Featured Lace Lesson #15 - "Reading lace" - Black Chantilly Cape

Sorry - warning! This post has turned out to be a long one. I hope you will enjoy it..if not just scroll on by...that's ok.

Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone is staying well and enjoyed the Holiday weekend in some manner... even if it was a cook out in your own back yard!

This is a follow up to a post by Joan a few days ago; re: her relief that a lovely lace piece she posted was "not" handmade; because she would have felt bad had it been handmade and only sold for $1.79! I feel her pain!

A good case in point is this lovely example from my own collection. I found it; probably around 1988 or so in a small VERY exclusive antique store... very spendy items. My friend and I, both lace makers; happened to be in the area for a lace event and had some time to kill...never dreaming to actually FIND anything we could afford and not expecting a piece such as this. It was the only piece of lace in the shop and wadded up in a ball on the counter! If I'm not mistaken; it was $25.

I suppose there are a few ways that one can "read" lace. One way is understanding and "reading" the stitches that were used to create any individual piece like reading a pattern or technical drawing. Understanding how to read that; enables a person to understand how it was made. We "read" this piece; made the purchase and ran!

But, I think the term "reading lace" really refers to "reading" what happened during it's birth and lifetime!

So let's look at it and "read" what this piece says to us.
This overview of the entire piece shows us a black French lace shawl. It was likely made in Chantilly circa 1880. LePuy pieces were very similar in design and so it is possible that it could have been made there as well. It measures 16 1/2" from center back to bottom edge and 34 1/2" from side to side.


*There are some small folds in the piece..that show up a bit better in the close ups... it just doesn't lay completely flat and hence; they get bound up when I roll it to store it. Disregard the folds..

Ok... this piece is a pleasing design, well executed, charming really.

Let's look a bit closer...

One of the folds is more obvious here....running vertically just past center bottom right.

Observations: Ok... at this point; we can see some small signs of wear... some "undone" dots; a few breaks in the ground; a few loose threads along the outer edges.

Any thing else somewhat obvious? The color! Some areas are very black and some rather gray tone rather than entirely blackish... why?


Remember back in Lesson #6; there was a discussion about "joins" and how lace pieces were made in pieces or strips and joined together. In the below photo; I've marked top and bottom of each 4" wide strips. Each strip is roughly 4" - except for the side edge pieces which are irregular. The white mark indicates one of those folds.

So now we've determined that the piece was made in strips. So, why are they slightly different colors?

Close up of the center back joins. It is possible that there were a slightly different number of pairs used by each individual lace maker who would have worked each strip.
And indeed; that may be possible as it looks like the flowers in the left side strip are much denser than the ones on the right side strip. But if you look at the over view of the entire piece; even the netting is slightly different color...particularly noticeable in the center to side strips comparison. Netting doesn't use "extra pairs". It requires a set number. This undoubtedly meant that that the thread was more than one dye lot... OR that the thread used for each strip was just "slightly" larger than the other. Perhaps a combination of all three... hard to tell without serious magnification. But for our purposes... these things which we have "read"; mean that without a doubt; this lace was hand worked.

If that wasn't enough to convince us; what else can we read? In examining this close up below... does anything jump up and down at you?

I see a few small broken bars. Black thread was made by dying it after it was spun. The dye was very acidic and the thread becomes brittle over time; causing the threads to just break or disintegrate. Some old black lace and also black fabric; has a peculiar smell; often due to the dye and should be treated very gently. This can true for both machine and hand-made pieces. But aside from the broken bars?


Is anything obvious here?

We are missing a "dot"!!!! Clearly missing a DOT! (Go back up to the previous picture - it should be very obvious now!) How did that happen?

Since if you look at the existing dots in the close up; and look at how they were made; they clearly have a denser look than the surrounding ground. The ground is made by twisting two pairs of threads, the two pairs of threads meet, do a dance to join and then one pair twists alone to meet with the next pair of threads. In the case of the dots, more than one pair is worked with a different combination of stitches to create a denser area which is surrounded by the heavier outline or cordonnet thread. In the case of these dots; probably 4 pairs meet, work and return to the ground.

In the case of our "missing" dot; it is truly just "MISSING"! It isn't just that the outline thread is missing; but also the dance of multiple threads within the outline cordonnet thread.

So... one of two things happened. Either the pattern maker failed to draw the dot ON the pattern OR the lace maker missed seeing it drawn/pricked ON the pattern. I must admit that when you are working in a very small space (we are talking under a 1/4" here) under a forest of pins; especially in a poorly lit area; with BLACK thread no less (which is a bear to work on even in GOOD light as it shadows on itself and you can't see what you are doing)...it is so easy to miss a stitch; and equally as easy to miss a design element!

It is unlikely that the lace designer missed drawing the dot; and although it is possible that the pattern maker missed the dot; it is my personal opinion that the lace maker actually missed seeing the dot in the pattern. SO, SO easy to do. It is possible that the light happened to be bad on the particular day that it should have been worked; perhaps she saw it, but ended up at that spot...dropped her bobbins for the night, leaving it for the next day's stitching and then forgot about it, perhaps she'd been very upset about something and wasn't concentrating, perhaps she was watching or listening to some other drama unfold, perhaps she wasn't feeling well, or even possible that someone took over at that spot.... we shall never know. I truly HOPE that her lace mistress in charge never noticed; as I would imagine that the lace maker would have been severely chastised.

Chances are very, very good that no one noticed until after it was too late! It is possible that it was never noticed at all!

I'd also like to point out that the "join" of two strips is pretty obvious in this photo. It runs vertically (slightly right to left top down) and is just right of the two dots that are on the left. So instead of looking at 2 twisted threads; there is also a third thread that whips the two strips together; making it look "just" slightly thicker and darker.

What other things can we discover about this piece? I've found myself searching and searching on occasion for this obvious issue many times... and still it often eludes me!

Does anything jump up and down at you in the picture below?

Count down from the corner top flower along the outside edge; look between the 6th and 7th flowers. See anything out of place yet? Glaring?


Anything now?


Sorry, I should have rotated it to the left... but; CLEARLY obvious with brown thread yet... is a very messy 1/2 inch mend! I had always thought that at some point I should do a better mend; but as the years go by, I've rather come to accept the mend as part of it's history. I've taken it to many lectures and laid it out or worn it for people to look at and ask them to "read" the lace... it is interesting how often that brown bees nest AND the dot are missed!


We, of course, a mend like this could be found on a machine made piece as well as a hand made lace; but we will never know how the bee's nest mend came to be; why it was repaired with brown thread instead of black... still, this lace's life continues...

If I scrutinized this piece even longer; I'm sure I could locate "wrong thread paths"; misplaced pinholes, missed stitches... but those are all minor in comparison to the obvious things which we've discovered.

So now I return to Joan! The machine that pumped out that lovely piece of lace; probably did it in... let's say it was "embroidered" in roughly an hour (probably less). I base that on my experience in a commercial embroidery studio where we could set a machine to work on a large 12" x 12" HEAVILY embroidered design and it would chug through it in roughly an hour - barring any machine or thread glitches. That, of course, doesn't include how long it would have taken to design the piece or set up the machinery. But...even including all that; it would have taken considerably less time to make the Schliffi piece. Still a bargain at $1.79!

On the other hand; how long did it take the lace makers to create the lace cape example that we've been scrutinizing?

*Shall we count the design maker? I can't believe that it would taken him anything less than at least a full day to create the design. We'll say 8 hours labor (very possibly underestimating - as it takes me days to create a small design that I feel is aesthetically pleasing and workable). I honestly think it could be more than a week... but... we'll go with 8 hours... assuming that he's a very experienced design designer.

*Next the pattern maker; who would have decided where to split the design into strips and PRE-PRICK PRECISELY by hand, each pin hole. Just to make it easy: lets say 9 strips = 9 pattern makers and in a square inch of ground I count at least 20 x 20 pinholes = 400 pin holes could be more or less in the flowers and other elements.

So, correct me if I'm wrong...math is NOT my strong suite! That center strip is 4" x roughly 16 1/2". That is 66 square inches x 400 pinholes = 26,400 pinholes that would need to be pricked by one pattern maker for just one strip x 9 strips = 237,000 pin holes for the entire cape.

How long would it take you to pierce an 1" x 1" square of parchment with 400 holes in a very precise fashion? I just did a sample of 400 holes (mine happens to measure 1 3/8" x 1 3/8" for 20 holes x 20 holes - give or take a few holes) and it took me roughly 8 minutes. I was NOT very precise; just working as quickly as I can. So, I'll round up to 10 minutes for 20 x 20 pinholes (400 pin holes).

At this point; I'm getting lost in all the numbers and clearly, you can see how time consuming this entire process is.

*The pattern strips then got taken to what ever lace mistress was in charge of distributing the pattern pieces to her workers along with the appropriate thread for the piece.

*Each lace maker would have had to prepare their bobbins - by winding thread on each pair in prep for beginning cleanly. The pattern would have had to be pinned on properly to her pillow to allow her to work advantageously. Work would proceed slowly. I suspect that the floral areas would have taken over several hours to work even a 1/2 inch x a 1/2"; the ground areas perhaps less. I don't even know how to calculate all that! (When I work; I actually log time so I know roughly how long it is taken.)

*Finishing... which would have involved someone; either the lace maker or someone assigned to "finishing", who would have had to carefully hide "new thread ends" and "tossed out thread ends", any knots, and of course, the strips would have had to be carefully whip stitched together to make the design on each strip match up perfectly.

*Later life... Upon completion; the piece would have moved on to the person who either commissioned the piece or to someone who would have been responsible for finding a buyer.

So, yes, Joan... for all that labor to have been sold for $25 is unbelievable! Heart breaking! This is why I say that these things on this caliber/scale will never be recreated again. Granted in the time when they were made; they WERE comparatively very expensive... bartered; stolen; traded; smuggled!

I just looked on some sale sites and a hand worked cape similar to the one we've been discussing today is being listed for over $400 and another hand worked triangular "V" shape one that goes to the floor is being listed at $1000. These prices are better than the give away price of $25; yet... still not really valued as the piece of "art" that they are. And I still occasionally run into a "very good piece" every now and again for a give away price!

I believe, my own opinion again... that one reason that these pieces (with rare exception) won't have "art" values is because it can't be attributed to one person... like a famous painter's work might be. It took a village to create; sometimes generations to execute; even the designer wouldn't have been able to sign his name. Patterns were often destroyed after the piece was made; so it couldn't be recreated.

So on this note; I'm stepping off my soapbox to relax a bit.
Have a good evening.
Hope I didn't bore you too much.
Leslie

 

Leslie, thank you so much for the amazing information about your lace cape. I had absolutely no idea how that type of lace is made --fascinating!!! Your photos and information prompted me to get out three black lace mantillas/shawls I've had stored away for several years (I bought them at various estate sales). I looked at them with a magnifying glass, and think they're most likely machine made, but one I'm not as sure about. I've attached two photos so maybe you can confirm that it's machine made and I won't have to wonder about it anymore.

 

Hi Joan,
Good girl! Yes, machine made! I'm assuming that I'm looking at the same piece of lace; although the pictures don't match. But both are machine.

The biggest clues in the blow up (lower) photo is that the "filled in" areas within the outline or cordonnet are:
1. The "half stitch" is "suppose" to look much more diagonal in handmade- like the two red marks on the right side of the curl. This looks very horizontal- like the two red marks on the left side of the curl.
2. The half stitch extends PAST the outline or cordonnet - in handmade; it would not.
3. The ground also extends INTO the outline or cordonnet - in handmade; it would not.
4. The little funky diamond without an outline or condonnet is very odd...I don't understand why it is there...?
5. Using two different types of ground in a large field is odd. Handmade may use more than one ground; but each type of ground or filling would be contained and separate from the other...


Anyway... that means you got an A+!
Kudos!
Leslie

 

Leslie, this was your most interesting read yet! Thanks!

 

Leslie, thank you for your explanation of the details confirming the lace is machine made. Both photos are the same lace. The two different types of "ground" (I learned a new term) are used throughout the lace. I'll post a photo of a larger section later. Now I feel like I could maybe identify handmade Chantilly lace with the clues you've provided if I should ever be so lucky to find any. I'm going to print your post and keep it with the black mantillas. Thank you again for sharing your knowledge.

 

Oh! Lovely! I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks for saying so!
Cheerio!
Leslie

 

Thanks for clarifying that Joan! Maybe I should do a post about ground! Not today... but the next lesson perhaps! Refer to Lesson #6 - black lace as it shows a good close up between hand and machine lace. I'm so glad that you are learning and enjoying the posts!

Cheerio,
Leslie

 

Here are two photos of larger sections of the mantilla. I'm wondering how old it is. It's large (94" x 30"), has a finer ground, and much softer than my other two. It has several tiny holes throughout. Could it be early 1900s?

 

I'm speechless. Thank you.

 

Wow! The overall view is spectacular! AND huge indeed! It explains those "funky little diamonds" that I couldn't visualize how they were used and I'd never seen anything like it before! The shadowing effect is quite exceptional!

My gut feeling is that it is Spanish...the design is bolder than Chantilly, which is usually more light and airy in design. Especially around the edge... the bold bell shape flowers! I'm also guessing that we're looking at circa 1880-1900 as it is such an all over design. Size also points to Spanish mantilla... rectangular.

"Most" French Chantilly type pieces, especially in black, were circular, triangular, edgings, flounces, and capes rather than large rectangular pieces. French also seem to have "focal" points in large wearables; such as a veil or cape. If you go back and look at the black cape from yesterday's discussion; you can see a splashy fountain of flowers at center back bottom and top. This different than the "all over" design of the mantilla.

As for softness... that strikes me as silk. The blonde piece that i posted in Lesson #6 which is silk... is whisper soft... you can't even feel it laying on your skin!

Last - another observation: in the second photo - you can clearly see the "added picot edge"... you should be able to feel it also.

Delightful piece!
I wish I was in a locale that turned up such goodies on a more regular basis...but alas! Thank you so for sharing!

Leslie

 

Thank you again, Leslie, for all your information on the mantilla. The idea of it being Spanish silk lace never entered my mind. I found some examples of Spanish lace mantillas online (a couple described as silk) that had similar all-over patterns on long rectangles. Some were referred to as bobbin lace, so I'm wondering if "Spanish bobbin lace" is the correct term for my mantilla. I did notice the picot edge, which looked machine made to me. I sold two huge black Chantilly lace triangular shawls a few years ago (one for less than $200 and the other less than $100). Now I wish I had known what I know now about how to identify handmade vs machine made. I'm curious about where you are located Leslie.

 

Hi Joan,
I think if I were to list your piece; I'd include the words: large antique machine bobbin floral lace Spanish mantilla...rearranged to your preferences and with your own addition or subtractions of words. To use just "Spanish bobbin lace" - implies handmade. If you don't use machine in the title; I'd be sure to include it in the description. The same goes for silk. If you don't know for sure - I'd suggest it might be and then describe it's texture. If there is a loose thread (that you can cut off) you could try a burn test (although the picot edge may be cotton).

Since I've not seen the piece in person; I'm only giving educated opinions. I feel quite certain it is older... but you can be honest about your research and say that it resembles Spanish pieces that have similar all over patterns and are silk. You can always suggest that they follow up with their own research.

I wish I'd known about your previous listed Chantilly shawls also! DANG!

As for where I'm located: wishing to remain somewhat anonymous for now... I'm in the midwest... northwest lower Michigan up near Traverse City.

Have a good night!
Leslie

 

I'm sorry, Leslie, I should have been clearer when I asked about your locale -- I didn't mean your specific location; I wondered if you live in Europe or the UK (I'm about 400 miles from you).
I appreciate your advice on key words and description if I list my mantilla, but I wasn't planning to sell it just yet, and especially now after looking at the low prices of anything similar that's sold on ebay recently. I'll put it back in its tissue paper and box along with a printout of your related posts. Thank you again for all your help. Now I need to go back and re-read your other lace lessons and print them out, since I have other vintage lace that I should examine more closely someday.

 

Hi Joan,
No worries. Cool that you are only 400 miles away!

When you do - if you do - decide to sell your piece and do some comparison research... be sure to compare apples to apples. If they are listing something as "handmade"... refer to your notes and your own research and compare their photos and make sure that it is or isn't...in regard to their price. The same goes the other way. They may list it as machine and it may be handmade.

I don't say that assuming that they are trying to deceive...I just think they have based their description and or price, on what they may have been told or what it looks like to them based on their own research. I often, OFTEN see things on line or for sale in a shop and they say it is machine when it's not; hand and it's machine; crochet when it is tatting; etc... it is like anything else...do your research; or take a chance.

I think this is especially when it comes to vintage and antique laces - there are so many different ways to make it; and it's been made for hundreds of years and in so many countries that it is difficult to learn it all. I really don't consider myself among the best of the lace experts...but, where I may excel is in the fact that I've made many kinds of lace and so I understand construction in a way that some lace experts have not. I honestly feel like I'm a better lace "teacher" than lace expert. But, of course, through teaching and learning, comes knowledge.

That is nice that you will print out my lessons... that makes me happy.
Have a good evening.
Leslie

 

Spam reported.

 

Somehow I missed the mention of your location earlier... greetings from fellow Michigander! I am in suburban Detroit.