Lace remains one of the most underappreciated and underpriced of all antique textiles, remarkable for its delicacy and intricate workmanship.

Over the centuries, lace has been made in four main forms: embroidered lace, which was common in the 16th century; needlepoint lace, popular in the 17th; bobbin lace, at its peak in the 18th century; and machine-made lace, including embroidered net, chemical lace and imitations of the other forms, produced in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Machine lace is identifiable by its regularity, while part of the appeal of handmade lace is the slight variations in its tension, weave and design. Collectors particularly favour early, purpose-made pieces of handmade lace -caps, engageants (cuff frills), lappets ( long, ribbon-like hair adornments, often attached to lace caps) and collars — rather than simple lengths of fabric.

Antique Collector Magazine

NEEDLEPOINT AND CUTWORK

Needlepoint lace is sewn with a needle by building up layers of tiny buttonhole stitches. It was made in many European countries, and two of the earliest forms, reticella and punto in aria, originated in Italy. The best-known French forms include point de France, point d’Argentan and point d’Alençon. The mainly floral, late 19th-century Youghal lace from Ireland, with linking hexagonal bars, is very collectable, as is point de gaze from Brussels and the floral Italian Burano lace. A collar in any of these sells for around £20-£40.

An Irish linen coverlet with cutwork and whitework (white embroidery pierced with openings where the body fabric has been cut away) averages between £6o and E1 00 today, or more if it has a deep, crochet-edged border. Ireland has a well-deserved reputation for producing fine linens, but even so a late 19th-century plain damask tablecloth can fetch as little as Er o-£1 5 .

NET AND BOBBIN LACE

Embroidered net, also popular in the late 19th century, was made by chain-stitching a design onto net. This tambour work was cheap, quick and effective, and today a tamboured net wedding veil usually costs £ 100-£ 150.

Bobbin lace was woven rather than sewn, made by twisting and weaving lengths of thread attached to weighted bobbins over a cushion. It is also known as pillow lace. The most famous bobbin laces were made at Honiton in Britain, Genoa and Milan in Italy, Valenciennes and Chantilly in France, and at other centres in Malta, Spain and Belgium, including Bruges. Each centre has its own distinctive motifs and styles.

Antique bobbins are themselves collectable. They are usually made of turned bone or softw00d, decorated by staining, turning, pewter inlays, brass wiring, beadwork bands, or naively engraved names or mottoes. In the auction rooms bobbin prices fluctuate, but on average a bone bobbin would fetch £8-£12, a wooden bobbin £5-£8, and a highly decorated or inscribed bobbin £10-£3o; prices in antique shops are considerably higher. Any chip or break (which would cut the thread when the bobbin is used) reduces the price, and the value to collectors.

Mechlin lace flounce; c. 1760. The town of Mechlin reputedly produced the best 17thC Flemish lace, but the term also refers to a style of bobbin lace made there and elsewhere from c.1720. £60-£100 for 3 ft or 1m

Detail of Italian point de neige lappet; c. 1690. The motifs heavy edge is created with raised cordonnets, while the ‘brides’ (linking bars between the motifs) are sprigged with small, snowflake-like shapes. £100-£200 for 3 ft or 1 m Brussels needlepoint appliqué collar; c.1860; 38 in (96.5 cm) along inner rim. Needlepoint is more intricate to work than bobbin lace and therefore more highly regarded and more expensive. .£30-£50

USING BOBBINS The parchment pattern lace being made on this bobbin pillow is created by twisting or knotting taut threads around the lace pins. Even the simplest bobbin lace was worked with 30 threads, and more intricate designs, such as Chantilly and Mechlin, used over100.

Ivory and bone lace bobbins; c. 1850-80. Decoration varies greatly; macabre ‘hanging’ bobbins, inscribed with a hanged man’s name and date of execution, can fetch f, r00 each. Set of ten: £150-£200

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