In the collection of fabulous patterns made by the Misses Pope and Sivewright (published by Christine Springett) there's clear evidence that someone "borrowed" a bird from a piece of Mechlin lace to include in a beautiful Bucks point fan design. Since both Mechlin ground and point ground are worked with the same number of pairs at a pin and similar pin density, it's not too difficult to see how that could be done. The main difference between the two grounds is that point ground creates squat hexagonal cells while the cells in Mechlin are thinner than they are tall. Thus there might be more passives in a cloth stitch section of Mechlin than in a similar sized section of Bucks point worked to the same mesh density. Given the fineness of both laces I doubt you could see a difference without a magnifying glass. Certainly point ground is much faster and neater to work than Mechlin ground (and IMO the contrast between ground and design is more attractive when point ground is used). OTOH there are some definite differences between the way an irregular cloth stitch shape is worked in classic Bucks point and the way similar shapes are worked in the continental laces. This suggests that the patterns might have been copied, but that the techniques evolved independently.
Just my opinion, of course. Sue in Raleigh At 11:26 March 6 2006 -0800, Patricia Dowden wrote: >...At the spring of early laces, there was a lot of experimentation that >eventually coalesced into the different types and styles we have come to know. > Val and Binche are almost inseparable at this point, freely using various >grounds (snowflakes and flanders and paris and whatever else...many of the >laces use simple plaits to carry the threads from one motif to the next. The >cloth stitch motifs of Binche, Val, Mechlin, and Flanders all carry the >lineage of this lace. It was all linen (no useable machined cotton until the >19th century). > >On a completely different subject, it has always seemed to me that point >ground is a simplification of the earlier and more complex Mechlin. Bucks and >Mechlin patterns seem quite similar to me, especially the early Baroque >patterns. > >Speculatively, > >Patty Susan Lambiris Raleigh, NC [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
