Arts and Crafts and Female Ingenuity: The Nineteenth Century Lace Revival

• Applicant: Dr. Louisa Gienger
• Subject Area: Art History
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 553979550

The present project proposal is unique in the sense that it combines textile history on a highly specialised level with art-historical methodology and Gender Studies. Taking the analysis of the lace collection of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum - Leibniz-Forschungsmuseum für Kulturgeschichte (GNM) in Nürnberg as an exemplary starting-point, the study will shed new light on collecting strategies in the decorative arts and the development of lace in the latter nineteenth century. Ever since its creation in the 16th century, lace - the epitome of a status symbol - has been of tremendous social, cultural and economic significance. During the course of the following centuries a great variety of different types of lace emerged across Europe. Distinguishing these from one another and assessing their artistic quality requires expert knowledge and skills. Due to its particular nature as an extremely specialised subject, the history of lace and its place in art history have not yet been well researched. Adding to this, lace has often been overlooked on account of gender stereotypes and the discrimination of women’s art. By contrast, the present study offers an inclusive view of female artistic creation and thereby attempts to enhance the presence and standing of lace in academic research and museum work. Its overall aim is to foster an awareness of the plurality of the visual arts and their diverse histories. In the absence of many lace experts worldwide, an additional objective is to preserve knowledge and methodological skills for future generations as well as to attract young researchers to the topic. On a scholarly level, the study is set to break new grounds in various areas. One of the initial assumptions is that the GNM lace collection reflects ideas of the nineteenth century Design Reform Movement and that its structure mirrors educational study collections of the time. Hence, the selection criteria for the Nürnberg laces shall be traced back to ideas in publications of pioneers and proponents of the Arts and Crafts movement as well as the continental Design Reform Movement - including Augustus W.N. Pugin, John Ruskin, May Morris, Alois Riegl and Tina Frauberger. The guiding design principles put forward in these publications provide detailed information about contemporary reformist strategies in textile art. As will be shown, these ideas are not only echoed in study collections. They also contributed to the establishment of lace schools and other initiatives for the revival of lace production. According to our final hypothesis, this led to the development of a large number of new types of lace, their actual invention being primarily due to the exceptional achievements of women artists. Seen from this meta-level perspective, the study will close a significant research gap in nineteenth century lace history.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants