Lacemaking Tradition in Puerto Rico

Author: Lori Howe
Contributor(s): Alice Batson
Published on: Nov 8, 2000

As far back as the visit of Columbus to the Islands of Puerto Rico the indigenous people were well versed in a textile tradition. It was only natural for them to easily take to the skill of lacemaking brought by the colonizers in the 16th century. It was at the same time that the demand for lace was at it's greatest in Europe. The Cathloic church, also growing in Puerto Rico encouraged the creation of lace for alter cloths, vestment trims and other liturgical uses. They made them not only for use in Puerto Rico but back in Spain as well. The nuns found that teaching lacemaking and religion was a dual benefit for the local girls and women.

As in Europe, the demand for lace waxed and waned with fashion but luckily the island never lost the need for church lace and the tradition continued. In the early 1900's when the missionary order of Notre Dame came to the island, they established a school and augmented it with the study of needlework and lace for the talented women of the region to supplement their meager incomes. He helped them create a market for their efforts and even commissioned work for the church. One such piece is on view as the altercloth at the School.

The establishment of the schools coincided with the resurgent demand for fine needlework in foreign markets. Travelers demanded such goods in Europe and with the loss of local workers over the years for this type of item, it became necessary to import them from the areas that kept up the tradition. It is possible that the lovely cutwork linens bought by your grandmother in Europe were actually made in Puerto Rico.

Some of the favorite themes worked into the needlework and lace were landscapes, country homes and figures playing instruments. Even a roast pig has been immortalized by these industrious women. These designs were created for the export tourist market and are not found locally. Local handwork and lace tended to be stylized floral and bird motifs.

Another reason for the increase in needleworkers and lacemakers between the first and second world wars was that many husbands went to the US to look for work leaving families behind. The women and children often supplemented their incomes using these skills. The was especially true in the northern shore of the island near the port of Aquadilla were Marines and other commercial ships bought handmade lace to bring to the United States.

The home life of these families was centered around the making of lace. Every social level was involved. The poorer families did so to make ends meet but the affluent classes encouraged industriousness among their daughters and staying busy was encouraged. Children often made lace before attending school and again after school and chores, as they worked by candlelight. Women also enjoyed a sense of community when they gathered in each others homes to make lace. They found it worked well to teach their children the art of lacemaking as well as encouraging the bond between the generations that developed.

The women used tools, including pillows and bobbins, made from local material and the designs for these tools developed uniquely from the European ones. But the thread had to be imported. Between the wars the preference was for the shiny so called "Japanese Thread" which was made in Spain. This lasted until the second World War when the tread was no longer able to be imported. That combined with a new law against cottage industries, forced the women into factories and away form their lacemaking. By 1950 the art had almost died and only a few women still practiced it.

In the 60's and 70's the Institute of Puerto Rican Studies began to re-establish lost traditions and luckily a few "grandmothers" were still alive to pass on the skills. In 1984 more than 5000 people from all over the island participated in the First Lace Festival sponsored by the Puerto Rican Instute for Culture that took place in San Juan . Free seminars were available and new and antique laces were exhibited. Today, the art of bobbin lacemaking again thrives in Puerto Rico.

Bobbin Lace curtain at the Puerto Rico Art Museum
by Alica Baston

In collaboration with the well known artist Antonio Martorell, a group of Puerto rican lacemakers from the Borinquen Lacers, Inc., a chapter of IOLI, accepted the monumental task of creating a curtain for the Puerto Rico Art Museum's theater. This curtain, made entirely in bobbin lace, represents Mr. Martorell's design of the earth and it's continents and includes an enlarged version of the island of Puerto Rico. a sun at the top illuminates the world and a pair of hands at the bottom represents the hands of the lacemakers, artisans of the world.

The curtain measures 15 feet by 30 feet and took a group of very talented and dedicated lacers a year and a half to complete. They are: Lucy Betancourt, Asuncion Bayo, Hilda Millan (sister of writer of this article), Norma Figueroa, Julita Santiago, Hilda Crux and Carmen Martinez Rigau.

Mr. Martorell had previously collaborated with the lacers to create three maps in bobbin lace, two of Europe and one of the Caribbean, which were exhibited in the US and Europe.

The Museum of Art of Puerto Rico was inagurated July 1, 2000. This delicate piece of art can be seen in the museum theater.