Early twentieth-century Nottingham lace specimen book with samples extending into the 1960s
A generous twentieth-century sample book representing several decades of the Nottingham lace trade. Assembled in a purpose-made binder, 17 x 9.5 x 4.5 inches, ideal for adding, removing, and generally rearranging pages. 157 total samples, mostly half-page size (~8 x 6 inches). The tallest sample unfolds to 28” and several others extend between leaves up to 14 inches wide. Each specimen has a small label with manuscript number. Several numerical series are represented in the binder, likely referring to different mills. 12 of the samples have an “Alan Litman, Ltd.” sticker, a wholesaling firm founded in 1946 and one of the few businesses to weather the Nottingham lace industry’s terminal decline throughout the twentieth century.
The samples are compiled in a Priestley & Swann “Patent Self Binder” that allows for contents to be regularly updated and changed out to reflect stock. Based on advertising and newspaper presence, Priestley & Swann appears to have been the most active ca. 1910-1920s, then fades from mention around the start of World War II. Another example of their “Patent Self Binder” is a lace sample book held at the Yale Center for British Art, believed to be from another Nottingham lace maker in the 1920s (Ernest Fewkes).
As the Nottingham lace businesses shuttered, stock could be acquired by the remaining firms. The origin of this album is unknown, but it was ultimately used as an in-house reference for Alan Litman (confirmed by a current representative of the business). New samples were added through the 1960s, with older samples and panels being removed to reflect changing inventory. The binder shows evidence of these changes where manuscript page numbers are crossed or cut out. Several pages were trimmed along the outer edge where some were paginated in the upper corner and at some point rearranged with new pagination assigned at the top center. Some later samples were mounted on pages that had already been repaired with tape, also indicating its longtime use in the trade. The makeshift repairs extended the discontinued binder’s lifespan, a testament to Priestley & Swann’s purpose-perfect format.
A beautiful object in salvaged condition, subject to an eclectic series of repairs (and repairs of repairs), partially paginated in ballpoint pen with sporadic doodling and clipping to the foredges. About two-thirds of the pages were previously repaired with sellotape that had badly degraded and discolored; those mends have been remade with archival tape, with additional reinforcements intended to allow the album to be gently handled without further deterioration. Discoloration has been corrected with acid-free pigment to lessen visual interference and strengthen the adhesive-damaged surfaces. New panels have been fitted to the binder posts, which are reinforced with cloth binding tape. The result is a somewhat anachronistic object and rare active document of the firm’s offerings, with the final contents heavily representing the high fashion and novelty laces of the fifties and sixties. Remarkable for their large size and rejection of the delicate lace stereotype–more rock n roll than romance–these brilliant colors and dynamic designs are emblematic of Mod fashion and representative of how Litman adapted to stay in business.
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