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lynxlace.com Two Structural Classes of Bobbin Lace Distinctions of Style © Lorelei Halley 2009 |
Site map Bobbin Lace History Overview Lace Terminology
Bobbinlace has roughly a dozen distinct regional/period styles which are different in working methods and technique as well as different in shapes and kinds of designs. A bobbin lace maker who knows one working method won't necessarily be able to make other kinds unless she has specifically studied those other kinds. When we refer to a style, such as Flanders or Duchesse, we are referring to the collection of working methods and structures which are typical of that style. This is complicated by the fact that museums often identify their collections by the city or geographical region of origin, and any one city may have seen stylistic and technical differences and changes in its laces over a long period of time. Thus Honiton laces of the 19th century probably did not look anything like Honiton laces of the 18th century. But there may have been strong similarities in working methods. Also, when a lacemaker refers to "Flanders Lace" she may not be thinking of the same thing as a museum curator who only thinks of point of origin, not structure. At first glance one might think that the ground determines the regional/period style. But this is not the case. In actual fact, how the cloth parts are woven is the important factor. There is more about this below and in the historical sections.
The most important distinction is between two broad classes of structure. One, called straight lace or continuous lace, starts with a lot of bobbins and makes the whole lace, ground and motifs, with these same bobbins. So what the lacemaker has to know is how to take threads out of the design motifs and move them into the ground, and then move them back again. Different regional/period styles do this differently. (See Lace Terminology for an explanation of these terms.) Complex laces of this kind may therefore use a lot of bobbins, sometimes hundreds.
The second broad structural class is called part lace, free lace (meaning freeform lace), or sectional lace. This group may have a narrow tape meandering through the design or may have several discrete motifs which widen and narrow, requiring new threads to be hung in and later removed. These discrete motifs or the meandering tape are attached to other completed parts of the lace by using a crochet hook or similar tool. So the student needs to learn how to make the tape curve and how to add and remove threads from the discrete motifs as they change shape.
Straight Laces:
Torchon, point ground laces, Flanders, Paris lace, Binche, Valenciennes, Cluny, Bedfordshire, and Genoese are all examples of straight laces. Some of these have the lines of the ground made of 2 threads twisted together, and some have thicker bars made of 4 or more threads plaited/braided together.
Here are some of the mesh grounds used in these laces:
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The table below shows guipure straight laces --
laces with a bar or braided/plaited ground.
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Below are more details and clarification. Torchon and point ground laces have one pair of threads entering the clothwork at each pin. These are mesh grounded laces.
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A Bucks point bobbin lace from Geraldine Stott's workshop. You can clearly follow the threads from the ground into the clothwork. |
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This torchon piece of my design has the solid border worked first and then filled it with the ground and the tree. |
Flanders, Paris, Valenciennes and Binche lace have 2 pairs entering at each
pin. This results in a more complex weave in the cloth stitch motifs.
These are also mesh grounded laces.
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Valenciennes bobbin lace: Orange rings - 2 pairs departing. Green rings - 2 pairs entering. |
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Paris lace. White ring - 2 pairs entering. Pink ring - 2 pairs leaving. |
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Paris bobbin lace |
Guipure or braid based (plait based) straight laces. In guipure laces (braided/plaited) the ground is made of thicker bars made of 4 or more threads.
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A simple Cluny bobbin lace made entirely of braids. Each line of the lace requires 4 threads. From the DMC Encyclopedia. I designed the corner. |
Cluny type, an Italian design. |
There are distinctions of technique between Cluny and Bedfordshire laces. In general terms the way pairs of threads enter and leave the meandering cloth stitch trails differ. (Jean Leader, a modern Bedfordshire expert, tells me that the old museum laces often show both the Beds and Cluny working methods in the same piece. So the distinction must be taken as "general practice" not a universal rule.)
Part Laces (Sectional Lace):
Part laces can be made in sections, with each leaf or flower completed as a separate unit. Or it can be made as a snaky tape, which meanders all over the design.
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To see a part lace project in stages of work, see:
http://www.jeanmaryeke.com/Site/Design_and_make_lace_with_me.html
Summary
Straight Lace (Continuous Lace)
Mesh Grounded
One pair enters at each pin
Torchon
Point ground laces (Bucks, Tonder, Bayeux, Chantilly, Blonde)
Two pairs enter at each pin
Flanders
Binche
Valenciennes
Paris
Guipure (Braid/plait based) laces
Cluny
Maltese
LePuy guipure
Bedfordshire
Genoese (antique 16th century laces)
Part/Sectional Laces
Tape laces
Russian
Idrija
Schneeberger
Milanese tape (some)
Flemish tape (some)
Discrete units
Some Milanese and Flemish tape are actually this type, but look like tape laces
Some Idrija laces contain discrete units as well as tapes
Brussels
Brabant
Duchesse
Withof
Rosaline
Honiton
Abbreviations
Compare
Lace Terminology
Bobbin Lace Introduction
Learning Bobbin Lace
Bobbin lace history overview
1559-1700
Pottenkant/Milanese
18th c.
Napoleonic era
19th c Straight Bar Grounded Lace 19th c Straight Mesh Grounded Lace 19th c. Part Lace
Revival Era
Straight Lace
Revival Era Part Lace
Contact me at
lhalley@bytemeusa.com