author
Maria Margaret Pollen
d. 1919
Best known for her writing on historic lace, she brought a collector’s eye and a practical curiosity to the decorative arts. Her work helped turn a specialized craft tradition into something readable and appealing for a wider audience.
1 Audiobook
Seven Centuries of Lace
by Maria Margaret Pollen
About the author
Maria Margaret Pollen was an English writer and collector of decorative arts, born Maria Margaret La Primaudaye in 1838. She was also known as Minnie, and later published as Mrs. John Hungerford Pollen.
She became especially associated with the history of textiles and lace. During the early twentieth century, she was recognized as an authority on the subject, and her best-known book, Seven Centuries of Lace (1908), introduced readers to the long history, techniques, and beauty of lace-making.
Pollen’s interest in the decorative arts grew out of collecting as well as study. She gathered old lace, fans, and eighteenth-century English glass, and her work reflects both scholarship and the pleasure of close looking. She died around 1919, leaving behind writing that still appeals to readers interested in art history, design, and material culture.