Tons of photos here, as I do like to document things thoroughly. This is a large lot of c. 1940 bobbin lace making patterns, with a few drawings, lace samples, and other notes in the mix. (One handwritten letter references a lace pattern sent to the Emma Sylvester whose lot this was in Feb 1940.) Emma appears to have had a shop on Tremont Street in Boston (selling "beads and bags, embroideries and worsteds") and it seems to me she may have taught lacemaking out of the shop as well as making lace herself, likely for sale there. The patterns in most cases appear to be photostat copies of her own hand-drawings, which in most cases were then backed with cloth in order to withstand repeated use. Many show pinpricks all over, and in a few cases lace completed or in process is still tethered to the patterns. I think handmade lace is a phenomenal thing, and just love the combination of intricacy and graphicness to all of these hand-drawn patterns, which have a really nice object-hood, too, for being mounted to cloth, pricked all over, and in some cases annotated with notes and marks. Perhaps fodder for some new thing, or just a lovely collection to be kept together and admired. A selection of the patterns would also be quite nice framed up.
Pattern squares range in size- smallest about 2 1/8"; medium 3 1/4", large 4 3/8", with all sorts of variation. All in good shape, the majority backed with cloth and dotted with pinpricks from having been used. All pictured included.
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