Lace Identification Help Please

[GemGem]

Hi all, another thread from me i'm afraid, this time regarding lace.

I have tons of very pretty and some very fancy lace/crochet vintage/antique hankies! From several years of auctions/estate sales and etc.

I have been doing some research regarding different types of lace and yet i feel this is something that will take me some time to get my head around.

As I understand it there are two types of hand made lace, bobbin lace and needle lace, though how to tell the difference? I have seen some examples of machine lace and chemically treated lace too but still find it incredibly difficult to distinguish between them.

There was a thread regarding lace identification (which eludes me) and I have had a look on the fabric resource and i'm still pretty much at a loss!

So I'm attaching a few photo's in the hope that someone can help, possibly explain it in lay mans terms until i get my wings

 

[retro ruth]

Lace ID is a real expertise. And lace is a complicated subject. I've dipped my toe in, and it's one of those subjects, that the more learn, the less I realise I know.

As I understand it there are two types of hand made lace, bobbin lace and needle lace, though how to tell the difference?

There are more than two types of hand made lace, but needle and bobbin are two significant types.

I'm really a beginner. I'll tell you what I see, but I could be wrong. These are semi-educated guesses!

It's likely that all of your hankies use machine-made lace.

1 and 2 are some kind of embroidery on net - also known as tulle embroidery or tulle lace.

3, 4, 5 I'm not sure, possibly these are chemical lace, especially 3 and 5. This means the design in sewn on to fabric, and the fabric is then dissolved in a chemical, leaving the lace behind. It can be identified by a certain fuzziness around the edges, but your photos aren't quite close-up enough for me to tell. That is the technique, there may be another name for the style - ie it might be imitating a type of needle lace, or a type of bobbin lace.

6 looks like a mixed tape lace, "Mixed Tape Lace uses a pre-made tape (either machine made or crochetted), with needle lace stitches to fill the gaps" (from lynx lace) - Battenburg lace is a type of mixed tape lace, but I'm not sure if this would count as Battenburg.

As with many things, lace terms get misused all the time. I often see a certain homely type of lace referred to as crochet lace, but it has not been made by crochetting. Machine made lace is usually imitating an older hand made lace, and even it uses a different technique, people will still use the name of lace it is imitiating. And also terms change over time.

If you want to dip into the wonderful world of lace making, Lynx Lace is a good site.

Here she lays out the basics of lace types: https://www.lynxlace.com/kindsoflace.html

 

[retro ruth]

I love this quote from Lynx Lace, first time I've noticed it:

"Human ingenuity constantly creates new ideas and new combinations. In the lace world this can drive you crazy because of all the hybrid forms that have been invented."

 

[retro ruth]

Possibly 1 and 2 are tambour lace? One type of 'embroidery on net' lace. I would assume the embroidery is done by machine in the case of your hankies.

ETA - or needle-run lace - another type of embroidery on net

 

[GemGem]

Ok so have taken some close ups. Ruth I did look on that site and compared your ids with the examples which seem pretty spot on (from my untrained eye at least!)
This is the pink hanky with ‘embroidery on net’

This is the other net with embroidery

the following three were identified as chemically treated

and the tape? Lace




I also have one more (actually about 50 hah) it is a silk hanky with deep lace edging/hemming?

 

[retro ruth]

Thanks for close ups but I don't think I can add much more. The one's I said were possibly chemical lace do seem to have that fuzziness, I think. Hopefully I've given you a starting point, and some lace names to check out.

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

Making it even more difficult to determine hand made lace from machine made in most cases, is the fact that some of the early lace making machines purposefully made the lace to look hand made such as having the machine loom drop a stitch at a seemingly random spot, make what looks to be a hand tied knot, etc.

After many years of lace collecting I am still learning!!!

 

[Vinclothes]

I am no help on these items, but I want to recommend this reference book that I have found to be very helpful:
Legacy of Lace: Identifying, Collecting, and Preserving American Lace
by Kathleen Warnick and Shirley Nilsson | Sep 21, 1988.
Marian

 

[Avantbo]

Thanks for close ups but I don't think I can add much more. The one's I said were possibly chemical lace do seem to have that fuzziness, I think. Hopefully I've given you a starting point, and some lace names to check out.

Hi Ruth, I found your posts above very informative, I am wondering where I start with my collection.

 

[retro ruth]

Hi Ruth, I found your posts above very informative, I am wondering where I start with my collection.

That's nice to hear. Feel free to start a thread with photos, I and no doubt others, will do what can to help. It's important with lace ID photos, to show real close ups so you can see individual threads. With our forums, that usually means the photos need to be cropped, as the images get shrunk when they are uploaded.

 

[Avantbo]

Making it even more difficult to determine hand made lace from machine made in most cases, is the fact that some of the early lace making machines purposefully made the lace to look hand made such as having the machine loom drop a stitch at a seemingly random spot, make what looks to be a hand tied knot, etc.

After many years of lace collecting I am still learning!!!

Hi Barbara,

I am the lucky or unlucky, depending on ones perspective, owner of over 7,500 individual pieces of lace.

Years ago I took a random box of sample lace to the V&A. I really didn't take my visit seriously, my young pup ignorance thought it was going to be so easy to learn what I needed to know about lace, I got it so wrong and have remained in ignorance, the learning required and the world of lace is vast.

I told them about my lace and they could see how I was storing it,---they were not impressed, they asked me about the randomness of my selection, I told them I put my hand in to 3 or 4 boxes and pulled.

I think I redeemed myself a little and the ladies got a little excited when they said two of the pieces were 15th & 16 century, French and English and several others were early 18th century. To be honest I became very fazed but they were very kind and gave me a shed load acid free paper and told me to at least wrap them individually. EDIT stored flat I should add.

I did, took me over 2 years to complete, to and fro from the task but now I have something like 18 boxes packed with lace and not a clue.

If honest my collection is a waste of me having, I comfort myself believing there are nice pieces in the collection.

The only other thing I clearly remember was being told, contra to what I believed, some early machine lace was more valuable and desirable then hand made lace.

 

[retro ruth]

Looking again at this mixed tape/Battenburg type lace, I think that the tape is probably machine made (this just what seems more likely, I can't tell by looking at the photo), but how it has been pieced together with additional stitches in this corner might well have been done by hand. Just my guess as ever.

Here's a nice post explaining Battenburg tape lace - she describes it as 'hand assembled' rather than hand made, and shows examples of different tapes available to purchase for making Battenburg lace.
https://rookandraven.weebly.com/lea...-tell-me-what-this-lace-is-and-is-it-handmade

 

[Avantbo]

That's nice to hear. Feel free to start a thread with photos, I and no doubt others, will do what can to help. It's important with lace ID photos, to show real close ups so you can see individual threads. With our forums, that usually means the photos need to be cropped, as the images get shrunk when they are uploaded.

Thanks Ruth, maybe, so much to do, lace boxes are put to one side and ignored but sometimes when brushing past them, a tinge of guilt is present.

 

[retro ruth]

I also have one more (actually about 50 hah) it is a silk hanky with deep lace edging/hemming?

The seams at each corner show this has been made from a wide strip of lace. It also has a 'gimp', the thick strand added at the edge surrounding some of the design. You may be able to tell if this was part of the original strip or was added afterwards, by seeing how it is at the seams.