Lacing the History
- Date
- 11 December 2024 - 1 March 2025
- Location
- Online exhibition
Do you know who makes your clothes? Join us and explore the representations of working and upper classes, through making and wearing lace.
Lacing the History is a virtual art exhibition curated by MA students from the University of Leeds. Inspired by the online collection at the Yale Center for British Art, this digital installation features a range of objects surrounding the topic of lace – including portraits, prints and lace samples – between the 16th and 20th centuries.
The exhibition explores a journey through class and lace – a fabric with an intricate history that has long symbolized status and artistry. Influenced by Baroque and Rococo styles, delicate lace patterns became synonymous with elegance and power, reflecting the divide between the working and upper classes.
While lace adorned the wealthy, it was crafted by the hands of lower-class women, whose skill and patience defined this labour-intensive art form. The Industrial Revolution in the 1830s transformed lace production, shifting it from artisan handcraft to mechanized factories. This made lace more accessible yet erased the contributions of its original makers.
This exhibition examines how lace embodied both beauty and exploitation, highlighting its evolution from a symbol of privilege to a democratized fabric with deep cultural resonance.
Visit the exhibition
Lacing the History is part of a wider series of online exhibitions curated by Art Gallery and Museum Studies and Arts Management and Heritage MA students from the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, as part of an Interpretations course module.
Images
Left: The Seated Sleeping Seamstress, undated. Print made by Gerard Valck, 1651/2–1726, after Michiel van Musscher, 1645–1705. Paul Mellon fund at the Yale Center for British Art. CC0 1.0 Universal - Creative Commons.
Right: Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, after 1596. Created by Isaac Oliver, ca. 1565–1617. Paul Mellon collection at the Yale Center for British Art. CC0 1.0 Universal - Creative Commons.