Leopold Ikle (1838-1922) exported lace to England, France and the United States, among other places, at a time when St. Gallen was the market leader in the lace industry. His collection of handmade bobbin lace and needlepoint from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century originally served as inspiration for his firm's designers. But it quickly surpassed the demands of a simple pattern collection and in 1904 he donated it to the Textile Museum St. Gallen.
