French, Paris
Lace Panel, 1675-1700
Linen, needle lace , 193 x 40.2 cm (76 x 15 13/16 in.)
General admission for children 17 years and under is always free
This delicate, well-preserved French lace panel from 1675-1700 is more than 6 feet long and about 16 inches wide. The panel is comprised of six scenes, the first and the last are almost identical, as are the fourth and fifth from the left. The first and sixth scene have three tiny portraits in oval frames spaced in a semi-circular ark above an ornate window. A pair of birds sit in two side windows and stars fill the larger interior window. The portrait above this window is upside down. Below a large crown is positioned a very elaborate vine and leaf motif flanked by two fleur-de-lis. The elaborate, dense looping of the vine and leaf pattern fills much of the background of the entire panel. The next scene has a large crown, similar to the one in the first panel, in the center with three people, dressed in knee-length costumes, arranged in a downward arched semi-circle, the person at the bottom holding a mace. The third scene has a long-haired person, possibly a woman, in a short skirt, holding a semi-circular flounce in her hands. Two angels fly on either side of her head and hold a crown. Higher up in this scene, another person with a round skirt is topped by a bird with spread wings. The following two identical scenes do not have figures in them, rather are centered by a vertical stem with leaves on short branches on each side and anchored by a semi-circular base with slits in it. Flower-like forms and more leaves continue upward to the top of this stem.
Veronese Room
Commentary
Long prized for its delicacy and open patterns, lace is produced by manipulating threads independent of a base fabric. It is usually made of linen thread, but other materials can be used. Needle lace is traditionally made by placing threads on a pattern drawn on parchment; the gaps between these guide threads are then filled with stitches using a needle and thread. The second principal type of lace is called bobbin lace, since thread is wound onto spools, or bobbins. The threads are then woven or twisted together around pins inserted onto a pillow.
The collecting of lace became popular in the late nineteenth century, and around 1900 most American museums displayed lace. For example, Thomas Wilson, an anthropologist, formed a lace collection of more than a thousand pieces, which was exhibited in 1893 at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where Mrs. Gardner must have seen it. Wilson’s collection was later acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art. Many museum leaders believed that examples of historic lace would be relevant to workers in the textile industry.
This lace panel is a rare piece of point de France. The patterns allegorize Louix XIV’s political and military power. The piece consists of more than nineteen individual fragments, which have been skillfully sewn together to create a continuous panel of great delicacy.
Source: Bonnie Halvorson, "Lace," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al (Boston: ISGM, 2003): 120.
The collecting of lace became popular in the late nineteenth century, and around 1900 most American museums displayed lace. For example, Thomas Wilson, an anthropologist, formed a lace collection of more than a thousand pieces, which was exhibited in 1893 at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where Mrs. Gardner must have seen it. Wilson’s collection was later acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art. Many museum leaders believed that examples of historic lace would be relevant to workers in the textile industry.
This lace panel is a rare piece of point de France. The patterns allegorize Louix XIV’s political and military power. The piece consists of more than nineteen individual fragments, which have been skillfully sewn together to create a continuous panel of great delicacy.
Source: Bonnie Halvorson, "Lace," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al (Boston: ISGM, 2003): 120.