Sorry for the late reply to this message, but I have been abroad and am only beginning to catch up with mail today.
Robin you are almost right about the English Stitch - it is Punt Ingliż. It is called English Stitch because of the resemblance to the design of the white lines on the English flag. As regards this piece of lace, I don't think it is Maltese at all, although the leaf fronds do look like what we would use in older patterns of Maltese lace. We don't use gimps. Also, English stitch is not done using plaits, the threads are only twisted. Another strange thing is that there seems to be some other stitch incorporated into the ground that resembles English stitch. At most, it could be a piece that was worked incorporating techniques from other laces - as I sometimes do to "jazz up" a simple piece, hence the gimp. Also, since there are lots of threads because of the cloth stitch motifs, the lace maker could possibly have used plaits to take the pairs from one motif to another without having to cut and then add pairs again for the next motif. This is something we do, but not usually in English stitch or boll stitch because then there would be too many pairs to work into the centre of the stitch. I must admit that when I saw the pictures of the piece they had me stumped as well. Karen in Malta -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, June 23, 2008 8:49 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [lace] Re: lace ID ---- Kathryn Nuttall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Once you see the whole thing, it stops looking like Brugge/Duchesse. I thought it had a faint resemblance to something like Binche, but only because of the large variety of stitch patterns. ---- It reminds me of modern Maltese/Gozo lace, which does have a Beds/Cluny flavor. It's significantly different from the antique Maltese we are more familiar with. The closeup of the plaited ground reminds me of Punt Inglizi (I think that's the name and spelling, translates as "English stitch"). I expect Karen in Malta will be able to confirm or correct my impression. I only saw Punt Inglizi once. just a suggestion, Robin P. Los Angeles, California, USA - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
