>From viewing on the screen, I would say these are machine laces. They have >the 'look' of machine laces, and use only the stitch formations that the >machines could duplicate. The 'half stitch' on the top right piece on the >last page is just diagonal weaving, not true half stitch. (The mistakes are >just snags in the lace, at least those I noticed.)
There is also the fact that the same pattern comes in a multitude of colors. Only a machine would mass produce that many versions, with matching insertions and edgings. The price is also a clue. It may be a bit more than some of the machine laces at the time...and promoted itself because of being colored... but it is much less than handmade lace would have required as a living wage. Then there is the 'Cluny' name. That didn't come into use with lace until after the 1860 exhibition in France in the Cluny Hotel, and people started calling that kind of lace 'Cluny' (That lace may not have looked like these samples, but machine laces were notorious for picking up names from the handmade laces and applying them to whatever they wanted to.). So these laces would come well within the period when machine laces dominated the business. There are fewer machines making laces these days than 100 years ago. (I blame the disruption of two big wars.) It might be interesting to take a look at the current crop of laces in the fabric stores to see if any of these patterns were popular enough to continue being made today. It is indeed a find, and something to enjoy. If I had seen it, I would have bought it also. It's just fun to look at and maybe even learn a bit more about lace history. The surprise is that it's all intact after all these years. Have fun with it. Alice in Oregon ----- Original Message ---- ... Much to my surprise my peering eyes spotted in one of the cases this old booklet full of lace samples! Who would have thought I would find this! Normally I just find lace lengths or shuttles or threads. But I have never seen a Lace Merchants sample booklet. ..... But from I gather it is handmade lace not manufactured machine lace. - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
