Pene You are right that what most lacemakers think of as Valenciennes didn't exist in 1453. LePompe 1559 is the earliest documentation we have for what the early laces might have looked like. They were braided/plaited laces (some of which use 5 hole ground as the crossing for 2 braids), tape lace (Brit. braid laces), and some which are printed as little diamonds in the woodcut. These latter might be interpreted as torchon. (They might possibly, only possibly, be an early form of freehand laces.) What most lacemakers think of as Valenciennes dates from the latter half of the 19th century, into the 20th century: a straight lace with a ground made of 4thread braids worked in such a degree of openness that there aren't enough threads to make good dense clothwork, so extra threads are usually hung in for the cloth motifs and moved out of the way at the bottom on the motif.
For some better quality 19th century Valenciennes, see http://lynxlace.com/bobbinlace19thcstraightmesh.html Go to the end of the page and look at the last 2 lines of photos. For some simpler Val, such as might be used on lingerie, see http://lynxlace.com/bobbinlacerevivalerastraight.html Go to the middle of the page. There are some revival era Val and Binche. For laces from LePompe (I've worked small samples of a few braided ones), see http://lynxlace.com/bobbinlace1559to1700.html The first row are LePompe. But the middle of the page has some early Val/Binche from the late 1600s, well after your story. Lorelei Halley - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
