Lace & Legacy: Fashion Treasures from The Blackborne Collection

An exhibition marking 20 years since Fine & Fashionable, tracing the Blackborne family lace trade and the changing status of lace from the sixteenth to the twentieth century through portraits, garments and decorative arts.

Drawing on the Blackborne Collection built on lace acquired by Joséphine Bowes, the exhibition examines how lace became a symbol of luxury and how the family business operated across Europe. Newly studied pieces and unseen discoveries are shown alongside student work from an AHRC-funded partnership with the National Gallery and Northumbria University, setting lace in dialogue with other decorative arts and with the museum's own collections.