In a message dated 6/22/04 4:32:45 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Dmt11home writes:
> There is a beautiful border which is described as being for a wedding apron > in the museum. It is thought to be Flemish dating from the 17th century. I > have been searching for a portrait of a woman wearing a lace or lace trimmed > apron from that era. I have found several aprons on children, but none on > adults although it appears that it was an adult fashion. If anyone knows of a > portrait showing a fancy lace or lace trimmed apron on an adult, I would like to > hear about it. Devon: The best example of a 17th C. wedding apron I can think of is what appears to be one shown in color (gold) on the cover of the Janine Montupet/Ghislaine Schoeller book: "Lace - The Elegant Web". On the cover, the portrait is cut off, but there is a view that shows to just above knee level on page 134. It seems to meet all the criteria of your question, but unfortunately we cannot see the bottom border! Also, look at page 52, which says 17th C. A better picture of this second example is on page 266 of "Trois Siecles de Dentelles", one of the books you purchased on your recent trip to the Netherlands/Belgium. This book also has an interesting lace article on page 362, 17th C., Flanders, etc. that could be an apron. In all, I looked at only 3 books (of many on lace history, ID, etc.), but if the above is inadequate I can look further. I suggest two other possible ways to find costumes -- costume books of the period/country and portrait painters of the period/country. It seems to me you have the resources at The Met to better follow up on these leads than I can in a home library. Jeri --------- Supposedly there is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth at Gripsholm Castle in Sweden. > But I am unable to find any mention of it on the internet. Devon: Is this a new topic, or still about aprons with lace? There are (non-apron) portraits and court costumes in the book "Hovets Drakter", by Lena Rangstrom, ISBN 91-7119-579-3. The book is in Swedish, but the photos (mostly in color) have English captions, as well as Swedish. Also, I would refer you to the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia! They have a web site, which you'll find if you do an internet search. They have a very large research library, 12 galleries, etc. Jeri ------- > Alternatively, thinking outside the box, I am beginning to look to the > Eastern European Countries and their wedding traditions. I would appreciate it if > anyone who is going to Prague would keep a wary eye out for wedding aprons > or folk costume aprons with elaborate lace borders. The lace in question is an > elaborate tape lace like Milanese with a braided ground reminiscent of > Valenciennes but executed with only two pairs of bobbins and many sewings in the > way that Russian lace grounds are made. Devon: I suggest costume books of these countries. Weddings are significant events, planned from birth by many Eastern European families. Costume books are full of pictures of wedding attire. Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
