"The
art of tatting may be traced to the 16th century
Italian macrame work, and is a variation of the punto a gruppo or knotting
stitch." It was done in France in the 18th century.
"If it were done that long ago, HOW did they do it?
What is the oldest reference to a tatting shuttle as
we know it?"
It's extremely difficult to find documentary evidence, but the Shorter
Oxford Dictionary does give dates for the first published use of the words
in the sense we want:
1842 - tatting = a kind of knotted lace, netted with a small, flat
shuttle-shaped instrument
1767 - shuttle = a thread-carrying device...used for knotting, tatting and
embroidery
Tatting clearly derives from Knotting, done with a very similar shuttle, and
very popular in the 18th century, though I'm sure it goes back earlier.
I've seen several portraits of elegant 18thc ladies wielding shuttles to
show off their delicate hands. Here's one by Joshua Reynolds:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=ng1259
BUT knotting was done on a straight piece of thread - to be used in
tassel-making or added to embroidery (they didn't have access to the
wonderful textured threads that we have).
The breakthrough, probably about 1830-40, was working out how to link the
knotted thread into the typical little rings. The new technique immediately
became popular, and then someone decided to christen it "tatting"...
Bridget, in Watford, England
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