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Collection

93/27/1 Bobbin lace border, linen / cotton, maker unknown, probably Genoa, Italy, early 1600s. Click to enlarge.
  • Image 1 of 4, 93/27/1 Bobbin lace border, linen / cotton, maker unknown, probably Genoa, Italy, early 1600s. Click to enlarge
  • Image 2 of 4, 93/27/1 Bobbin lace border, linen / cotton, maker unknown, probably Genoa, Italy, early 1600s. Click to enlarge
  • Image 3 of 4, 93/27/1 Bobbin lace border, linen / cotton, maker unknown, probably Genoa, Italy, early 1600s. Click to enlarge
  • Image 4 of 4, 93/27/1 Bobbin lace border, linen / cotton, maker unknown, probably Genoa, Italy, early 1600s. Click to enlarge

Bobbin lace border

Made
This bobbin lace border, possibly Italian, was probably used to trim a fashionable collar or cuffs of around 1620. It is made of linen thread (verified by Angharad Rixon through SEM analysis). Although it shows more sophisticated design and workmanship than the simple seaming laces of the previous century, the border uses the same continuous bobbin lace technique in which pattern and ground are worked together with the one set of threads, so that the wider the lace the more threads are used. …

Summary

Object No.

93/27/1

Object Statement

Bobbin lace border, linen / cotton, maker unknown, probably Genoa, Italy, early 1600s

Physical Description

Bobbin lace border, linen/cotton blend, maker unknown, Italy (probably Genoa) early 1600s

The border is made of relatively fine thread and has a wide footside band of two alternating circles with flower centers, adjoining deep headside scallops which alternate with smaller points. Each scallop has an inner circle similar to the more solid circle in the footside band.

Short URL

https://ma.as/132841

Dimensions

Width

190 mm

Depth

600 mm

Production

Made

Possibly made

Notes

Bobbin lace of this kind is associated with Genoa because of the use of leaf tallies. Stitches used are four-strand plaiting (ornamented with picots on the headside points), leaf tallies, cloth stitch, and cloth-and twist. The bobbin lace uses the continuous technique in which pattern and ground are worked together with the one set of threads, so that the wider the lace the more threads are used.
SEM analysis by Angharad Rixon cofirm that thread this lace was made from is a linen cotton blend, 2-ply, Zspun and Splyed.
The following laces were subjected to SEM analysis by Angharad Rixon in 2001: 24 laces in all

91/2064
93/27/1
93/27/2
93/27/3
93/27/4
93/27/5
93/27/6
93/27/7
93/27/8
A8960
A8961
A9148 -4
A9148-9/1
A9148-10
A9148-11
A9148-14a
A924814b
A9148-15
A9148-16
H3771
H3891
H5111-80
H5111- 81
H6419

History

Notes

Similar borders appear as trimmings for collars and cuffs in contemporary portraits.
Laces of this scale were most often, but not exclusively, used for furnishing or church purposes, and worn flat rather than gathered.

Source

Credit Line

Purchased 1993

Acquisition Date

15 February 1993

Cite this Object

Harvard

Bobbin lace border 2021, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 23 September 2021, <https://ma.as/132841>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/132841 |title=Bobbin lace border |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=23 September 2021 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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