Illustration: Charles Philip Slocombe. Lace design, 1851.
At the 1851 Great Exhibition in London textiles, both industrial and hand produced, were well represented. Although in some respects the Exhibition was carefully orchestrated and organised in order to be seen as a window on the industrial development of Britain, hopefully at the expense of the rest of Europe, hand-crafted work was generally well represented as these two lace examples show.
These particular pieces were part of an interesting combination of talents. Charlotte Elizabeth Treadwin who was often referred to and perhaps is better known as Mrs Treadwin, was an influential figure in nineteenth century traditional English lace making. She had been given the prestigious title of lace maker to the Queen in 1848 and remained so for the rest of her life. She worked untiringly in promoting and raising the standard of her native Devon lace as well as English lace in general. This proved so successful that lace making in Devon in particular, achieved something of a rebirth during the nineteenth century.
In 1851 Treadwin produced work for the Great Exhibition in order to promote her establishment in Exeter. However, rather than choosing any local design talent she went instead to the School of Design that had been set up at Somerset House in London. Here she procured the talents of a nineteen year old student, Charles Philip Slocombe. Slocombe was to later become a member of the Royal Academy and a relatively well know Victorian artist.
Illustration: Charles Philip Slocombe. Lace design, 1851.
It is always interesting to be able to take a look at the student work of a future established artist. While these may not be particularly outstanding examples of design work and many may not be familiar with the fine art work of Slocombe, they did win Treadwin a medal at the Great Exhibition. This would have been enough to have highlighted both her institution and more generally the hand produced lace work being produced in Devon. To have gained a medal for English lace with many examples and entries by more substantially entrenched European lace regions, would have been seen by many as a fitting recompense for the amount of work and energy that Treadwin had spent in England promoting traditional domestic lace production.
Although Slocombe went on to a dedicated fine art career it is still interesting to note how well the nineteen year old faired when taking on a purely decorative commission. It is intriguing to see how accomplished and mature these design pieces appear to be, especially when considering the age of the student. Although perhaps typical of the stylised early Victorian decorative period, these lace designs are both well balanced and harmonious, if a little busy and fussy for our paired down and minimal contemporary lifestyles.
Both Treadwin and Slocombe enjoyed success throughout the Victorian period within their separate careers, this short period of 1851 and that of the Great Exhibition was both an intriguing and engaging example of a creative relationship no matter how brief.
Reference links:
Antique Point and Honiton Lace
Devon Pillow Lace
Devon pillow lace: Its history and how to make it
Honiton Lace: A Visual Approach
New Designs in Honiton Lace
Honiton Lace
Devon Trolly Lace - The Lost Lace of the East Devon Coast
Introduction to Honiton Lace
The History of the Honiton Lace Industry (South-West Studies)
Honiton lace patterns from the collections of The Devon Lace Teachers and The Lace Guild
A Honiton Lace Maker: The Pat Perryman Story
