Musée des Manufactures de Dentelles / Médiathèque

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Journées du patrimoine On the occasion of the exhibition Ruffs-Extravagant Collars, the museum added more antique lace to its collection. Part of the antique collection was touring with "Travelling lace". So four pieces of lace from 16th and 17th century were acquired from a British specialist antique dealer. Here follows a presentation of these newcomers :

This linen bobbin lace comes from Italy. Its design is typical of the end of the 16th century. The X design constitutes the principal element of the pattern repeat.
The shaping takes place on the principle of a single ruff in a free honeycomb style, placed on a high collar. The short length of the initial fragment only allows for making a small part of the ruff.

The cuff seen in the exhibition comes from a lot of two cuffs and a collar with an assorted design. The two cuffs are of identical composition: each one being a portion of a cone and comes from the assembly of four frills.

The test through the stereoscope, shows that the assembly of the separate pieces of lace was done with an antique thread, the same as the one used to make the lace.

This item is just shaped on the sleeve of a man’s doublet in the fashion of the designs and methods of the 1600s.

This linen needle-lace flounce, dated 1590-1610, is set-up as a single-row ruff. This kind of lace is part of the first pieces of lace made without a textile support underneath, in contrast with cut-thread items. The needle-lace stitches are made on a basted base (called tracing) worked here with a two-bobbin cord.

The design is typical of the geometrical style of cut-thread but the refinement of the border already tends towards the floral inspiration which will mark the 1600s. This type of lace is called "punto in aria".

In cut-thread technique, the lace is cut in a pre-existing piece of material, in which only part of the thread are kept. The orthogonal structure stays strongly marked. This technique is sometimes called"reticella".

The item acquired by the Museum is of the 1560-1580 period.

Isabelle Lebreton, stage-costume maker, shaped this lace according to a one-row “godron” shaped ruff. As the outside border is missing, it is shown traced in ink on a preservation plastic sheet.



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	> Exhibition > Events > Collections > Selection of press articles	> "Ruffs - Extravagant collars" Shaping of antique lace

> Back to the homepage On the occasion of the exhibition Ruffs-Extravagant Collars, the museum added more antique lace to its collection. Part of the antique collection was touring with "Travelling lace". So four pieces of lace from 16th and 17th century were acquired from a British specialist antique dealer. Here follows a presentation of these newcomers : This linen bobbin lace comes from Italy. Its design is typical of the end of the 16th century. The X design constitutes the principal element of the pattern repeat. The shaping takes place on the principle of a single ruff in a free honeycomb style, placed on a high collar. The short length of the initial fragment only allows for making a small part of the ruff. The cuff seen in the exhibition comes from a lot of two cuffs and a collar with an assorted design. The two cuffs are of identical composition: each one being a portion of a cone and comes from the assembly of four frills. The test through the stereoscope, shows that the assembly of the separate pieces of lace was done with an antique thread, the same as the one used to make the lace. This item is just shaped on the sleeve of a man’s doublet in the fashion of the designs and methods of the 1600s. This linen needle-lace flounce, dated 1590-1610, is set-up as a single-row ruff. This kind of lace is part of the first pieces of lace made without a textile support underneath, in contrast with cut-thread items. The needle-lace stitches are made on a basted base (called tracing) worked here with a two-bobbin cord. The design is typical of the geometrical style of cut-thread but the refinement of the border already tends towards the floral inspiration which will mark the 1600s. This type of lace is called "punto in aria". In cut-thread technique, the lace is cut in a pre-existing piece of material, in which only part of the thread are kept. The orthogonal structure stays strongly marked. This technique is sometimes called"reticella". The item acquired by the Museum is of the 1560-1580 period. Isabelle Lebreton, stage-costume maker, shaped this lace according to a one-row “godron” shaped ruff. As the outside border is missing, it is shown traced in ink on a preservation plastic sheet.