Nancy Your second post on this subject brings up some of the issues quite clearly. And I do understand your emotional reaction. Having mutliple repeats to compare to each other is very significant. I have a piece of duchess, an edging, almost a yard long. And I can detect at least 3 different lace makers, and maybe 4, based on very great differences in the way they worked a half stitch leaf. One very sloppy lacemaker worked it straight across from leaf edge to leaf edge (and without good tension). The other 3 made a vein down the middle and sewed the 2nd half into the vein -- a more sophisticated method and neater looking. There were other differences as well involving raised work.
I am very uneasy with any lace prior to 1800 being actually used in the modern day especially high quality pieces. I see them as precious products of human mind and hand which should be protected and preserved. There are problems of this sort in other fields of endeavor, such as archeology, and even land ownership. The last involves issue of environmental protection and preservation of rare species. So this isn't a problem which only exists in antique lace. It is a question of rare and precious treasures which belong, perhaps, to the human race, not to an individual. Or rather, that the human being who paid money to own them, paid to have the privilege of guarding them lifelong. But as I said before, this wouldn't apply to every example. Not every antique piece is of equal historical value. I still think it is a case by case calculation. Lorelei - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
