The frill of trading lace with Antwerp | Letter

The Belgian city was a centre for the trade in lace, as well as wool, writes Joanna Hashagen

I was very interested in your editorial on Antwerp (17 August). I have had the opportunity to visit that fine city several times over the last 20 years, collaborating with curators there. It is an underrated city today and, as you state, English traders sold wool there in the past; we also bought their lace in the 17th and 18th centuries.

This week The Bowes Museum sent a crate of some of the finest 17th- and 18th-century Flemish lace to a large, prestigious exhibition in Antwerp that highlights the important role the city played in the production and trade of lace. P.LACE.S - Looking through Antwerp Lace, opens on 25 September. A city trail connects five exhibition locations in the city.
Joanna Hashagen
Curator of fashion and textiles, The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham