http://tinyurl.com/3vraqjz MALTESE HAND MADE SILK BOBBIN LACE 19th C 410 x 50 cms
Size: 20″ x 160″
Starting price: $10.00 with reserve
Auction ends: May 16, 2011 01:11:42 PDT
Offered by: Anne Swift, Ebay seller eastayton, London. England, United Kingdom
Comments: Wide flounce of Maltese formed into a circle – seller thinks it may have been the border to an alb. It has a rather heraldic look – the fleur de lis in the lower border, and the little elements around the Maltese crosses.  Very well worked, condition looks excellent. 

   $59.00, 6 bidders, reserve not met. Looks like the auction ended early. Word on the street is that it was sold to a priest in Malta. Final price unknown.

http://tinyurl.com/5u6v5cd dentelle ancienne Point de Gaze Bruxelles antique lace
Size: 3.9-4.3″ x 137″
Starting price: 50.00 EUR
Auction ends: May 17, 2011 07:17:56 PDT
Offered by: Ebay seller ninoduparc, Rhône-Alpes, France
Comments: Belgian needelelace border without raised work. The design of windswept flowers is quite nice.  Needelace fillings in the lower edge are excellent – but not much used in the rest of the piece.  Clothwork in the rest of the motifs is OK, but the long distances needed to define the narrow flower leaves makes this a little less crisp than it could be.  There are many holes in the ground, and one of the most interesting things is that the seller says #3000 linen thread will be supplied to make repairs.  Of course a piece like this is cotton, not linen, but I’d love to see what that thread is all about.

   Sold for 301.00 EUR, 9 bidders.

http://tinyurl.com/3arfsa9 Antique rare Irish Borris lace parasol cover..collector
Size: 25″ across widest part
Starting price: 150.00 GBP
Auction ends: May 17, 2011 08:35:58 PDT
Offered by: Ebay seller discover4, London, United Kingdom
Comments: I’ve been staring at this for a long time today, also consulting the new book “The Borris Lace Collection” (Marie Laurie & Annette Meldrum), and “The Technique of Brnascombe Point Lace” by Lillie D. Trivett. Throw in some Pat Earnshaw for good measure. What I note about this piece is that there are no picots on any of the brides. And the tape itself is plaited, not woven, as was common in Borris. Note that there is a needlelace ‘perl’ edging of what looks to be 3 stitches on both sides of the tape. That’s a lot of work! This kind of edge is used in both Borris and Branscombe, but only on the outside edge of pieces, from what I’ve been able to see in the photos, and those perls usually have 4-5 stitches. There are areas of quite solid stitch, which seems a bit at odds with Borris.  But a Branscombe attribution has problems too – it’s more consistent with the plaited tape, it also has perls, but not bordering the tape. But the fillings are more solid than Borris and are generally more varied. There are no looped picots or woven wheels so typical of Branscombe, but neither is absolutely necessary in earlier pieces. In conclusion, I think it tends more toward Branscombe. Then again, it could just be some homemade thing out of a woman’s magazine.

   150 GBP, 1 bidder, reserve not met.

http://tinyurl.com/63xxrnb Carreau de dentellière
Size: none given
Starting price: 30.00 EUR
Auction ends: May 17, 2011 11:16:11 PDT
Offered by: Ebay seller corrine4195, tourcoing, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France
Comments: Good example of a Bruge 2-part lace pillow. Two drawers, one in the wedge-shaped base, the other at the top of the larger cushion. The smaller part detaches and can be added to the bottom to give the bobbins more space before the lace has to be repositioned back up the pillow. These pillows were made with white canvas covers, the colored cloth is an addition which can be changed when needed. You can see the edges of the original cloth at the top and bottom of the larger portion. The internal structure of these pillows is a stepped affair meant to accomodate the drawer, and also make the flat, curved surface easier to build. Making these was a serious cottage industry – they are usually stuffed with wool
This one looks in very good shape – the side drawer pull looks original. Not sure about the top drawer pull.  The blue fabric is rather stained, and faded from past pattern use. But that is a minor consideration.

   Sold for 47.50 EUR, 5 bidders.

http://tinyurl.com/3n9r3x5 ANTIQUE HAND MADE MALTESE LACE COLLAR TRIM 41″ EXCLNT!
Size: 41″ long, 3-5/8″ wide
Starting price: $0.99
Auction ends: May 17, 2011 18:32:18 PDT
Offered by: Ebay seller meadowpaint, Carlsbad, California, United States
Comments: Lots of good Maltese this week.  This is a long, narrow collar of fairly conventional Maltese cross design on the outer edge. But it is greatly enhanced by the meandering leaf design against a tally leaf ground on the inner edge.  It is either cotton or linen, hard to tell from the photo. No damage apparent.

   Sold for $21.53, 9 bidders.

http://tinyurl.com/44guusm Antique Brussels Lace Point de Gaze Wedding Hanky
Size: ~14″ square
Starting price: $195.00
Auction ends: May 18, 2011 19:05:04 PDT
Offered by: Ebay seller goodsax, PA Dutch Country, United States
Comments: Lovely Duchesse de Bruxelles handkerchief.  Unencumbered by a monogram. The lacemaker has successfully scaled down the typical Duchesse bobbinlace motifs and put some innovation into the design – it works very well for this piece. I see the one pinhole in the point de gaze net, but otherwise it is in very good condition. A beautiful piece.

   Sold for $365.00, 5 bidders.

http://tinyurl.com/3wbr7rr PRECIOSO CUELLO BERTA DE XIX HECHO A MANO BOLILLOS SEDA
Size: Cuffs 22 cm x 9 cm.  Collar neck is 46 cm, width varies from 20-22 cm, outside measurement 135 cm.
Starting price: 62.00 EUR
Auction ends: 19 may 2011 11:22:10 H.Esp
Offered by: Ebay seller claud17114, Comunidad Valenciana, España
Comments: Nice solid collar of cream colored Maltese with extensive areas of densely packed leaves. Not sure if the cuffs, which are a little different design, are a match to the collar. Condition looks very good, I can’t see anything wrong from the photos.

   Did not sell.

http://tinyurl.com/422eug2 Antique mother of pearl & lace fan floral design french
Size: 11″ long, 22″ across when open.
Starting price: $299.00
Auction ends: May 19, 2011 12:45:09 PDT
Offered by: Ebay seller shop*antiques, montevideo uruguay, Uruguay
Comments: Good Brussels bobbinlace appliqued on machine net.  The assymetric design of loose flowers suites this piece very well, although the work is pretty conventional. Fan sticks are pierced, and have damage and some repairs, but the lace looks in fairly good shape – a few small brown spots and some holes extending over a few meshes – fairly minor.

   Did not sell.  Relisted as #270773066639, $249.00 Buy-it-Now

http://tinyurl.com/3ra32z7 MILANESE BOBBIN LACE 17TH CENTURY TWO LENGTHS
Size: both 8″ x 43″
Starting price: $10.00 with reserve
Auction ends: May 21, 2011 14:50:53 PDT
Offered by: Anne Swift, Ebay seller eastayton, London. England, United Kingdom
Comments: Lovely mid 17th century Milanese – the way the lacemaker plays with and varies the tape is exciting. Everything is focused on the tape, with a few leaf supports in the intervening areas. Some of these connections are broken, and I wish it had been all in one length. But this is one case where the quality of the work makes up a lot for the defects.

   $29.88, 2 bidders, reserve not met.

http://tinyurl.com/3t45jnj CHILDS HAND MADE MALTESE BOBBIN LACE DRESS Ca 1900
Size: 19″ long
Starting price: $10.00 with reserve
Auction ends: May 21, 2011 15:10:01 PDT
Offered by: Anne Swift, Ebay seller eastayton, London. England, United Kingdom
Comments: A really fun small child’s dress of Maltese lace gathered with a few ribbons. Note the very dense strips of closely worked leaves.Maltese laceworkers were continually coming up with interesting items – tea cosies, socks, etc. I’ve never seen anything quite like this one. Condition looks very good, no damage I can see.

   $10.00, 1 bidder, reserve not met.

http://tinyurl.com/44hmw7g FRENCH HAND MADE CHANTILLY BOBBIN LACE 19thC 900x 55cms
Size: 55 cm x 9 meters
Starting price: $10.00 with reserve
Auction ends: May 21, 2011 15:30:01 PDT
Offered by: Anne Swift, Ebay seller eastayton, London. England, United Kingdom
Comments: A good, very long, quite wide Chantilly flounce  in what looks to be excellent condition (there might be some small repairs in the example photo, can’t say anything about the rest). The design is a vertical, very regular repeat, I measure the repeat length at about 24 cm. No ombré shading. No indication why it is attributed to France.

   $41.00, 3 bidders, reserve not met.

http://tinyurl.com/3e7mlx3 RETICELLA AND BOBBIN LACE Ca. 1700 280x 16 cms
Size: 16 cm x 280 cm
Starting price: $10.00 with reserve
Auction ends: May 21, 2011 16:00:01 PDT
Offered by: Anne Swift, Ebay seller eastayton, London. England, United Kingdom
Comments: Amazing piece of Genoese bobbinlace – I don’t see any Reticella. Without knowing anything more you could assign this to early 1700’s. Were there later copies made? Of course, but this one has a tightness especially in the tallies, that looks very good. At 16 cm wide, the thread is probably fairly fine, and it might have been a costume piece. But the density of the design is quite high, and more likely it was meant to edge linens. Condition looks very good, no discernable damage, perhaps a few small brown spots, hard to tell.

   $10.00, 1 bidder, reserve not met.

http://tinyurl.com/5wh8nqn ANTIQUE SILK MALTESE LACE SHAWL PELERINE COLOR BLONDE
Size: 14″ max width, ~46 inches long, 72″ around the outside bottom
Starting price: $295.00 Buy-it-Now
Auction ends: Jun 02, 2011 21:18:26 PDT
Offered by: Ebay seller twist-in-time, Philadelphia / DFW, United States
Comments: Seems to be a small triangular Maltese shawl – I’m guessing it’s a headpiece for church wear. Good regular pattern in the main part, with a  Maltese cross design in the border. This kind of pieced construction is very typical of Maltese. Looks in very good condition, I can’t see any damage.

   Sold for $295.00

http://tinyurl.com/3he5whe ANTIQUE 17C FLEMISH HANDMADE BOBBIN LACE VEIL SHAWL
Size: 22″ x 144″
Starting price: $2,900 Buy-it-Now or Make an Offer
Buy-it-Now price reduced to $2,610
Auction ends: Jun 05, 2011 22:32:41 PDT
Offered by: Ebay seller twist-in-time, Philadelphia / DFW, United States
Comments: It’s a little hard to see a piece in this good condition wrapped around the manikin’s neck… Wide, long Flemish border, I’d say late 17th century. You always have to look at the long edges of a piece like this to see if they are original, so many were cut to size over the years. What I can see seems a bit ragged, but I’d say this one looks pretty good. Would be nice if a section of the entire width were photographed flat to get a better idea of the design.  Condition seems quite good.

http://tinyurl.com/3w2qbws ANTIQUE FIGURAL MILANESE BOBBIN LACE TABLECLOTH RUNNER
Size: 11.5″ x 54″
Starting price: $1,200.00 Buy-it-Now or Make and Offer
Buy-it-Now price reduced to $1,080
Auction ends: Jun 06, 2011 06:54:16 PDT
Offered by: Ebay seller twist-in-time, Philadelphia / DFW, United States
Comments: Figural bobbinlace, probably Italian. Photographs make it a little difficult to see the whole design.  It’s basically a hunting theme, a hunter with a bird, his dog, various animals and birds in the foliage. Little bit of a primitive appearance, and the composition is a bit off for my taste, but this is a large piece. Most Northern Italian figural pieces are much smaller, meant to fit into a large cloth.  Condition appears very good, I can’t find any obvious flaws, although the seller cites some small bride breaks.

http://tinyurl.com/3m5k2c6 ANTIQUE BRUSSELS DUCHESSE POINT DE GAZE LACE COLLAR
Size: 6.5″ wide, inside length 17″, outside length 32″
Starting price: $495.00 Buy-it-Now
Auction ends: Jun 10, 2011 23:25:00 PDT
Offered by: Ebay seller twist-in-time, Philadelphia / DFW, United States
Comments: Kind of looks like a fan leaf to me, although I’d expect a fan leaf to have an assymetry in the end which is supposed to be exposed on the outer stick. Could be used as a collar. Technique is quite good, no raised work in the needelace. Condition, aside from some storage folds, appears excellent