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A Girl Wearing Pearl Drop Earrings and a Black Lace Choker Giclee Print Rotari, Pietro... 18 in. x 24 in. Buy at AllPosters.com Framed Mounted Lace-making falls into two classes: (1) needlepoint made by the needle; (2) bobbin or pillow lace made with bobbins and pins on a pillow. Pillow lace may easily be distinguished from Point lace as in the former the ground or réseau is made of plaited thread. That of Point lace is composed of threads made by the use of the button-hole stitch only. Laces made during the last hundred years frequently have a machine-made ground and thus, strictly speaking, are not lace at all, but embroidery or appliqué work.
Owing to its fragility very few early examples of lace have survived. A primitive form of lace has been found in Egyptian tombs decorating the edges of garments, and some Coptic embroideries exhibit drawn threadwork. Gold and silver laces of simple design were discovered in the tombs of Mycenae and Etruria. A few specimens of cut work survive from Byzantium. The cloth covering the body of St Cuthbert, buried in 685, was cut and fringed to form a kind of rudimentary lace. All preRenaissance lace consisted of drawn work, cut work and darned work.
The Venetians were the first to abandon all foundation material (c. 1530) and to rely solely on the needle to create the fabric. The chief varieties of Venetian lace are known as Rose Point, Point de Neige, Gros Point de Venise and Point Plat de Venise. The chief characteristics of Venetian lace are the raised cord outlining the design, known as the Cordonnet, the diversity of the fillings worked in button-hole stitch and the starry effect of the brides or connections between the various parts of the design. The principal designs for Venetian lace, shown in a pattern book printed in Venice in 1560, were conventionalized floral scrolls. During the reign of Louis XIV lace schools were established in France near Alençon, resulting in the fine laces known as Point d'Alençon, Point d'Argentan and Point d'Argentella. These laces were at first indistinguishable from those made at Venice, except that figures were introduced into the designs. The principal characteristics of the later French laces are the fine, clear ground, the stiff Cordonnet outlining the pattern and the variety of motifs in the fillings.
Meanwhile the bobbin process had developed independently in Flanders towards the close of the 16th century from plaited fringed work. The chief laces of Flanders are known as Flemish Point, Brussels Point and Point d'Angleterre. They are all very much alike, characterized by their gossamer-like texture and the total absence of the Cordonnet. Pillow lace was also made at Valenciennes, which was formerly part of Flanders. In fineness of thread it rivals the Flemish laces and looks more like ornamental cambric. It differs from Flemish lace, however, in the ground, the stitches in the Valenciennes being much closer and thicker in the plait.
The persecution of the Huguenots led to the introduction of lace-making into England. The best-known English lace is Honiton, a coarse copy of Brussels lace. Of Irish laces, the Carrick-ma-cross is more like embroidery than lace and did not develop until the beginning of the 19th century. Patterns outlined in button-hole stitch are applied to a machine-made net. The Irish crotchet is the only true lace made in Ireland. It is a close imitation of Venetian Point made with a fine thread and a crotchet needle.
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