Vis a vis the difficulty of distinguishing between Flemish and Italian tape lace, Nora Andries had a very interesting comment. She said that she looks at the stiches in the tapes and the fillings. (I am going to restate what I remember here, but my memory is often faulty.) She looks to see if the fillings and stitches are ones used in the other laces of that country. Why, she asked, would they use a stitch or filling in their tape lace that they don't use in any other of their laces. I believe she also said that the Flemish used a greater variety of fillings and stitches. She believes that tape laces are often automatically attributed to Italy, which then leads to further confusion when scholars study them and try to find constants. I think she is probably correct about this. After all, we call it Milanese. The confusion of using geographical place names to describe techniques that were undoubtedly practiced in many places is a real problem. I have often heard it said that the Italian laces have the double bars connecting the tapes in which the connecting braid is actually the worker pair going out, connecting to the nearest tape and coming back in. I have heard that the Flemish have two pairs going back and forth and following along the edge. I have both types in my collection. However, the two pair going back and forth hardly represents an innovation so breathtaking that you would think it would be an impossible logical leap for anyone who makes lace regularly. I can see no reason why it would take a traveler from a distant land to introduce it in Italy. I have often wondered if it wasn't just a stage in the process of moving the design elements farther apart as fashion began to demand more airy designs. I have heard it said that the Italian tape technique traveled into Eastern Europe where it became part of the folk costume. Is it possible that very fine tape laces were being made in Eastern Europe, but they are being attributed to Italy because they were well-made. This would be comparable to the way that awkward looking lace is often attributed to England, while the well-made lace is attributed to Flanders. Perhaps those people going to Prague will have some interesting observations to share with us. Devon
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