Stitching the Past: A Reconstruction of Four Italian Bobbin Lace Edgings, 1550-1650

Lacemaking was still in its infancy when the first bobbin lace pattern book, Le Pompe: Opera Nova, was published in Venice, Italy in 1557, but this volume marked the beginning of a century of rapid expansion across Europe. Through the reconstruction of four bobbin lace edgings on a linen handkerchief, representing a range of different regions, time periods, and costs, this project examines the development of lace designs and techniques that occurred in Northern Italy between 1550 and 1650. Drawing from archival research, paintings, pattern books, and extant objects, and using materials and tools as close to the originals as possible, this project sheds light onto the labour behind handmade lace edgings that could not have been gleaned from traditional research methodologies.