Lace Identification 7 Examples

5. Two pieces of Venetian lace imitation

Two pieces of Venetian lace imitation. Top: TRC 2007.0559, bottom: TRC 2007.0595Two pieces of Venetian lace imitation. Top: TRC 2007.0559, bottom: TRC 2007.0595We have two lace examples from the beginning of the 20th century, which imitate the style of 17th century Venetian lace. The stylised flowers and leaves are joined by bars/braids to which picots are added. The handmade lace (TRC 2007.0559) is a needlepoint and the machine made example (TRC 2007.0595) is a chemical lace.

Filling: The floral pattern of the handmade piece is filled with several types of buttonhole stitches.
The chemical lace is an embroidery on which we can clearly see machine lock stitches. This lace looks neat from a distance, but with magnification the outlines show a certain fuzziness.


Gimp: In the handmade pieces, the edges are decorated with a raised work and are worked as a separate layer on top of the filling. Various thickness is used to outline different parts of the flower.
 The raised work in the machine made lace is formed by rows of dense stitches that lie on the same surface as the rest of the pattern.


Ground: In both cases the floral motifs are connected by bars/braids. The bars of the handmade lace look solid and regular. The buttonhole stitches are clearly visible with even edges. In the machine made example the stitches of the bars are loose, and do not have a common structure.  


Side: The front side of the handmade lace is decorated with raised work and the back side is flat. The machine made piece is equal on both sides.

Handmade lace:    Machine-made lace: 
TRC 2007.0559TRC 2007.0559   TRC 2007.0595TRC 2007.0595

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