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Reticella/Punto in Aria
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The first needlepoint laces
were made in Venice and undoubtedly developed out of fancy drawnwork like that above. Eventually designs broke free of the cloth entirely:
scaffolding threads were couched to a parchment base, then covered with
buttonhole stitches. This more freely formed work became known
as Punto in Aria, or "stitches in air." The firm, heavy needle-made
structures were much like the 19th century cuffs at the left, with motifs at
first based on a geometric grid, then gradually becoming curvilinear.
[L-1056]
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Mixed Technique Lace
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This 17th century
Italian lace border shows experimentation: narrow bobbin-made tapes
were combined with areas of needle-made button-hole stitches. The artisan
also experimented with a variety of decorative fillings. Bars
or brides connecting the pattern parts assumed a fan-like
arrangement. [L-3000]
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Gros Point de Venise
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Buttonhole stitches formed
every part of this firm, heavy needlepoint guipure lace. Thick cordonnets
outlining the heavy scrolling flowers were completely covered with
buttonholing. Because one side of this stitch was bulkier
than the other, closely worked cordonnets tended to curve; thus scallops, circles and sweeping curves
developed naturally. Buttonhole-covered brides connected
the motifs, and a variety of fancy stitches
were used as design fillings. Magnificently sculpted three-
dimensional
Gros Point styles developed in 17th century Italy (1650-1670), but this
example is a late 19th century rendition. [L-672]
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Brussels Point de Gaze
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Although this delicate,
filmy needlepoint lace looks vastly different from the
border above, it was made with the same basic stitches. Point
de Gaze laces were
among the finest and most expensive of 19th century products, and
most were made in Belgium -- with the most exquisite said to
have come from Brussels. Small
inserts of this needle lace, called Rose Point, were
frequently combined with
Brussels Duchesse bobbin laces. [L-856]
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Venetian Point Plat
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The small angular
floral scrolls on this collar represent a style that appeared
in the late 17th and early 18th century -- both in Italy and
elsewhere. Worked on a minute scale, design parts were
joined with buttonholed brides ornamented with
picots. Tiny buttonholed circles were applied to the flowers.
A similar lace was called Coralline. [L-168]
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Point de Venise
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In stark contrast with the
piece above, this luxurious collar is firm, durable
needle lace with scrolling flowers and a heavy outlining
cordonnet. The
deeply scalloped piece has a high-necked collar, cleverly shaped
with no seams. It was made around the end of the 19th century.
[L-3003]
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Point d'Alençon
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Bouquets of flowers and
ferns accompanied by winding strapwork with intricate fillings
characterize this sophisticated needle lace made in
the 1852-1870 period of the French 2nd Empire. Luxuriant naturalism was achieved
with
subtle shadings. In the réseau (mesh) a
pattern of tiny hexagons was formed by an extra thread twisted through each row of open buttonhole stitches.
Nevertheless this mesh is filmy, and without magnification
looks like the more fragile Brussels Point de Gaze. Often the
various parts of this lace were executed by specialists -- the
toilé by one person, elaborate fillings by another, réseau by another. Sometimes up to ten specialists were involved.
[L-855]
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Burano Réseau
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This lace collar, with its
broad scrolling floral motifs, has cordonnets that are neither
dominant nor buttonholed, so the work is fairly flat, with
an understated elegance. The mesh was made with extra threads
twisted through each row of loops, as
in the Alençon flounce above. Because these supplementary
threads were pulled tight, they created a distinctive ladder-like appearance in the mesh, a feature
suggesting that this piece came from the small island of Burano, near
Venice. It was probably made in the early 19th century,
but after a revival of lacemaking there in 1874,
several early styles and types of work were duplicated.
[L-1230]
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Point de France
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This narrow collar with
fanciful scrolling flowers has a sturdy hexagonal mesh with all parts
covered in buttonhole stitches. Thus such lace was
among the most time-consuming to produce. The piece has
prominent cordonnets, a variety of fillings, and small frilly
additions that provide a three-dimensional effect. The Point de France style developed in
the late 17th century, but this piece was probably made in the early19th century. [L-1231]
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Needlepoint Guipere, Point de France Style
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This elegant monogrammed medallion
was made in the same manner as the collar above, but on a larger
scale. It is sturdy lace, because all of the connecting
bars in the hexagonal ground mesh were buttonholed. The
pronounced cordonnets
have also been closely buttonholed, and polished to a high
sheen. [L-847]
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Brussels Point de Gaze
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After examining heavy
laces like those above, it is difficult to keep in mind that the same
processes and stitches were used for delicate pieces like this fine Brussels fan leaf.
The tiny
looped stitches -- close together in design areas and farther
apart in the background -- were all done one at a time, with a
needle and thread. A wide variety of fancy filling stitches enhance this
pattern of flowers and scrolls. The piece was made between 1860 and 1890.
[L-115]
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Cutwork and Filet Lace
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This dramatic
tablecloth features a center panel of unusual cutwork (needle lace) and embroidery on ivory linen.
A wide filet
lace border has scrolling patterns needle-woven in linen stitch and
darning stitch. More examples of this popular netted lace appear on the Other Laces page.
[L-233]
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Reticella
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On this Victorian rendition of Italian Renaissance needle
lace, diagonal elements dominate within a basic Reticella
grid. The technique is identical to that used for 16th and
17th century work, but the flavor is different. This might at a glance be mistaken for
machine-made lace, but magnification discloses all-over buttonhole stitches.
[L-37B]
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Point de Gaze
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Here's a
totally different approach to needle lace. In the
naturalism of the floral forms, this exquisite lace looks much
like Point d'Alençon, but the ground is that of Brussels
Point de Gaze. A scan does not convey its delicacy.
[L-3013]
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Point de Gaze
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This collar is TINY.
It's only 1 1/4 inches deep, yet is filled with flowers,
leaves and scrollwork in the Belgian needlepoint style.
It's all tiny buttonhole stitches! [L-432]
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Point de Venise
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This plastron, or bib-like
neckpiece, was made of sturdy lace with a heavy cordonnet and
buttonholed brides. Since similar lace was made in several
places, including Belgium, Ireland and Burano, Italy, attributions are difficult.
[L-1006]
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Point de Gaze
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Here's one more example of
the incredibly delicate needle lace made in the last half of the
19th century in Belgium. Although the style differs
from sophisticated Brussels work, the technique is the same:
the entire collar is
composed of tiny buttonhole stitches, including the mesh
ground. I have found only small pieces done completely
in Point de Gaze,
because for shawls, stoles and wide flounces, individual floral motifs were more often
appliquéd to machine-made net to save labor. [L-93]
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Brussels Lace
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Here is a late 19th century
combination of Brussels Point de Gaze and Duchesse bobbin lace
on a small collar. Needlepoint inserts are frequently much
smaller, but in the photo here, everything is needle work,
except for the border and small sections of bobbin lace at the
top. [L-1026]
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Point Applique
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On the upper part of this
collar, needlepoint motifs were sewn to machine net. In the magnified detail it is clear
that this net continues under the applied figures; the threads
of the net even differ slightly in color. The lower part
of this collar was designed in a guipure style with no net, the
needle-made motifs held in place with buttonholed brides.
[L-78]
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