Good morning! I’ve got a question: Does anybody know anything about antique wedding lace?
I have a piece of Duchesse lace that is approx. 13 inches (33 cm) square. It is filled with flowers and other motifs that have to do with weddings and fertility. So, I’m pretty sure it was used as part of the wedding ceremony, BUT - gee, it seems awfully big to be a “wedding handkerchief” which is what the label said it was. Also, the motifs are fine Duchesse bobbin lace, but they are joined together with a simple needle-lace background of regularly-spaced buttonhole stitches, that is made with a thicker thread. So, a comparatively heavy openwork net. That doesn’t say “handkerchief” to me. This piece might actually be a handkerchief, and perhaps the size of wedding hankies has changed over the 100+ years since my piece was made. However, I have a niggling suspicion that it might not have originally been a hankie at all. I have heard of chalice covers and I’m thinking it might be that, or maybe even something else. I don’t know much about traditional European religious ceremonies, and for all I know it might even have come from a Jewish marriage ceremony - I have *no* idea what that ceremony uses. The symbology is secular: roses and chrysanthemums, etc, so it could be anything. Or it could just be a hankie and I’m overthinking this. It is the size and the net background that is making me think twice. Anybody have any thoughts? Adele - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
