18th Century European Lace Accessories
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of eighteenth-century lace accessories worn with European dress dating from 1700 to 1800. This collection covers needle and bobbin laces made in Venice, France and the Low Countries, especially Brussels. It includes several items purchased from Samuel Chick, a Honiton lace manufacturer and dealer, in 1891, as well as pieces that were collected by Sir William Burrell (1861–1958) and his wife, Constance, Lady Burrell (1875–1961).
Handmade lace accessories were an essential part of fashionable women's dress during the 1700s. Lace borders were added around the neckline or décolletage and sleeves were finished with lace ruffles, known as engageantes. Women's headdresses were trimmed with lappets that allowed the wearers to show off long lengths of expensive hand-made lace, which often cost more than the silk gown. Changes in lace designs and techniques over the century meant that to remain fashionable ladies were encouraged to repeatedly purchase new lace accessories to remain in style.
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