Hand-Crafted Italian Lace Collar, Late 1800s

Object Details

Description

This hand-crafted lace collar, owned by Virginia Livingston Hunt, was made at the Lace School on the island of Burano, near Venice, Italy, in the late 1800s. Venice was a center for the production of fine needle lace from the late 1500s through the 1600s. French needle lace overtook Venetian styles in popularity during the 1700s, and lace-making skills began to die out in Italy. In 1872, a lace making school opened on Burano to revive traditional techniques. It was a charitable effort to attempt to improve the island’s economy by making and selling laces of cotton that imitated the linen needle laces of previous centuries. On close inspection you can see that the thickness of the cotton thread varies; also the reseau (net-like ground) is made with looped threads rather than with buttonhole stitches. Both of these characteristics identify the lace as Burano. Collars such as this, or collar-and-cuff sets, were popular clothing accessories in the 1800s and even into the 20th century, as they could be used to vary the appearance of a dress.

Credit Line

Miss Virginia Livingston Hunt

end of 19th century

ID Number

TE.T11840A

catalog number

T11840.00A

accession number

198210

Object Name

Lace

lace, collar

Object Type

lace

Measurements

overall at tips: 1 in; 2.54 cm

overall at neck edge: 28 3/8 in x 4 1/4 in; 72.0725 cm x 10.795 cm

place made

Italy

See more items in

Home and Community Life: Textiles

Lace

Textiles

Many Voices, One Nation

Exhibition

Many Voices, One Nation

Exhibition Location

National Museum of American History

National Museum of American History

Record ID

nmah_620332

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-05b7-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa