Early Twentieth-Century Nottingham Lace Curtains: An Ideal Window Furnishing

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the extent to which the lace curtain industry in Britain in the early twentieth century differentiated in the consumer market to produce the ‘ideal window furnishing’ for a range of social groups. It is based on research into three archives of Nottingham lace curtains and illustrated catalogues produced by the manufacturers and sales outlets. The differentiation is manifest in the curtain sizes, styles, patterns and prices aimed at consumers in different social groups and is mediated by advertising in the catalogues and in particular the provision of lace curtain parcels to furnish a variety of homes.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 W. D. White, ‘Lace Curtains’, Journal of the Textile Institute Proceedings, 15, no. 4 (1924), pp. 100–04.

2 C. Quarini, ‘The Transparent Domestic Boundary’, in Lost in Lace, ed. L. Millar (Birmingham: Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, 2011), pp. 110–12.

3 S. A. Mason, Nottingham Lace 1760s–1950s: The Machine-made Lace Industry in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire (Nottingham: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2010), p. 1.

4 The terms lace curtains and net curtains are used synonymously. Both refer to a machine-made net-based fabric incorporating varying combinations of net and lace patterning. The term ‘nets’ is a colloquial British term for net curtains. The association of net curtains and respectability is summarised in my PhD thesis, C. Quarini, ‘The Domestic Veil: Exploring the Net Curtain Through the Uncanny and the Gothic’ (PhD diss., University of Brighton, 2015).

5 C. R. Ellis, ‘Lace Curtains and Raschel Nets: Factors Influencing Their Design in Britain 1846–1984’ (Master’s diss., V&A Museum/Royal College of Art, 1984), p. 74.

6 G. Lees-Maffei, ‘The Production-Consumption-Mediation Paradigm’, Journal of Design History, 22, no. 4 (2009), pp. 351–76.

7 My thanks to Judith Edgar, Curator of Costume and Textiles Collection at Nottingham City Museum and Galleries (NCM), for allowing access to the collection and many interesting discussions.

8 R. E. Ashworth & Co., 26A St Mary’s Gate, Nottingham; G. B. Holding Ltd, Broadway House, The Broadway, Nottingham; Charlton and Co., Abbott’s Factory, 32 Forest Street, Hyson Green, Nottingham.

9 The Ashworth samples have the accession numbers NCM 1968-367/1 to 367/15 and NCM 1968-367/18 to 367/20; the G. B. Holding curtains are NCM 1973-46, NCM 1973-47, NCM 1973-49 to NCM 1973-52 and NCM 1973-307; the Charlton curtains are NCM 1989-240/1 to 240/5, NCM 1989-350 and NCM 1989-357/5.

10 For an overview of the development of the jacquard system, see E. Harlizius-Klück, ‘Weaving as Binary Art and the Algebra of Patterns’, Textile: Cloth and Culture, 15, no. 2 (2017), pp. 179–81.

11 NCM 1973-48/1 is a piece of lace fabric in the G. B. Holding collection made on the Levers lace machine but imitating curtain lace. NCM 1989-1419 and NCM 1989-1335, both in the Charlton collection, are Levers lace and embroidery on net, respectively.

12 Mason, Nottingham Lace, p. 43.

13 J. L. Litchfield, ‘Machine Made Lace Industry with Particular Reference to Empire Trade’, Journal of the Textile Institute Proceedings, 15, no. 9 (1924), p. 442.

14 N. H. Cuthbert, The Lace Makers’ Society: A Study of Trade Unionism in the British Lace Industry 1760–1960 (Nottingham: The Amalgamated Society of Operative Lace Makers and Auxiliary Workers, 1960), p. 91.

15 HMSO, HMSO Working Party Reports: Lace (London: HMSO, 1947), pp. 48, 51.

16 Mason, Nottingham Lace, p. 138. For an historical overview of the lace business in Nottingham, see G. Oldfield, ‘The Nottingham Lace Market’, Textile History, 15, no. 2 (1984), pp. 191–208.

17 Mason, Nottingham Lace, p. 219.

18 Ibid., p. 231.

19 Ibid., p. 133.

20 Ibid., p.130.

21 Ibid., p. 174.

22 Data from www.nationalarchive.gov.uk (accessed 15 June 2020).

23 HMSO, Working Party Reports: Lace, p. 58.

24 C. Quarini, ‘Unravelling the Battle of Britain Lace Panel’, Textile: Cloth and Culture, 18, no. 1 (2020), pp. 24–38 gives details about the designer Harry Cross. C. Quarini, ‘Neo-Victorianism, Feminism and Lace: Amy Atkin’s Place at the Dinner Table’, Textile: Cloth and Culture, 19, no. 4 (2021), pp. 433–53 gives details about the designer Amy Atkin.

25 The Nottingham School of Art had developed from the Nottingham School of Design, one of a series of design schools established in Britain in the 1840s, overseen by the Government School of Design, to improve design training in all media.

26 W. Scott Browne, ‘How Lace Curtains are Made’, The Drapers’ Organiser, 17 January 1920, p. 115.

27 R. Coles, A. Briggs-Goode and G. Baxter, ‘Principles and Pilfering: Nottingham Lace Design Pedagogy’, Textile: Cloth and Culture, 18, no. 1 (2019), pp. 12–23.

28 Ibid.

29 Mason, Nottingham Lace, p. 184.

30 M. Schoeser and C. Rufey, English and American Textiles From 1790 to the Present (London: Thames and Hudson, 1989), p. 147.

31 Ibid.

32 Ibid.

33 Ibid., p. 151.

34 S. Parissien, Interiors: The Home Since 1700 (London: Laurence King Publishing, 2009), p. 197.

35 Ibid.

36 E. A. Moreland, Practical Decorative Upholstery (Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1889), reprinted as The Curtain Makers Handbook (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1979). Quoted from C. Edwards, Encyclopedia of Furnishing Textiles, Floorcoverings and Home Furnishing Practices 1200–1950 (Aldershot: Lund Humphries, 2007), p. 121.

37 H. Muthesius, The English House, trans. and condensed D. Sharp (London: Crosby, Lockwood and Staple, 1904–1905).

38 These include J. Aynsley and C. Grant, eds, Imagined Interiors: Representing the Domestic Since the Renaissance (London: V&A Publishing, 2006); P. Thornton, Authentic Décor: The Domestic Interior 1620–1920 (London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1984); G. C. Winkler, Capricious Fancy: Draping and Curtaining the Historic Interior 1800–1930 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013); C. Jameson, Pictorial Treasury of Drapery Curtain Design (Thirsk: Potterton Books, 1987).

39 J. Gibbs, Curtains and Drapes: History, Design, Inspiration (London: Cassell, 1994), p. 176.

40 Schoeser and Rufey, English and American Textiles, p. 146.

41 I accessed the J. J. Allen catalogue (accession no. P6450941) at the Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture (MoDA) on 28 February 2018.

42 D. Sugg Ryan, Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition: The Ideal Home Through the 20th Century (London: Hazar Publishing, 1997), p. 21.

43 Parissien, Interiors, p. 203.

44 Gibbs, Curtains and Drapes, p. 175.

45 Cuthbert, The Lace Makers’ Society, p. 90.

46 Ibid.

47 Schoeser and Rufey, English and American Textiles, p. 181.

48 The Drapers’ Organiser, pp. 91, 93.

49 Cuthbert, The Lace Makers’ Society, p. 90.

50 E. Dyer, Textile Fabrics (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1923) quoted from Edwards, Encyclopedia, p. 121.

51 White, ‘Lace Curtains’, p. 100.

52 Cuthbert, The Lace Makers’ Society, pp. 89–92.

53 Lace curtain designs Notts and Cane Furniture Supplement, January 1929, p. 43.

54 Schoeser and Rufey, English and American Textiles, p. 181.

55 Ibid.

56 M. Douglas, Thought Styles (London: Sage Publications, 1996), p. 222.

57 P. Bourdieu, Distinction (London: Routledge, Kegan & Paul, 1984), p. 607.

58 P. Sparke, As Long as it’s Pink: The Sexual Politics of Taste (Nova Scotia: The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 2010), p. 194.

59 J. Panton, From Kitchen to Garret: Hints for Young Householders (London: Ward & Downey, 1890), p. 94.

60 Schoeser and Rufey, English and American Textiles, p. 137; H. R. Haweis, The Art of Decoration (London: Chatto & Windus, 1881).

61 Panton, From Kitchen to Garret.

62 Schoeser and Rufey, English and American Textiles, p. 153.

63 Ibid.

64 NCM 1989-357/5.

65 NCM 1989-350.

66 S. Andrew, ‘Textile Semantics: Considering a Communication-based Reading of Textiles’, Textile: Cloth and Culture, 6, no. 1 (2008), pp. 32–65.

67 Ibid., p. 51.

68 J. Eykelbosch, ‘Toile de Jouy’, Text: For the Study of Textile Art, Design and History, 27 (1999), p. 24.

69 NCM 1968-367/7.

70 NCM 1968-367/15.

71 NCM 1968-367/3.

72 NCM 1989-240/5.

73 NCM 1973-52.

74 NCM 1973-307.

75 NCM 1973-46.

76 C. Eastlake, Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery and Other Details (London: Longmans, 1872).

77 S. Murphy, ed., Our Homes and How to Make them Healthy (London: Cassell, 1883), p. 398.

78 Ellis, Lace Curtains and Raschel Nets, p. 38.

79 D. Sugg Ryan, Ideal Homes 1918–39: Domestic Design and Suburban Modernism (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2018), p. 73.

80 Sugg Ryan, Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition, p. 9.

81 Parissien, Interiors, p. 228.

82 Sugg Ryan, Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition, p. 12.

83 Parissien, Interiors, p. 237

84 Gibbs, Curtains and Drapes, p. 177.

85 Sugg Ryan, Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition, p. 45.

86 Sugg Ryan, Ideal Homes 1918–39, p. 86.

87 This seems a good point to explain the pre-decimal sterling prices found in the catalogues. For example, £1 10/6 is one pound, ten shillings and six pence. There were 20 shillings in one pound, so 10 shillings is half the value of one pound (50 pence in today’s currency). There were 12 pennies in each shilling, so 6 pence is half the value of one shilling (2.5 pence in today’s currency). The purchasing power of £1 in 1910 was equivalent to approximately £118 in 2020.

88 Samuel Peach and Sons catalogue 1904 (from the author’s personal collection).

89 The curtains ranged in length from 3 to 4 yards (2.7 to 3.7 m) and were 50 to 72 inches (127 to 183 cm) wide.

90 The curtains ranged in length from 3 to 4 yards (2.7 to 3.7 m) and were 52 to 72 inches (132 to 183 cm) wide.

91 The curtains ranged in length from 2.5 to 3.5 yards (2.3 to 3.2 m) and were 43 to 60 inches (109 to 152 cm) wide.

92 Samuel Peach and Sons catalogue 1904.

93 Ibid.

94 Whiteley Ltd catalogue, undated (from the author’s personal collection).

95 They are similar to Charlton design NCM 1989-240/2.

96 Artistic Window Furnishings catalogue for 1926–1927.

97 Lace Furnishings catalogue 1933–1934 (from the author’s personal collection).

98 The Drapers’ Organiser, 17 January 1920, p. 45.

99 Mason, Nottingham Lace, p. 148.

100 HMSO, Working Party Reports: Lace, p. 105.

101 Mason, Nottingham Lace, p. 145.

102 HMSO, Working Party Reports: Lace, p. 105.

103 Litchfield, ‘Machine Made Lace Industry’, p. 440.

104 HMSO, Working Party Reports: Lace, p. 105.

105 Mason, Nottingham Lace, p. 146. The value of exports recovered after 1945 and reached over £6 million in the 1950s.

106 Reports by the Juries for the Great Exhibition (London: William Clowes and Sons, 1851), p. 461.

107 Ibid.

108 Simon May Co., 1849–1949 Century of Achievement: The Simon May Story (1949), p. 44.

109 The curtains are all large, ranging in size from 3 to 4 yards (2.7 to 3.7 m) in length and most are 60 inches (152 cm) wide.

110 C. T. Smith, ‘Lace for Export’, The Drapers’ Organiser, 17 January 1920, p. 73.

111 The Drapers’ Organiser, 17 January 1920, p. 52.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carol Quarini

Carol Quarini is an independent researcher and artist. She undertook her practice-based PhD at the University for the Creative Arts, Farnham. Her postdoctoral research focuses on the history, manufacture and design of net curtains and lace panels. Her current practice critiques domesticity and feminism using subversive stitching and lace. She has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally, published in the UK and presented her research at international conferences.