ABSTRACT
Nottingham has long been famous for lace production. Although the machinery was developed in the later part of the eighteenth century, it was during the nineteenth century that the area developed full-scale factory production that was world-renowned. However, shortly after World War I, as the demand for lace declined due to changes in fashion, the industry followed. William Felkin, author of the History of the Machine-Wrought Hosiery and Lace Manufactures was an important manufacturer in the Nottingham lace world, and from 1836, he lobbied for a school of design to be established in the town. A much later report on the School of Art in 1884 explained the Nottingham situation in relation to the nature of the designs produced and the nationality of the designers employed. In Nottingham, twenty years ago, the lace designs, most of which were produced by foreigners, were as a rule lamentably deficient in artistic taste, although there were some good ones amongst them.
