Some Pollard Lace -



The earliest lace sample we have from the factory is the above, for silk handkerchiefs, presumably designed by Edwin Turton and dated by Arthur Pollard at "about 1886". It was the first complete handkerchief made on a Reader machine. So many Jacquard cards were needed to create the pattern that the floor beneath the Jacquard machine had to be cut away, to allow the cards to drop through to the floor below¹.



Centre gimp lace set-out with flossing liners made on a Leavers landing bar machine²



Typical 1880s style lace - made on a Leavers landing bar machine





Both samples: 1880/1890s style, made on Leavers landing bar machines, draughted so that clipping (of loose thread) was not required.
The bottom lace is "Our Celebrated Rose Pattern" shown on the machine on the Machines page.



1940s/1950s style centre gimp lace, made on a Leavers landing bar machine

Finishers washed the lace in Nottingham, but Arthur Pollard did not think they washed the silk lace thoroughly. He used to take it home and wash it on Sundays in the washhouse, much to his wife’s annoyance³. It was not the sort of weekend activity one might expect from a wealthy factory owner with many employees, but showed very clearly his personal involvement in the business.



Part of a page from a pattern book

An example to explain the annotations in the pattern book
- the top example

8173	Pattern number
12" RKS	the length of lace produced by a set number of motions of the machine
12 Point	The higher the "point" the finer the lace - more threads per inch.
Circled No 14	The number of the machine on which the lace was made.

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¹ John Pollard, in conversation with Sheila Mason.
² The brief descriptions of this and the next three laces are by Sheila and John Mason.
³ John Pollard, in conversation with Sheila Mason.
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