Lace and Legacy: Fashion Treasures from The Blackborne Collection

Marking 20 years since the landmark exhibition Fine & Fashionable: Lace from the Blackborne Collection, The Bowes Museum commemorates the extraordinary gift and enduring national significance of the Blackborne lace collection to the North of England. Lace and Legacy: Fashion Treasures from the Blackborne Collection examines the antique lace trade through the Blackborne family business and reveals how lace was once the ultimate symbol of luxury, highlighting the beauty, skill and creativity in every thread.  

The Blackborne family’s historic collection, a treasure trove that builds on lace acquired by Joséphine Bowes in the nineteenth century, charts the evolution of European lace from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. Through portraits, garments and comparisons with other decorative arts, the exhibition considers the legacy of lace as a source of inspiration for artists, makers and designers alike. 

Presented alongside student work developed through an AHRC-funded research partnership with the National Gallery and Northumbria University, the exhibition showcases newly studied works and unseen discoveries from The Blackborne Collection, reaffirming its national and international importance.