Lamé or lamella is a very thin sheet, normally of metal, which can be cut into shapes or strips with scissors or shears or another instrument. The metal is often gilded to give it a gold colour. Lamé is used for a variety of embroidery forms, including Indian badla and Egyptian tulle-bi-telle (also known as Assuit work). The word derives from Latin lamina, a thin plate (compare 'omelet').
See also: plate
Sources:
- CLABBURN, Pamela (1976). The Needleworker’s Dictionary, London: Macmillan London Ltd., p. 153 (the example given by Clabburn as a piece of late nineteenth century Indian work is in fact Egyptian and probably dates to the early twentieth century).
- Shorter Oxford English Dictionary: 'Lame' and 'Lamella'.
Digital source of illustration (retrieved 26 June 2016).
GVE
