JOCELYNN BROWN

Handmade: Museum is home to lifelong collection

Jocelynn Brown
The Detroit News

Northville resident Mary Salmon was captured by the beauty of antique lace as a young child during her family’s many trips to Ireland and Central Europe.

Years later, after collecting both European and American handmade lace, and garments fashioned of such delicate fabrics, she saw beyond its aesthetic qualities and became equally intrigued by its history. She knew her museum-quality collection needed to be displayed in a place where others could relish its beauty and learn the stories behind it.

After several failed attempts to have local museum curators look at her collection, Salmon, who grew up Downriver in a “blue-collar Ford Family,” used her own funds to open the Lace Museum Detroit (133 West Main, Suite 160) in downtown Northville. As sole owner and curator, she said “Detroit” was added to the name because “in the world arena, the Lace Museum could be anywhere, but Detroit gives them (visitors) a pin point. It’s just 20 miles from Detroit, and I think it’s respectful of the city.”

The 1,000-square-foot museum is on the lower level of Northville Square, and was designed by Salmon to include 1880s chandeliers, wooden floors and two pillars. She also had bay windows put in and painted gold and black “so people will get a sense of going back in time” to a Parisian shop. And, except for items in the window, the lace pieces are kept at 65 degrees, so “they’re essentially preserved.”

Since opening what is thought to be one of only three museums in the country devoted entirely to lace, Salmon has been featured in a number of publications, and has even received a “personal letter from Buckingham Palace Queen Elizabeth” and the Michigan House of Representatives.

Reflecting on her love of lace, Salmon, who holds a law degree and represents disabled Americans in federal court, said, “My mother was Irish, and as a child, I’d been to Europe quite a few times, and I thought it was the most beautiful appointment to a dress. It’s something so artistic that a woman could do with needle, thread and bobbins. People made it and sold it to aristocracy. They were devoted artists.

“People wonder, what does lace have to do with anything important in life. It was smuggled, and it was pretty big. You had to have a license to be a lace merchant. English lace on the market was in competition with French lace. They were high luxury items that were governed by the law.”

Salmon, 56, still remembers her first two lace purchases. “I think the very first real piece was when I was in France. A guy was in the street on the cobblestones outside the store. He had a bunch of linens and lace. I probably bought it for 10 francs. It’s like an 18th century embroidered headpiece. This piece has a soul. It was ancient even then, and I was probably 15 or 16 years old.” She also recalls being just outside Versailles where, at age 12, she bought pieces of French lace that “would be called doilies.”

Salmon plans to change exhibits at the museum four times a year. The current display reflects the Edwardian/Victorian era, and beginning in June, pieces from the Civil War period will be exhibited.

The oldest item in the museum is “a 17th century reticella, a Roman Catholic Alb, made in Italy, probably around 1650. It’s just a long piece that would go around the priest’s neck and drop down where his feet are.” And the oldest wedding gown dates to the 1870s. “The general public wants to see fashion,” said Salmon. She dates pieces based on her research using very old books, and, has learned older books are “more accurate.”

Salmon’s collection is so impressive that she is sometimes contacted by New York filmmakers who’ve purchased items, including a 1920s wedding veil. She said, “Really good filmmakers want the most authentic things as possible.”

The Lace Museum Detroit has a gift shop where visitors can purchase “small pieces of lace that are very rare, antique buttons and beautiful vintage hats.” Also for sale are beaded and tapestry purses. Prices range from $5 to $200, and each item comes with a hangtag.

Salmon said visitors are usually women ages 25-85. One woman visiting from Detroit who was in her late 70s knew about Mosley’s department store, once located in downtown Detroit, where very fine linens from Italy were sold. “She was a plethora of information. I’m fortunate people just wander in,” said Salmon, who’s assisted two days a week by Linda Speers of Northville.

Groups often visit, and although appointments are encouraged, they’re not necessary. Hours are: noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Admission is free. (Sounds like the perfect day trip around Mother’s Day!)

Detroit News Columnist Jocelynn Brown is a longtime Metro Detroit crafter. You can reach her at (313) 222-2150, jbrown@detroitnews.com or facebook.com/DetroitNewsHandmade.

Contact the Lace Museum Detroit at (937) 681-7219, or on Facebook. Email: marysalmon781@hotmail.com.