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Filet Lace
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Plain knotted netting was made
with a small shuttle and gauge rod, then the net was stretched
on a frame and patterns needle-woven into the net. Originally
called "lacis," this was one of the oldest forms of
lacemaking -- one used frequently in 16th and 17th century Italy. The technique was revived in the mid 19th century and adopted
enthusiastically by Victorians. Like many other laces, the
technique was widely copied by machine processes well
into the 20th century, but handmade examples are easily
identified. Small individual fishermen's knots can be seen at each corner of the
square-meshed netting. In the
purest pieces, designs were produced solely in linen weave,
while in others, longer darning stitches were used for contrast.
[L-295]*
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Filet Combined with Bobbin Lace
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Most often 19th century filet
lace designs were composed of abstract, scrolling floral
motifs that reflected Renaissance patterning. But allegorical scenes were popular in early
filet lace too and reappeared in Victorian
work, like this anti-macassar. This piece was enhanced with Torchon bobbin lace
borders and shiny linen tassels. Lions grace small side
panels.
[L-180]
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Buratto
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In 16th century Italy, another
lace was made with needle interlacing on gauze
fabrics. The ground cloth was handwoven first on a loom in a leno structure featuring twisted pairs of
warps. The needleworker turned this fabric sideways and
interlaced her pattern yarns with stitches that paralleled the warps. In
my
example, linen threads of three different weights and spins were contrasted,
but the overall effect remained rather heavy. This was an ecclesiastical lace in which peacocks and vine branches
carried religious significance. This panel was edged with bobbin lace.
[L-3006]
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Armenian Lace
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Another approach to knotted
netting has been used in several Eastern Mediterranean countries
-- in Anatolian Turkey, Cyprus, Palestine, Algeria and other
areas -- although it is most often called Armenian lace. Unlike filet,
in which netting merely provides a ground for needle-worked
patterns, the net structure itself in Armenian lace is decorative. Groups of threads
are combined or separated at
will, and sometimes individually-made circular pieces are
combined. Closely knotted areas are contrasted with open work on
this collar. [L-3008]
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Carrickmacross Appliqué
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After the development of
machine bobbinet in the early 19th century, needleworkers used it as a foundation for
several kinds of lacy products. In Monaghan County, Ireland,
sheer lawn or cambric fabrics were appliquéd on net by sewing
over a cordonnet to outline flowery patterns. The excess fabric was then cut
away. Small areas
were cut through entirely and needlework fillings added. This
example is a long stole, or veil, bordered all around, and
with baskets of flowers at each end. [L-709]
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Carrickmacross Guipere
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In this unusual lace,
presumably also
made in Ireland, the approach differed. Overcast cordonnets outlined floral motifs on a heavier ground
fabric, and the excess cloth was trimmed away. The motifs were
then joined with thread bars in a "guipere"
fashion, and fillings were made within the flower
petals and leaves. Although the scale of this collar is large,
it has an austere elegance. [L-569]
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Crocheted Lace
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Crochet had been used earlier
as a fabric
structure, but became popular as a
lace-making technique in the mid-19th century. Some of the earliest
pieces imitated either bobbin lace or needlepoint lace, and the
designer of this large 19th
century Irish collar incorporated several standard Reticella needlepoint
motifs. It is edged with crocheted ball fringe, a strictly
Victorian touch. [L-724]
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Irish Crochet
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Ireland has produced the most
crocheted lace. The best known patterns at first imitated Italian floral
needlepoint, but evolved into a distinctive style that now readily comes to mind whenever Irish crochet
is mentioned. Rose petals and leaves were meticulously built up in
tiers to make a three-dimensional fabric for this collar.
The parts were all connected with picot-ornamented bars. Many costume items were produced in this
style. [L-124]
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Crochet and Tape Lace
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This small linen tray cover
was embellished with a bold, imaginative combination of crocheted
details and commercially purchased tapes. Here, vigorous garlands of
leaves and flowers were either sewn together or attached with
thread bars. Crocheted balls in the flower centers added
more dimensionality. [L-657]
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Crochet
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The designer of this piece produced an
imaginative set
of cuffs and collar by combining five different crochet
stitches, and then adding loose petals to a central flower. The edging and large meshwork in this cuff were
surely inspired originally by needlepoint lace details.
[L-634]
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Crochet
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Nineteenth century women who
produced creative works in crochet have not been given proper credit. On this collar,
stitches were contrasted effectively, and flowers were built up
in an unusual way.
Only the edging was standard. Some of these
artisans well understood the meaning of structural
design. [L-830]
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Limerick Lace
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Needle-run
embroidery on a net foundation was a technique used to produce a
variety of lace styles throughout the
19th century, especially in Ireland. This stole, or veil, is 264 cm. long, and
is covered with graceful embroidered garlands of
flowers. The designs were formed with darning stitches that
ran in and out of the net. On this example, many dainty needlepoint
fillings were added within the motifs. This stole is probably
from the mid-19th century. [L-3009]
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Bretonne Needle-Run Lace
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A large,
dramatic Victorian collar was made with couched outlines and
tiny coils along with needle-run filings and needlepoint
details -- all on a machine- made net foundation.
[L-227]
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Tambour Embroidery
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With netting stretched on a
frame, a tambour needle (much like a fine crochet hook)
was used to pull a series of thread loops through the net and
onto the surface. The resulting chain stitch is distinctive
and easily identified. These pieces, decorated with
floral sprays, were made after 1820, primarily in Limerick in
Ireland or in Coggeshall, England. The interiors of the chain stitched
motifs were sometimes needle-run, as
in the two pieces above. This small triangular veil or scarf,
however, was all done with tambour embroidery. [L-903]
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Tatting
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Of all the laces on these
pages, tatting and crochet were the primary types that
occupied American
needlewomen in the past. I well remember
sitting with my grandmother as a young child, learning how to
manipulate a small silver tatting shuttle. A series of knots
were tied along a foundation thread, then pulled up
into tiny circles or scallops. Tatting was popular from
about 1850 on, primarily for medallions and narrow dainty edgings for
garments.
[L-1030]
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Knit Pita Lace
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A photo cannot accurately
convey the nature of knitted Pita lace, from the Azores, as this medallion is more
delicate than any other lace on these pages. This is a
single-thread construction, produced with conventional knitting stitches,
but with almost cobweb-like results. Most such
pieces apparently date from the
early 19th century. [L-173]
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Nanduti Lace
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A lace known as Tennerife
developed in the Canary Islands and Spain, then spread to Latin America. Examples like this come from Paraguay, where they
are called Nanduti. Radiating circular scaffolds of
threads were first stretched on a base, and fancy fillings were needle-woven on these threads. This piece
may date from the early 20th century, but such lace is still produced. Unfortunately
few current examples have this delicacy. [L-245]
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Drawnwork
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Here threads were drawn from
a
linen ground fabric, both vertically and horizontally, and
diagonal scaffolding threads were added. Then geometric
starburst motifs were interwoven, much as in
the Nanduti lace above. Although this very small piece
probably dates from the late 19th century, the techniques
developed much earlier. This work differs, however from the 16th century
Italian type of drawnwork in which everything
was buttonholed. [L-157]
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Princess Guipere Tape Lace
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Tape laces became popular in
the late 19th century, and were made through much of the
20th century -- in greatly varying qualities. Many bobbin laces
have been based on bobbin-made braids, but when commercially
manufactured tapes of various sorts became available, imitations
could quickly and easily be produced by people with minimal
skills. The most common tape laces were known as Battenburg and
Renaissance. In the tape lace piece shown here, the designer combined three different commercial tapes,
curving, folding and sewing them together to make leaves and rosettes; then
she bridged the spaces between with thread bars. [L-149]
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Peruvian Net Lace
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The oldest piece of lace I
have encountered is this Pre-Columbian Peruvian
knotted netting from the Chancay period, 1100-1350 A.D. It
is quite astonishing! [L-3011]
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