I cant let the Milanese discussion end without a word about my favorite aspect of early Milanese: the wonderful whimsical three dimensional effects.
I have not found these to appear in such profusion and creativity in bobbin laces that I have found from other countries besides Italy. Santina Levey mentions them briefly on pages 33-34 of her Lace, A History: wheatears were now used extensively as were other three dimensional effects. A witty representation of other fabrics is achieved by these means, where fur, knitted and woven fabrics, buttons and lace are all represented.... These effects deserve much more than such a passing reference. NOTE: figure 202 in Leveys book also has fabulous three dimensional effects. THIS PIECE IS IN THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM. It was, and should still be available for study. (Note to anyone in driving distance of Cleveland -- ASK to see this pieces. It is amazing. There are also lots of Milaese pieces with three-dimensional effects in the Art Institute of Chicago. Ask to see those. Also a couple of really interesting 3-dimensional Milanese pieces in the Sweet Briar College museum (anyone attending the lace retreat at Sweet Briar should be familiar with these pieces. A flounce matching the Sweet Briar Milanese cuffs is in the Ikle Collection in St. Gallen Switzerland.) A wonderful, but somewhat ragged and worn figural piece with 3-d effects was sold on ebay in the last year (unfortunately way beyond my budget). I agree with Lorelei that it is unfortunate that we may never know exactly what was made where and when. Common sense tells us there had to have been a time, when bobbin lace was just being invented, when there were no rules. Techniques were being invented to produce the designs someone envisioned. They used what techniques would work to do that. Rules only are really needed when lace is being produced by an industry where uniformity in pieces produced by many people is important. When lacemakers are making lace for their own pleasure, where do rules fit in? I would hope someone takes up the challenge of developing a lacemaking class in 3-dimensional Milanese. That could be great fun! Happy lacemaking! - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
