Dear Spiders, The thoughts about what's in a lace name got me to thinking about the Continental continuous laces: Binche, Mechlin, Valenciennes, Flanders.
The oldest laces in this lineage are very difficult to ascribe to the very definite attributes of each kind of lace because first there was a primordial soup of Brussels laces that only over time separated into separate techniques. It was Wild West time in Flanders. There are laces that employ all the attributes of Valenciennes, but use the five hole ground we now call Flanders. Val went through round ground and finally settled on the diamond mesh. Some older pieces of lace are sometime call Val/Binche, because of the mix of characteristics cannot assign it to a particular technique. Of course we have the wild card where the 19th Century lace manufacturers renamed almost everything, including Lacis, that ancient craft, which was renamed Guipure d'Art. Binche was renamed Point de Fe (fairy point). (Although, technically, "point" usually refers to needle lace.) This wild produsion of terminology leads to the usual negotiation when lacemaker meets lacemaker for a common ground (no pun intended) and common understanding. I think the offending embroiderer simply suffers from lack of imagination. Everything changes, all the time, everywhere. There are lace oddities everywhere that show that invention has been churning all these 450 years. Otherwise, we would still be making passamenterie and drawn thread work. As one who will frequently not even inquire what the designer's intent was, much less follow it slavishly, I endorse the unanimous vote of confidence for Jean. I think the only time that a name for lace will require some thought is when a lacemaker is submitting an entry to a competition. The organizers of the competition have it upon their shoulders to make it very clear what is and is not deemed to be within the confines of the competition. Carry On! Patty Dowden - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
