Thank you for the comments on the point ground. Hopefully there will be more. As Devon and Lorelei say, it makes sense that due to fashion changes in the late 1700s to much simpler and lighter laces and clothes in general, the point ground provided a lighter background for the motifs. At the same time it was also quicker to make. Point ground is also the ground that was imitated on the early twist net lace machines. By looking online I found this when searching for John Heathcoat, lace machine. http://victorianweb.org/technology/inventors/heathcoat.html Here we can read that John Heathcoat at the age of 21, in 1753, 'laboured to compass the contrivance of a twist traverse-net machine. He first studied the art of making the Buckingham or pillow-lace by hand, with the object of effecting the same motions by mechanical means'. From Samuel Smile's Self-Help (1859). If this is true, lace makers in Buckingham made point ground lace in 1753. It would be great to ascertain this from other sources. Mr Heathcoat's fist successful lace machine making bobbin net was set up in 1809. -Karen
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