Nancy That is a really nice piece of lace. I would place the date around the middle of the 1700s, probably 1750s, maybe as early as 1740s. The reason for that date is the proportion of the surface occupied by ground and the proportion by motifs. By about 1750 the proportions would have been approximately 50/50, which this piece has. I see no reason to believe it is 19th century. Though a copy is possible, I think it unlikely. 19th century lacemakers were doing point ground, Valenciennes and Mechlin ground. The Flanders ground disappears once point ground and Mechlin ground become common, and only reappears in the revival era at the end of the 19th century, and the revival era simplified the Flanders ground laces. This one isn't simplified..
As to whether to call it Flanders or Mechlin, either one or both would be appropriate, depending on the context of the conversation. Santina Levy does not speak of Flanders ground laces, but calls all the 18th century laces with gimp "Mechlin" and tells us that this lace (produced near Mechlin) could have had any one of several grounds, including Flanders, Mechlin, Binche snowballs & snowflakes, Valenciennes, Binche snowballs in half stitch, Paris ground. Levey is thinking like a museum curator, and what is important to her is provenance: when and where was it made. The particular structure is only an interesting sidelight. If you follow Ulrika Lohr, who thinks like a lacemaker and is therefore primarly interested in structure (what traditional form does a lacemaker have to be familiar with in order to reproduce this lace), one would call it "old Flanders". As to when gimp was introduced, I don't have an exact answer. I cannot think of any laces I've seen dating from before 1700 that had gimp, but I have seen it in many 18th century straight laces, which may have one of several grounds: Paris, point ground, Flanders, Binche snowballs & snowflakes, Mechlin. I can't remember if any of the Val ground ones had gimp. When I was looking at the old laces at the museum I wasn't worried about gimp. I didn't yet understand it to be an issue. And Nancy, thank you so much for posting all those marvelous picturees. Your details are clear enough that we can see exactly which ground and fillings were used. I saw some little snowflake, some complex snowballs and others. Absolutely fascinating. Lorelei - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
