Cornelia Mee
Cornelia Mee | |
|---|---|
| Born | Cornelia Austin 1815 Bath, Somerset |
| Died | 1875 London |
| Other names | Mrs. Mee |
| Occupation(s) | Textile designer, author |
Cornelia Mee (23 April 1815 – 1875), born Cornelia Austin, was a British knitting and crochet pattern designer and writer.
Early life
[edit]
Cornelia Austin was born in Bath in 1815, the daughter of Thomas Austin and Sarah Shubert. Her father was a haberdasher, bookseller, and undertaker..[1]
Career
[edit]Mee was one of the women who claimed to have invented crochet, and was a major figure in the popularization of various needlecrafts in the nineteenth century.[1][2][3] She is credited with publishing the first original English-language instructions for Tunisian crochet, which she called ""Crochet a la Tricoter", or "Crochet on a Knitting Needle."[4]
Mee wrote illustrated books and pamphlets of knitting and crochet patterns and instructions, some with her younger sister Mary Battle Austin, including Mee's Companion to the Worktable (1844),[5] Crochet Explained and Illustrated (1846),[6] Mrs. Mee's Exercises in Knitting (1846),[7] Crochet Collars (1846),[8] Crochet Doilies and Edgings (1846),[9] Crochet Couvrettes and Collars (1847),[10] The Manual of Needlework (1854),[11][12] Manual of Knitting, Beautifully Illustrated (1860)[13] The Queen's Winter Knitting Book (1862),[14] Tatting, or Frivolité (1862),[15] and First Series of the Knitter's Companion (1867).[16]
Mee and her sister also edited a magazine, The Worktable,[17] and ran a wool shop in Bath.[1] Her patterns were often used for making handcrafts to sell at charity fundraising events.[12] She contributed an embroidered banner and other items displaying "much vigour and boldness"[18] to the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in 1851.[19][20][21]
Personal life
[edit]Cornelia Austin married widower Charles Mee in 1837. She died in 1875, aged 60 years. Designs by Cornelia Mee are still worked by knitters and crocheters today, and there is a "Cornelia Mee" page on Ravelry to share those projects in that social network.[22]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Ledbetter, Kathryn (2012-01-06). Victorian Needlework. ABC-CLIO. pp. 68–69, 161. ISBN 978-0-313-38661-9.
- ^ Thies, Sheryl (2011-03-22). Get Hooked on Tunisian Crochet: Learn How with 13 Projects. Martingale. ISBN 978-1-60468-242-7.
- ^ Van Remoortel, Marianne (2012). "Threads of Life: Matilda Marian Pullan (1819-1862), Needlework Instruction, and the Periodical Press". Victorian Periodicals Review. 45 (3): 253–276. ISSN 0709-4698. JSTOR 41638147.
- ^ Karp, Cary (2020-09-15). "Cornelia Mee's simpler Tunisian stitch". Loopholes. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
- ^ Mee, Cornelia (1844). Mee's Companion to the work-table, containing selections in knitting, netting and crochet-work. D. Bogue.
- ^ Mee, Cornelia (1846). Crochet Explained and Illustrated: Second Series. With Numerous Engravings. David Bogue, Fleet Street.
- ^ Mee, Cornelia (1846). Exercises in Knitting. D. Bogue.
- ^ Mee, Cornelia (1846). Crochet collars. D. Bogue.
- ^ Mee, Cornelia (1846). Crochet doilies and edgings.
- ^ Mee, Cornelia (1847). Crochet Couvrettes and Collars.
- ^ Mee, Cornelia (1856). The Manual of Needlework. Aylott & Company.
- ^ a b "Notices of Books". The Ragged School Union Magazine. 6: 141. January 1854.
- ^ Mee, Cornelia (1863). The Knitter's Companion, Beautifully Illustrated. Frederick Arnold.
- ^ Mee, Cornelia; Austin (1862). The queen's winter knitting book, by mrs. Mee & miss Austin. Ser. 3 of the 'Knitter's companion'.
- ^ Mee, Cornelia; Austin, Mary (1862). Tatting, or Frivolité (PDF). Frederick Arnold.
- ^ Online Books by Cornelia Mee, The Online Books Page.
- ^ "Varieties". The Literary Gazette and Journal of the Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, &c: 53. 16 January 1847.
- ^ "The Great Exhibition". The Morning Chronicle. 1851-09-25. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-11-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ A Guide to the Great Exhibition Containing a Description of Every Principal Object of Interest with a Plan... Examining the Contents of the Crystal Palace. G. Rontledge and Company. 1851.
- ^ "Sales by Auction". Daily News. 1851-10-25. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-11-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Schaffer, Talia (2008). "Berlin Wool". Victorian Review. 34 (1): 38–43. ISSN 0848-1512. JSTOR 41220395.
- ^ "Designs by Cornelia Mee". Ravelry. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
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