Hi All, I think experts in early bobbin lace like Gil Dye can speak to this more than I can, but evidence points to bobbin lace developing from braiding techniques, not weaving.
Textile historians generally rely on "The Primary Structures of Fabrics" by Irene Emery to draw such distinctions, wherein wovens are classified as being constructed of two distinct sets of elements (a minimum of one warp and one weft), and bobbin lace is constructed with one set of elements. Tally stitches come closest to a weaving technique with one worker bobbin traveling through the passives, but you are still starting with a single set of elements or bobbins. I see your point, however, and obviously this is complicated as there are endless varieties of textile techniques out there, but distinctions had to be drawn somewhere and I think it makes more sense to keep bobbin lace with all the other lace techniques I mentioned in the non-woven volume rather than split them up. Best, Elena - 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/
