In Nenia Lovesey's book 'Introduction to Needlepoint Lace' published by Batsford 1985 it says in the Glossary 'Afficot. An instrument used for polishing the raised parts of the lace. Early afficots were made from highly polished wood, bone or ivory, in the shape of a miniature golf club. On the Continent, and later in this country, a lobster claw was cleaned and polished and set into a wooden handle; this was common practice amongst the poorer lacemakers'
On page 53 of the same book you will see an illustration of 'tools of the trade' and amongst them you will see two different types of afficots. On page 17 of another of her books 'The Technique of Needlepoint Lace' published again by Batsford in 1980, she describes the tasks and names given to each the workers who performed a particular stage of the work and states 'The Affiqueuse - checked for any inequalities and polished the surface of the design with an instrument called an afficot' I do have one of each of the two types illustrated in Nenia's book but have never used either of them on my work. They are just very nice pieces of equipment and part of my collection. I have mentioned them and their use, many times over the last 25 years or so, but clearly not when I met Aurelia. Catherine Barley Henley -on-Thames [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
