Thank you Alex and Devon for chiming in on the question of beginning of the point ground laces. Devon, it would be interesting to see your pictures. It seems reasonable that the lighter, airier fashion in the late 1700s with tiny sprigs lent itself to the double thread ground c-t-t-t as opposed to the 4-thread grounds like Droschel, Mechlin and Valenciennes. Santina Levey: Lace A History, p. 71: "...the eighteenth century saw a steady reduction in the density of pattern" but says nothing about the construction. The first mention of simple, twist net ground is Fig 352 showing Lille lace from ca.1800. Judyth Gwynne writes in The Illustrated Dictionary of Lace p. 32 about blonde: Laces with fond simple ground (1754-93)... with no reference to where that information came from. The price of linen certainly also could have contributed to using less thread, as well as the beginnings of the machine made point ground like nets. Hannover and Eslykke both say the point ground Tønder laces are imitating Arras lace around 1800, but I cannot find reference to Arras lace history.
Karen - currently in Washington DC, where my lace books reside. - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
