Click here for other foreign bobbin lacemaking.
Click here for English bobbin Lace.
I don't know much about Dutch lace, but what I do know is on this page. Please contact me to point out mistakes!
Language: Dutch
Paintings of Dutch lacemakers: (click on links to see pictures)
There are many Dutch paintings of lacemakers:
Spitzenklopplerin by Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617)
The Old Lacemaker (~1655) by Nicolaes Maes
The Lacemaker [using table] (1655) by Nicolaes Maes
Young Woman Sewing (~1655) by Nicolaes Maes
Old Woman Dozing (1656) by Nicolaes Maes
The Lacemaker [with baby] (1656-7) by Nicolaes Maes
The Lace-maker (1662) by Caspar Netscher - detail above.
The Lacemaker (1671) by Johannes Vermeer
[lacemaker with hat] by Pieter Jacobsz. Codde (1599-1678)
[lacemaker looking at viewer] by Pieter Jacobsz. Codde (1599-1678)
[lacemaker with company] by Jan Miense Molenaer (1610-1669)
[lacemaker listening to man] by Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667)
Die Dame mit dem Kloppelkissen by Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667)
Lacemaker [at window] (1667) by Gerrit Dou
Lacemaker [by candlelight] by Gerrit Dou (1613-1675)
Lacemaker and birdseller (1672-3) by Pieter Cornelisz van Slingelandt
Lacemaker with 2 children (1665-1670) by Pieter Cornelisz van Slingelandt
Die kleine Spitzenklopplerin by Pieter Cornelisz van Slingelandt (1640-1691)
La denteliere by Pieter Cornelisz van Slingelandt (1640-1691)
Lace Maker (1666-75) by Job Adriaenszoon Berckheyde
Lacemaker and Youth Eating by Quiringh van Brekelenkam (1622-1669)
The Lace Maker by Wybrand Hendriks (1744-1831)
Those paintings show details of lace equipment used in the Netherlands.
Dutch lacemaking terms:
Rene' van Hassel kindly translated an older version of my lace website into Dutch. Click here to see it. I have used this translation for most of the terms below. (I hope I've got them right!)
Kant: laceSpelderwerkster: bobbin lacemaker (literally 'pin worker') - this is from a play Frik in 't Veurhuis by M. G. Tengnagel, published in Amsterdam in 1642. Another comment "In Dutch, the word for lace making is kantklossen. Old people do not use this word but use the old term spellewerken, literally, working with pins. The word refers to all kinds of bobbin lace."
Gravenmoer is a small village north-east of the city of Breda in the south of the Netherlands. The Gravenmoer diamond is similar to a half stitch diamond, but is subtly different. It is worked in a completely different way. Click here to see how it is done.
In "Pillow lace - a practical handbook" by Elizabeth Mincroff and Margaret Marriage (1907), there is a discussion about whether to hold bobbins in the hand while working, or lie them flat on the pillow. It says "The Flemish lace-makers, who work very fast indeed, retain no bobbins in their hands, but let them all lie in a row on a stiff card fastened across the pillow, lifting each bobbin in turn over the next."
In "History of Lace" by Mrs. Bury Palliser, there is a translation of a piece by Jacob v. Eyck, a Flemish poet, which describes bobbin lacemaking. Click here to read it.
Pattern 197 (above) is my attempt to produce a pattern in the style of antique lace from Antwerp. It is not authentic! Pattern 198 is a similar pattern.
© Jo Edkins 2017 - return to lace index