For months I had wanted to see the Threads of Power exhibit at the Bard Graduate Center located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The Center is a graduate research facility for MA's and PHD's. It boasts gallery exhibits, research initiatives and programs that explore new ways of thinking about decorative arts, design history and material culture. I love going there and had it on my calendar but with the holidays, time was ticking. The last day of the exhibit was the same day I had to fly to the UK. I whipped up there in the morning- I had almost skipped it due to so many last minute errands. Thank goodness I didn't!

I found the experience so inspiring I wanted to share some with you!

Although the origins are not universally agreed upon, it seems likely that needle and bobbin lace both began in Italy in the late 1500s. During this time - and for hundreds of years thereafter - lace was a painstakingly slow and skilled process, using fine threads of silk, linen and at times even finely spun gold and silver.

Lace became more commonplace among the wealthy and elite during the 16th century in Europe. The Catholic Church was an early and eager consumer of this precious fabric, but by the turn of the century, wealthy families had adopted lace into furnishing, clothing and decoration.

The lace market was eventually regulated through strict sumptuary laws. These laws recast lace as a form of social currency, with only noble families allowed to buy or wear the most expensive laces.

These laws led to a sharp decrease in demand, which in turn helped democratize lace production. Lace making moved from specialized workshops to a cottage industry model, and linen was predominantly used.

Art critic, Roberta Smith, writes for the NYT;

"Threads of Power: Lace from the Textilmuseum St. Gallen,” at the Bard Graduate Center, will give New York its first in-depth look in nearly 40 years at the history of this intricate, fragile and costly textile. Organized in collaboration with the Textilmuseum in St. Gallen, Switzerland, the show presents scores of examples from the 16th to 21st centuries, including bobbin-lace and needle-lace borders, bonnets, mantelets and samplers. Lace’s modern allure is reflected in dresses by designers like Dior, Givenchy, Saint Laurent and Prada, and in the lemony felted lace and silk radzimir ensemble that Isabel Toledo designed in 2009 for Inauguration Day in January 2009 when Michelle Obama officially became first lady."

One of my favorite objects in the exhibit was this bobbin lace pillow, from 1897 Switzerland. For me, this object underlined what a laborious process lacemaking was. The bobbin organization alone feels overwhelming!

The show did a fantastic job of centering the women who made these pieces, their precise and labor is felt throughout the show. As the technology evolved to include Swiss chemical lace, made on embroidery machines, lace became more ubiquitous than it ever had before.

Increasingly lace, in particular the finely crafted handmade variety, is becoming collectable works of art less so than daily adornment.

However, I for one, was so grateful to see this show and experience this important - and beautiful - piece of textile history.

Addendum