Vamberk Lace Museum

LACEMAKING

Vamberk, a small town in the foothills of the Eagle Mountains, has been associated with the history of bobbin lace for almost four hundred years. The noblewoman Magdalena Grambova, who came here in the first third of the 17th century from Belgium, is associated with the beginning of bobbin-making in the Vamberk region. Bobbining has become entrenched here and has spread so much that Vamberk has gradually become the most important lace-making area in Bohemia. Local train lace has become a typical part of folk clothing. Over the years, Vamberk has become the center of lace-making in Podorlicko.

EXHIBITION

The first Czech lace-making school was opened in Vamberk in 1889, which still fulfills its function and teaches all those interested in this beautiful craft in the form of courses. The Lace Museum was founded in 1929 from the collections of the lace school. The museum’s exposition offers a look at the development of lacemaking from the 18th century to the present. Ancient folk lace, burgher clothes, used lace, bobbin jewelry, clothing components and large spatial works of the component are complemented by the contemporary work of Czech artists in a separate part of the exhibition. The collections of hand-bobbin lace, dresses and clothing accessories for EXPO Brussels 1958 and EXPO Montreal 1967 are unique.

MUSEUM

Housed in an Art Deco building from 1916, the museum is wheelchair accessible and offers seating in a quiet garden. The entrance and box office of the museum is in the shop, where it is possible to buy hand-bobbin lace.The tradition of lacemaking in the Vamberk region has belonged to the List of Intangible Assets of Traditional Folk Culture of the Czech Republic since January 2020. The town of Vamberk – the Lace School, the Museum and Gallery of the Eagle Mountains in Rychnov nad Kneznou – the Museum of Lace in Vamberk and the Hradec Kralove Region became the so-called “bearer of the farm” tradition.

For more information about the Hradec Kralove Region, from which this museum comes, click here and here.