Juraj Zajonc
Since the end of the 1930s, designers and creators seeking new expressions started to play an important role in development of bobbin lace in Slovakia. In the 1950s decorative lace designed to be used spatially started to be more predominant in textile culture. Lace making continually lost its place in traditional clothing and textiles and became an element of individual creation. The individual who actively participated in this process is also an organizer of lace creations and designer of bobbin laces – Anna Drobová. She was hired by the Centre for Folk Art Production in 1955 as an experienced lace creator. Drobová started to work for ÚĽUV at a time when it became an institution that more significantly influenced the development of the organized production of bobbin laces in Slovakia. Its focus was to keep lace making in traditional areas of its work and at the same time use traditional technical as well as the motive elements of laces in such a way that they would suit both the utilitarian and aesthetic criteria. As a designer of bobbin laces, Drobová left a specific mark still visible in Slovak lace making. The main and strongest source of inspiration for her designs were laces from the north east Gemer region. In comparison with other traditional types of band lace in Slovakia, the method of joining them together is the most specific and richest in Slovakia. Drobová knew and respected the specific characteristics of Gemer laces. The largest group of laces made by the designs of Drobová are fully laced square-shaped covers. Drobová’s laces left us proof of her design activities. Nevertheless, they are noted not only by their motifs and composition but also by the high quality of their manufacturing. Her designs based on Gemer patterns were laced by Žofia Vilímová (1915 – 1989) from the Gemer municipality of Rejdová. Drobová found in her not only a great bobbin lace maker capable of implementing her designs well but also a personality with a certain degree of creative abilities able to react to new ideas. Drobová’s designs and the laces made according to them are an example of the continuous shift from traditional lace with marks of a specific place and region to an author-created, highly individualized creation.