mainwaring's, Mrs. Lewis Hill's, and Lady Wolseley's collections. We must add that Mrs. Lowes has great knowledge of her subject, and conveys this knowledge to the reader very pleasantly.
Previous page
