Phew, I can't believe that someone would actually consider paying that much for a tamboured veil. I would really doubt that it was all hand made. According to Heather Toomer in her very good book "Antique Lace: Identifying Types and Techniques" machine tambouring on machine net was well established by 1810. The early pieces didn't have overly even stitches because of the feed mechanism of the machines. But, by the late nineteenth century with the introduction of multi-needle machines it became almost impossible to distinguish machine from hand-made. BTW, I would highly recommend this book as well as Elizabeth Kurella's book "Guide to Lace and Linens" with it's wonderful close-up pictures of the various grounds. They have been invaluable to me lately with this enormous lace collection I've been asked to evaluate. Those, and a 20x plus magnifier has enabled me to do a competent identification (I think) of the hundreds of pieces of lace. I'm almost finished now and, while it's been lots of fun (especially seeing types that one would usually only see in books) I'll be glad to have my spare room back :) With Chantilly lace, one good way to determine whether it is hand made or machine is by the half stitch (which has a definite "grain" in machined) and the gimp. The gimp was woven in by hand in early machine Chantilly and wasn't through every hole. Another point,the dye is wicked stuff. I've found that all the black Chantilly I've identified so far is shedding huge amounts of small (silk) fibres that, when damp (don't ask .. my iron leaked) runs in a most impressive manner. Please keep in mind that just because a lace might have been machine made at that time it was still only the wealthy who could afford it and it had the added novelty of being produced by the latest technology. Sharon, on Vancouver Island
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