Lace collection heads for the web

The collection has more than 75,000 pieces

A Nottingham university has won a £42,000 grant to put its world-famous lace collection on the world wide web.

Nottingham Trent University is to display its archive of lace online - some of it dating back to the 1600s.

The 75,000 items come from bequests donated by local companies and the Nottingham Lace Federation.

Gillian Proctor, who heads up the lace collection, said: "We have some fabulous examples of lace - including the Ferrari of lace from Italy."

The Grospoint or Venetian lace dress from the 17th Century would have cost the equivalent of a Ferarri today, she said.

Wedding dress

In the past some people would even rent a piece of lace for a day to impress their visitors.

Donations were made from the late-19th up to the mid-20th Century.

The collection includes prize-winning examples from international lace competitions and a sample of lace from the Duchess of York's wedding dress that dates back to the beginning of the 20th Century.

It also includes books on lace history and is a resource for studying the technical and aesthetic parameters and achievements of lace design and manufacturing.

A rare piece of raised needle work that dates from about 1912 - which uses lace techniques of late 17th Century - is also in the collection.

Work to develop the new lace web pages, which will be available through the university's website, will start immediately.