Gold-TooledBookbindings

AndContemporaryCollectables.1500 – 1800.

Chapter 3: Designs with theAppearance of Lace

By Ian Andrews

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September 2013.ianandrews00@gmail.com

50, Wellhouse Lane, Mirfield

West Yorkshire WF14 0PN

Designs with the Appearance

of Lace

One might be forgiven for wondering why there might be a

connection between the decorations impressed into leather with

metal tools and the delicate, ethereal quality of lace,

intricately worked with the finest thread. This chapter will

demonstrate, however, that, throughout the period from 1500

to 1800, the similarity between cover design and lace patterns

is so close as to imply either cross-fertilisation between the

two, reliance on common design books or just straight copying.

My researches have shown that there is adequate evidence to

establish a significant degree of correlation between the gold

work on bookbindings and contemporary lace patterns. This not

only relates to the occurrence of similar motifs and pattern

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design but also recognises the binder’s achievements in

producing decoration on leather-bound books that captures the

style and appearance of even the finest and most delicate

Flanders laces.

While appreciating the skill of the person who produced gold-

tooling designs of this calibre it is perhaps appropriate to

give a little thought to the challenge that was entailed in

trying to emulate the appearance of fine lace on a leather

book cover. Their tools were relatively heavy since they were

used hot and needed to be sufficiently large that they would

retain enough heat to achieve several gilded impressions. The

appearance of the lace they would be endeavouring to represent

was composed of ever more incestuously contrived pattern

structures which were produced from threads of unimaginable

thinness. Lace in the early sixteenth century was made as

narrow braids using a variety of needlework techniques and

with the passing of years evolved into broader runs and with

ever increasing complexity of pattern design.The very finest

thread was produced in Belgium where some constituent in the

river water resulted in a far finer thread being produced by

the retting process than anywhere else. This thread had to be

stored, spun and made into lace in dark, damp conditions and

since it was so fragile, it could only be made into lace by

the use of bobbins. It was only because of the local ability

to produce and to work with thread of this fineness that made

possible the manufacture of the ethereally delicate Flanders

laces. Bobbin lace was produced using a large number of

threads, each wound on a separate bobbin. In practice, a

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pattern former was made with an arrangement of pins on a

cushion or pillow, and the lace was produced by hand-weaving

the threads through a specially prescribed sequence around the

pins. This system invited great opportunities for

sophisticated patterns, and also made it possible to use finer

threads than were possible when using a needle. At different

times, styles of bobbin lace tended to favour the simultaneous

creation of a ground structure against which the design motifs

were displayed, whereas at others, the pattern elements were

drawn larger, and in such an arrangement as to make a

sufficient number of touching contacts where they could be

secured together with linking stitches, known as ‘bars.’ The

challenge facing the book binder was to produce an array of

gold impressions in the leather of the book cover such that it

conveyed a similitude to that of the particular lace proffered

to him by his or her patron. To make the gilded impression the

tip of the heated tool has to be pressed into the surface of

the leather. This action does not naturally lead to the

production of a delicate fine line. Without adequate pressure

the leather cannot be compacted enough to take good impression

and without a good impression the gold leaf will not adhere

smoothly to the leather. It was the practice to treat the

leather with various substances to produce a firmer surface so

that the necessary impression would not need to be made so

deeply into the leather. Quite apart from the imagination

needed to conceive of an arrangement of tools that could

result in the visual effect that was desired, the task would

have required an extraordinarily high degree of skill since

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the tip of a tool designed to impress a really fine line of

gold would be comparable in thickness to a razor blade and

even a minor misjudgement of temperature, pressure or the time

the tool was allowed to remain in contact with the leather

could easily result in catastrophic damage to the leather

surface and the intensely elaborate bindings of the

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries required several thousand

impressions. The skill of such people deserves a very special

respect. It would appear that they were achieving rather more

than putting a little gold onto a book cover.

Books, Fans and Lace as Valuable commodities

An early seventeenth-century picture Figure 1, of a shopping gallery in Paris is very revealing of the parity in value

between contemporary objects of desire: books, lace and fans

are offered for sale, side by side, in adjacent kiosks.i On

display in the lace boutique are collars of bobbin lace, with

lappets and lace cannions for boots, while the bookstall

presents shelves of books, both upright and, on the upper

shelf, laid flat. For centuries books had been stored flat on

tables but, around the middle of the fifteenth century, shelf

storage of upright books was becoming the norm. It appears

that the larger volumes on the higher shelf have decoration on

their back covers, implying that some books at this date were

being sold ready-bound. Since the books shown in Bosse’s

illustration have decorated covers, they are clearly in the

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‘de luxe’ category, though there is evidence that ready-bound

books had been offered for sale at country fairs from the late

fifteenth century. Only patrons with suitable resources would

choose to have books for their personal libraries bound to

their own requirements, and it is these who influenced the

nature of, and trends in, design.

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Figure 1. Shopping in the Galerie du Palais. In this

picture illustration by Bosse of about 1650, a

bookseller, fan maker and lace seller all with very

similar sized stalls in a rather upper class

marketplace. It is an indication that the three types

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of product were perceived as all being of similar

value.

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Figure 2. De harmonia musicorum instrumentorum c1500.

Decoration in the side panels is of the macramé-like

endless knot lace patterns in the style of designs

later published by Le Pompe in mid-century.

Records survive showing that the laces most desired by the

fashion-conscious upper classes were exceedingly expensive.

Those who knew that their style of life and position at Court

depended upon the ability to flaunt themselves in such costly

fabrics, were prepared to mortgage many hundreds of acres of

prime land in exchange for a few suits of these prized

materials.

It has been suggested that lace originated in Italy,

particularly Venice though quite probably borrowed from the

Arab and Norman cultures of Sicily and also with Greek and

Oriental influences from Byzantium. Several of the motifs in

early Venetian lace patterns have significant Eastern

origins.ii The spectrum of ideas for design at this time was

experiencing an enormous boost, resulting from the publication

of a large number of pattern books, filled with designs for

all kinds of artworks.iii Ein neu Modelbuch of 1525 is the oldest

known pattern book for lace work and Francesco Pellagrino’s,

La Fleur de la Science de Portraicture: Patrons de Broderie façon arabicque et

ytalique of 1530 revealed the styles of oriental fashion.

Vecellio’s book of 1592 was produced for, noble and virtuous ladiesiv

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and it was then normal for upper class ladies to engage in

lacemaking.v

Since lace had always been a luxury item, even before it was

valued for its intricacy and the time-consuming conditions of

its manufacture, the apogee of its initial exclusivity was

lace made with silk threads sheathed in gold and silver leaf.

This technique, used in textiles by the Chinese, and

introduced into the Iranian world in the thirteenth century,

relied on wrapping the thread with strips of metal leaf before

making it into lace.vi By the early sixteenth century, the

weaving of narrow decorative bands using gold threads was

established in various parts of Europe, particularly in

Germany. In Cologne decorative woven bands were produced using

medieval narrow looms with patterns in coloured silks on a

background of gold thread.vii The desire for this material was

so intense that it was common for the edges of coins to be

skimmed to obtain supplies of gold for making lace of this

type. In Spain, which had been renowned for its gold, point

d’Espagne lace, the subsequent wastage of the country’s gold

coinage was considered so serious that a decree was issued in

1537 prohibiting gold and silver brocades, silks and

embroideries.viii These laws, however, were evaded by making the

gold lace separately, and stitching it to the garment - until

that, too, was prohibited.ix Known as frisure d’or, this process

consisted of twisting silver or gold metal into a pattern

before laying it on to the fabric. It had the appearance of

heavy, incestuously wandering, cordonnet embroidery, and was

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similar to the cannetile adornments made from gold and silver

wire, learned by embroiderers from jewellers.x

The obsession for gold and silver in textiles and lace that

possessed royalty and aristocracy in the late fifteenth and

sixteenth centuries throughout Europe may well have been a

major influence on the use of gold to enhance the decoration

of book covers. The wardrobe accounts for King Henry VIII of

England, for example, list gold edgings for shirts, and when

his daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, died she left 3,000 costumes

embellished with lace and jewels. Henry III, King of France

from 1574 to 1589, is recorded as having worn 3,500 metres of

gold lace when he attended the States General at Blois in

1577, to rebuke them for their excessive expenditure on

frivolous luxuries of dress.xi The late sixteenth century was

an age of incredible profligacy, when gentlemen would

surrender hundreds of acres of their best land to enable them

to desport themselves in gold, silver, velvet and fine lace.xii

For those who had the resources, and had been accustomed to

adorning every part of their body and the furnishings of their

environment with gold, nothing would have been more natural

than to require the covers of their treasured books to be

similarly decorated. Since the appearance of lace was valued

more highly than gold, so too would it be expected that this

same appearance would be required on their treasured books.

The challenge was therefore not with the technology of

decorating books with gold but of making the gold look like

lace.

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Two examples illustrate how bindings of the first quarter of

the sixteenth century strikingly resemble contemporary lace

designs. Figure 2 illustrates an endless ‘macramé-like

pattern, while the cover of Catullus’s Carmina, Figure 3

includes three distinct pattern elements, all based on

different techniques of lace-making. Long braids of running

lozenge design which was a common lace style, worked in

cutwork, punto tagliato,xiii small nodules of endless knot, sometimes

known as Solomon’s Knot, and chequer-board strips based on simple

lace cut-work designs. All these techniques relate to designs

produced using a needle and thread and applied as decoration

to an existing piece of fabric. Three main techniques were

possible. A heavy thread or fine cord could be laid on the

fabric to form a suitable pattern and this could then be sewn

in place and produced the macramé and endless knot designs.

Cut-work consisted of cutting parts of the base fabric out and

embroidering the cut edges to create the decorative effect

while drawn-thread work was similar but consisted of removing

entire groups of threads by pulling them right out from one

edge of the fabric. Threads remaining in those areas of the

fabric that had been partially denuded, could be manoeuvred

into new positions and over-sewn to form ornamental features.

All the earlier forms of lace were based on needlework and

with time, especially during the seventeenth and eighteenth

centuries, became increasingly sophisticated in the techniques

used and patterns produced.

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Simulation of the appearance of specific types

of lace:

Cordonnet

From about 1525, lace began to be made in larger pieces

instead of just narrow braids, leading to the evolution of two

major styles, which are reflected in book cover designs over

much of the rest of the century. The first of these, the

cordonnet technique, was applied broadly across large expanses

of fine lace. Responding to the vogue for the long meandering

stems of the arabesque style which at that time was the exciting

new fashion sweeping across Europe,xiv the resulting designs

featured wandering vine stems on a net ground with numerous

leaf and floral motifs, batwings, tie bars and crowned

mullions, judiciously placed at intervals. Precisely similar

designs are observed on bookbindings, as shown in Figure 4. While the essential feature of this design is the scrolling

arabesque stem, various stages of refinement can be

distinguished. Initially, the stems seem to curl in a single

direction only, but evolve later into more undulating and

interlinked structures. In a similar time frame, the earlier

highly stylised leaf forms became replaced with newer shapes,

particularly with acanthus leaves and buds.

Reticello

The second style, known as, reticello, on account of the

rectangular structures upon which its patterns are

established, evolved out of the cutwork, punto tagliato. This 79

enabled larger areas of lace of this pattern to be made, and

there are various portraits of the time showing ladies wearing

stomachers of reticello lace adorning the front of their

costume. From a square cutout, the quartering lines and

diagonals were laid in and whip stitched together and on that

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Figure 3. French binding c1514 showing

appearance of cutwork, drawn thread and cordonnet

endless knot style patterns of braid lace.

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Figure 4. Late 16th century binding showing expanses

of ‘Point Plat’, flat, ‘tape’, lace in which the pattern

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is essentially sewn on in appliqué style and consists

of a meandering stem with ‘Fantasy’ leaves.

Figure 5. Example of 16th century ‘tape’ lace showing

the meandering stem structure of cordonnet designs

with the same ‘Fantasy-shaped’ leaves and lotus heads

as in the binding design of Figure 4, and which are

characteristic of bookbindings of mid-century.

foundation the design could be developed by constructing

annuli and miscellaneous additional cross bars. The typical

decorative element of this style is often some kind of

ornamented wheel within a rectangle, and lace of this pattern,

such as Figure 6, is frequently seen adorning the dresses of

ladies of the period. It is not often seen in gold in quite

that style on bookbindings although one example is shown in

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design Figure7, which was made using gold paper fretwork over

a red silk binding and attributed to the early seventeenth

century.

Punto in aria

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In the later decades of the sixteenth century, reticello was

transformed into the exceptionally versatile lace form known

as punto in aria, literally, stitches in the air, that is, a lace

without any ground fabric. This was also known as ‘pillow

lace’ on account of the way it was made: a pattern drawn on a

piece of parchment was pinned to a small pillow and additional

pins inserted through the pattern at all positions in the

design where two or more threads joined. The thread was led

around these pins and when all those required for a particular

section were in place, they were secured together by over-

sewing. Lace made in this way tended to be naturally stiff and

was eminently suited to the patterns of reticulations and

roundels in vogue in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth

centuries.xv The way this lace was manufactured, made possible

the production of large scalloped, lobed and pointedxvi

extensions which became the basis for the fashionable

obsessions for ruffs, godillas, ornamental cuffs, and standing

collars.xvii

Figure 6. Reticello lace contemporary with the

binding design in Figure 7 to illustrate the

similarity in construction of the decorative roundels

within the rectangular pattern elements.

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Figure 7. Early 17th century binding with Reticello style design

carried out in gold paper fretwork over red silk. This style

is also very apparent in the designs of Gujarati textiles and

in earlier Indian decorative stonework screens

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From the end of the first quarter of the seventeenth century,

until well into the last quarter, bookbindings show decorative

edgings as part of complex borders which are remarkably

similar to the lobular extensions of punto in aria lace. There are

many forms of these edgings, some rounded, some triangular and

others transformed into a running pattern to fringe the

otherwise stark edge of the border. In the contemporary

example of Figure 8, the border

has a series of semi-circular elements closely reminiscent of

the lobes

on the Duke

of

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Buckingham’s collar, Figure 9, and which show clear similarities with lace designs including the dotting along the

border strip, the scales pattern within the element and the

series of picot loops around its outer edge.

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Figure 8. 17th century binding showing border

elements in the style of Punto in Aria lace extensions

and including dotting along the boundary strips and

half-loops like lace Picots around the outside of each

lobular extension.

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Figure 9. Portrait of George Villiers, Duke of

Buckingham 1592-1628 showing the wide border of punto

in aria lace on his collar.

By the second quarter of the seventeenth century the main item

of lace in male attire had become the ‘falling collar,’

consisting of a small cape that sat over the shoulders and

provided a platform for the display of the extreme lobular

extensions that were possible in bobbin lace. The essential

difference between this style of lace and the punto in aria,

apart from it being innately softer, was its appearance. More

naturalistic foliate designs were possible in bobbin lace, and

these leaf shapes could be ‘made solid’ or ‘blocked in’ and

the motifs were arranged sufficiently close together that

there was virtually no ground fabric between them other than

basic essential linking stitches. There are several designs on

book covers of this date with ‘islands’ of extraordinarily

finely conceived replicas of the appearance of bobbin lace.

Sea-shell spirals, tooled au pointillé, were employed to establish

the visually light, foundational structure and the appearance

of the lace was produced by arrangements of leaves and flower

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heads in solid gilt. The binding in Figure 10, shows, in

‘close up,’ the tooling used to produce the background pattern

effect and the small motifs in solid and in the binding in

Figure 11, it is easier to appreciate the overall ‘lacy’

effect that was achieved. For comparison, Figure 12, shows a

‘falling collar’ in which the style of lace pattern can be

seen which the bookbinder was attempting to emulate.

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Figure 10. Mid-17th century French binding with

patches of sea-shell spiral work enhanced with leaf

tools in solid gilt replicating the style of bobbin

lace.

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Figure 11. English binding of c1661 showing the lacy

effect that results from the more widespread use of

the technique employed in Figure 10.

Figure 12. A ‘falling collar’ of bobbin lace similar

in appearance to the binding designs of Figures10 and

11,in which the small areas darned to produce small

‘solid’ motif shapes against the more open background

fabric are readily visible.

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Frisure d’or

In terms of distinguishing representations of gold lace from

lace of other kinds, on a bookbinding this is clearly not

possible visually since all designs attempting to replicate

the appearance of lace on bookbindings were worked in gold.

There are however a few instances, such as that included as

Figure 13, where the style of the bands of lacy trim on a

binding appear more heavy and may well be indications that the

intention was to portray frisure d’or lace. This band of lace

decoration is significantly different to that of most others

for two reasons, its structure consists entirely of linear

sections which would be preferred for manufacture and its

shape has considerable similarities with earlier Viking

metalwork.

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Figure 13. French binding c 1621 showing lace effect

achieved with foliage and with the inner border quite

possibly representing the twisted form of gold lace.

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Motifs and tools

As the sixteenth century progressed, the worked motifs on lace

tended to dominate over ground pattern. They acquired the

appearance of having been made separately, as in appliqué work

or created from a tape or cordonnet, technique. The visual

effect of this can be seen recreated on book covers. Bindings

with decoration of the style of Figure 14, at first glance

appear excessively cluttered with motifs, but when compared

with contemporary lace, such as that of Figure15, there are

clear similarities. In both, the intention was evidently to

fill the space with motifs, a technique which could be

achieved rather more easily in lace than within the

limitations imposed by shape and the availability of suitable

finishing tools on a bookbinding. When faced with the need to

replicate an impression of the ground fabric of a lace on a

book cover, it was not generally considered appropriate to

fill all the available space with a visual approximation to

netting, since this would seriously detract from the beauty of

the arranged motifs. The appearance of this supporting

background to the lace is considered to be such a significant

feature that French needle lace is classified accordingly to

the character of the ‘ground.’ In practice, lace ground is a

meshwork constructed from a number of interconnected threads

so the precise shape of each of these elements are usually

many-sided since there is no framework that could keep a

circular hole in place.

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Dots

In the sixteenth century it was more common for the supposed

presence of ground fabric to be indicated by an array of small

motifs. A very effective, if slightly ‘knitted’ impression was

achieved on a German binding of the late sixteenth century,

Figure 16, with a space-filling array of dotted half-rings, but, in general, dots appear to have been the motif of choice.

The use of infilling arrays of single dots was used on early

bindings of the mid-sixteenth century, and to some extent

during the eighteenth, but their arrangement was generally

rather unstructured and reminiscent of the use of dotting

employed, purely as a means of filling otherwise empty spaces,

on memorial brasses, where it is known as manière criblée. When

dotting is used to indicate lace ground, the technique is

usually much more precise. Dots are used, usually in groups of

three, and each triple dot is placed carefully in a semy

arrangement. The use of the triple-dot motif, with a single

dot at the top, may well be a remnant of its earlier use in

Christian iconography. In the seventeenth century one sees

certain ‘lacy’ designs where one or more layers of small

rings, like bubbles, are included around infestations of

simulated lace. This effect is particularly apparent in the

infestations of lacy effect attaching to the outside of the

cottage roof design shown in Figure17.

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Figure 14. Roman binding of c1605 showing discrete

motifs grouped closely together in similar manner to

the way motifs were arranged in contemporary lace.

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Figure 15. Milanese bobbin lace of the 17th century

showing the closely grouped array of motifs and

invisible ground fabric.

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Figure 16. Late 16th century binding showing a dense

Semy pattern of dotted half-loops filling the area

around the central medallion and creating the

impression of a substantial lace ground fabric.

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Figure 17. English binding by Samual Mearne c1669

showing many areas simulating the appearance of lace,

in particular the edges of the lacy infestations on

the roof show patches of ‘bubbles’ very like the

holes in the lace ground fabric of that time.

Sea-shell spirals

A particularly versatile tool in the representation of lace

during the seventeenth century was the sea-shell spiral. While

noticeable from the beginning of the second quarter, the

effect of lace produced by this tool is most common between

1660 and 1680, with the peak in the second half of this

period. There are bindings of the mid-century on which large

areas appear to be covered with lace that is astonishingly

even, and so closely tooled that even under a lens it is

difficult to deduce the exact arrangement of tools that were

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used to achieve it. Close scrutiny of such bindings show that

many areas of light but uniform lacy appearance result from

use of this ubiquitous tool. Depending upon the requirements

of the pattern, the tool was applied in various subtly

different ways. More often than not, the lace effect is

produced by the spiral tool alone, though in about one third

of cases it is enhanced, so as to simulate the appearance of

bobbin lace, with a sprinkling of small motifs including

leaves, flower heads, rosettes and rings, used in outline or

tooled in solid gold. In some designs the spirals are used in

opposing pairs to create heart shapes.

Coralline

Two particular arrangements illustrate the extraordinary

effectiveness of the technique. The first is the simulation of

Coralline lace, Figure 19, a variety which has a uniformly dull

appearance, seemingly devoid of any pattern. It has been

likened to ‘dishcloth,’ though was apparently very favoured at

the time. An extremely effective arrangement of sea-shell

spiral tooling was conceived that actually results in almost

exactly the appearance of this lace, Figure 20. It was

achieved using a lattice pattern in which left and right-

handed spirals were used alternately one above the other. The

criterion of placement of the spiral tools appears to be to

achieve a continuous vertical sinusoidal line and to avoid any

semblance of horizontal alignment. As a result, there is

nothing to constrain the eye, and the design field merges into

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an oblivion in which there is an inability to discern

structure and which is in effect an extraordinarily effective

representation of Coralline lace. The second is an

appreciation of the ability of the binder to produce a lacy

effect of the lightest feathery softness, seemingly as

delicate as the finest lace of the time. The effect, as

illustrated by the binding in Figure 21, again relied on the

use of sea-shell spiral tooling, with some small additional

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motifs including a flower head, conical buds and a parrot’s

head. The significant aspect of this design is that although

the placement of the tools is closely packed, there is so much

space within them that visually it almost appears as if

composed from the softest feathers.

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Figure 19. Corraline lace.

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Figure 20. Binding design that appears to replicate

the character of Coralline Lace, Figure 19, c.1649.

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Figure 21. The Christian Sacrifice. English binding c1671.

The goldwork on this binding captures the incredible

lightness of Flanders bobbin lace,

Drawer handles and Gros point de Venise

An example of a particular motif on bindings that could be

argued to have originated in an attempt to simulate a similar

form on lace is the so-called drawer-handle. Statistical analysis

of the occurrence of this motif on bookbindings indicates that

it only appeared just before the mid-seventeenth century and

showed an extreme peak of occurrence on books bound between

1660 and 1690. In contrast to every other motif seen on

bookbindings between 1500 and 1800, the drawer handle motif

appears to have had no previous history, despite some

similarity with Celtic symbolism. On the basis of coincidences

of time and shape, it is highly tempting to suggest that the

drawer-handle was designed to represent the characteristic

scroll found in the beautiful and much desired variety of lace

known as Gros Point de Venise. The sudden appearance of this shape

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on book covers, its similarity in form and function, do make

tempting evidence for this assertion. Figures 22 and 23 show

respectively the use of drawer handle motifs on a bookbinding

and the arrangement and appearance of the heavily built-up

auricular shapes on Venetian Gros Point lace.

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Figure 22. 17th century binding showing the use of the

drawer handle motif in similar manner to the

appearance of the heavy ‘auricular’ scrolls in Venetian

Gros Point Lace.

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Figure 23.Gros Point de Venise Lace c. 1670.

The heavily raised ‘auricular’ shapes are

characteristic of this type of lace and are the motif

that is suggested was represented by the drawer

handle motif.

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Large Motifs

Around the very end of the seventeenth and early eighteenth

century, lace design moved to favour larger foliar motifs

sometimes of very large size and often with long rolling

leaves. Effects comparable to the large motifs were achieved

on bookbindings, such as the example in Figure 24, through the use of leather inlay or appliqué. The resulting lace

appeared to be completely devoid of any ground material, as in

Figure 25, and this same style simulated in the binding in

Figure 26.

Features common to motifs on Lace and

bookbinding designs

The latter patterns of lace are of particular fascination

because of the way several details of the structure have been

repeated in the gold work on book covers. Chief among these as

far as bookbindings are concerned, is best described as,

‘candelabra’ on account of the symmetrical branching

reminiscent of the style of an old-fashioned candlestick but

also, and especially, because of the presence of bud-shaped

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motifs at intervals along the branching stems. The

significance of this motif and its usage are discussed in

detail in the chapters on the lotus and particularly in the

section on the ‘vase’ or pitcher motif. In lace of this era

these have the appearance of various types of lotus flower and

acanthus bud whereas on bookbindings, the motif is what is

called elsewhere in this book, a ‘vase’. Indications are that

the ‘vase’ motif appears to be an abstract form derivative

from the lotus scale. Also seen on both bindings and lace is a

motif that has been described as a ‘Cabriolet’ and a curious

variant on a sea-shell spiral which is ornamented with a

series of bobbles along its outer edgexviii, similar to the

crocketting

on church

spires.

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Figure 24. Mosaic design where the mosaics are

employed in similar manner to the large motifs on

contemporary lace. Note also the dotting in the

corner rings which is common decoration of such

annuli in lacework.

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Figure 25. French lace flounce of 1740-50. The design

of several types of lace of this period is

characterised by lace motifs, sewn in solid and only

held together by small numbers of link stitches so

the lace appears to have no ground structure.

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Figure 26. Heavily ornate, ‘ceremonial’ type

eighteenth century binding design with scrolling

leavesand flower heads all finely detailed and

veined.All the motifs are tooled in ‘solid’ gold and

placed close together the same way as motifs were on

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lace of this period so they could be held in place

with link stitches

Trellis or Basket-work Designs

In the mid-eighteenth century, areas appear on laces that have

the appearance of trellis or lattice work. They tend to be a

rhombic diaper-lattice made from straight bars, which may

sometimes be decorated with beading, and they may or may not

be ornamented with a central motif such as a small flower

head. On flounces of point d’Argenton of the mid-eighteenth

century, the groundwork of these trellis inserts can be so

fine as to virtually disappear leaving an array of miniature

motifs against an almost invisible spider’s web of ground

trellis. A similar effect is also seen on point de Venise à

réseau in the first half of the eighteenth century. These

decorative inserts are most often seen on Flanders laces such

as Mechlin and in French needle laces such as point d’Alençon

and point d’Argenton. When seen in lace patterns such as point

d’Alençon, these inserts are often long undulating waves, the

edges of which are ornamented with small flower heads. Exactly

similar constructions as indicated in Figures 27, often

including decoration of the bars, are seen on book covers

where one writer has described them as ‘trellis of flowerete’.

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Their edges are usually embellished with strings of husksxix or

wheatears which was the motif that was in vogue at the time.

In laces and book covers of this type, the use of areas of

simulated meshwork and intricately regular semy arrays of dots

is a common component of the ornate and ‘ceremonial’ styles of

binding of the mid-eighteenth century but is not completely

unique to cover designs attempting to replicate lace flounces

since several other styles of book cover decoration of the

mid-eighteenth century, such as Chinoiseriexx, also feature

areas of similar effect.

120

Figure 27. A binding design in the style of Alençen lace.

‘Lacy’ borders

121

Two other features are common to both the patterns on lace and

the decoration on book covers in the mid-eighteenth century.

These relate to the encroachment of border decoration into the

more central area of the design field, which is particularly

apparent in designs of the ‘Chinoiserie type, and the

inclusion of large leaves that might be construed as an

interpretation of the ‘Saz’ leaf. The Saz leaf is a very

characteristic form that is a frequent motif in Turkish ‘Saz

Leaf and Rosette’ designs. It is a relatively large motif with

a naturalistic appearance and portrayed in a scrolling manner,

and is seen in both the designs on gold-tooled book covers and

eighteenth century lace.On some bookbindings, particularly

those reputedly attempting to replicate aspects of pagodas,

bridges, exotic birds and figures based on imported

Chinoiserie,xxi the design appears as if built up from a number

of larger hand tools and, while not being manifestly a whole

field design, it is at least pseudo-pictorial. Most of the

decorative elements tend to have been allowed to remain in the

border area while certain ones have been moved out to give a

more complete structure to the scene.xxii This style is also

apparent in various Flanders bobbin laces, particularly lace

from Mechlin.xxiii The characteristic border structure of the

eighteenth century bookbindings has similarities with this

since the borders on these consist of a central band of

decoration around which leaves of this sort of shape rotate in

very precisely arranged sequence. Figure 28, is an example ofthis style.

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The nuns at the convent of St Vaccaria on the island of Burano

were renouned for their skill

and were producing sumptuous lace trimmings for rich clothes

and ornamental laces for their altars and vestments.xxiv Some of

the borders of Burano and French needle lace of the later

eighteenth century consist of serried rows of small neat

arrangements of motifs which correspond precisely with the

gold-tooling technique known as petit fers Figure 29. In

this each decorative element is built up by the use of a

number of very small tools and the result is semblance of the

appearance of lace that is remarkably like that made in

Burano. Figure 30. The use of petit fers tooling was in vogue from the start of the second quarter of the eighteenth

century seemingly with a peak in the seventeen sixties and

diminishing after about seventeen eighty. The other design for

which the eighteenth century lace from Burano is noted is

ostensibly an empty expanse of fine ground with an array of

gently sprawling branches with tiny leaves and flowers. In

Figure 31, this effect is shown from a binding and Figure

32, on a piece of Burano lace.

123

Figure 28. Dutch binding of c. 1680 showing a

‘fluted’

124

border of scrolling leaves very much of the shape of

the ‘Saz leaves’ that were a contemporary feature of

Turkish rugs.

Figure 29. above and Figure 30. below. London

binding c. 1735, above, showing Petit fers tooling

designed to produce a similar appearance to the style

of Burano lace c.

1760 below.

125

126

Figure 31. An English binding of c. 1766 with an

arabesque-style meandering stem pattern done in

gouge-work in the style of the Burano Arabesque lace

pattern in Figure 33. Note also the pot motifs in the

corners of the design which are also characteristic

of this date.

127

Figure 32. Arabesque design on a sample of eighteenth

century Burano Point Lace.

128

In this chapter we have focused attention on the nature of

patterns of lace and the gold decoration on book covers with a

view to discovering whether there are similarities between

them. Not only have a considerable number of similarities in

both structure and detail been identified but also there is

evidence to indicate that as the patterns of lace change with

time, so in parallel as it were, did the gold designs on book

covers follow suit. In place of previous assertions that the

design of a certain book cover might be described as ‘lacy’,

it has been possible to establish reasons for such an

assertion, and thereby enable more precise associations

between certain bookbindings and particular types of lace. The

possibility clearly exists for extending understanding of the

dating and use of pattern structures of lace through the study

of appropriate designs on bookbindings, since their is more

certain than that of pieces of old lace, and the recognition

of a certain lace pattern on a bookbinding could prove to be a

valuable indicator that the pattern was in use at an earlier

date than had previously been thought.

In general terms there are clearly indicators that confirm a

continuing correlation between the changing styles of both

artefacts throughout the three centuries that were the period

at issue in this book. The major formats of lace may be

129

discerned in gold design work from the earliest embroidery

laces, the wider stiff punto-in-aria style and the stages

through which it progressed into the softer and ethereal

Flemish flounces as also it has been possible to identify

numerous of the motifs that are familiar from the study of

bookbindings and to discover that they occur as commonly in

the context of lace patterns as they do in the bookbinder’s

repertoire. In several instances, features of the decoration

on many styles of bookbinding that have no obvious purpose may

be found to correspond to a particular aspect in the patterns

of lace making.This correlation not only relates to comparable

arrangements of motifs but also acknowledges the very

considerable achievement of the binder in devising the means

for using the heavy metal tools required for gold finishing to

produce an effect that epitomises the style and appearance of

even the very finest and most delicate Flanders laces.

130

i Gallerie Lafayette ref picture.ii Jourdain M Cutwork etc.iii Meynell and Morrison said that over a hundred pattern books were published inVenice alone before the end of the sixteenth century. Pattern books by Seguin, Vecellio, Vinciola, la Parasole and Le Pompe are cited by Charles Yriarte p 250.Another list is included in Lady M Alford’s book.iv See Santina Levy’s book note to plate 106(a).v Susan Ward, in Old Lace, refers to ‘rich gentlewomen lacemakers’ of this time. After her separation from King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon retired to Ampthill where she and her Spanish lady companions taught the skills of lacemaking they had learnt in their Spanish convent schools.vi Watt J.C.Y. and Wardwell A.E. When Silk was Gold – Central Asian and Chinese Textiles. Pub The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York 1997 p 134-5.vii King M. and King D. European Textiles in the Keir Collection 400 BC to 1800 AD. Pub Faber & Faber, London 1990 p. 112.viii This was not the first nor the last attempt to limit the extravagant displaythat people were wont to compete by the passing of Sumptuary Laws. Bertrand, thePatriarch of Aquilea had forbidden nobles and people to wear ornaments embroidered with gold. Casanova L.B. Luxurious Lace from Venice Apollo Sept 1975p198-9.ix Norris H. and Martin R. Tudor Costume and Fashion. Pub Dover 1997. p20.x Alford Lady M. Needlework as Art pub Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, Crown Buildings, Fleet Street, London 1888 pp 325 and 375.xi Mayer C.C. Lace and the Male Ego, Part 1, 1500-1650. Antiques Jan 1968 90 – 95.xii Earnshaw P. Lace in Fashion p xiii Jourdain M Cutwork (Reticilla) and Punto in Aria The Connoisseur. P13-17.xiv Arabesques sweeping Europe.xv Reigate E. p 53xvi Jourdain M. Cutwork (Reticilla) and Punto in Aria The Connoisseur……………………….xvii Ref Mens Fasahion. xviii While this is a very abstract motif in the 18th century, comparison with carvings of leaves on 10th century ivory caskets indicates that it may have originated as a means to show the undulations of the edge of a leaf.xix Description of husks and the larger form as seen on Alencon lace.xx

xxi Paul Elek wrote that bindings of this style have been attributed to Le Monierand that his cover designs were based on copying from imported Chinoiserie. P145.xxii Miner D. p70 describes the pseudo-pictorial design of these bindings.Also add ref to latest pic I found of full field pictorial.xxiii Reigate E. p163xxiv Susan Ward/Reigate p200