http://tinyurl.com/caz4lno FRENCH ALENCON NEEDLE LACE LAPPETS ca 1760
Size: 4″ x 59″
Starting Price: $10.00 with reserve
Auction ends: Dec 03, 2011 15:00:00 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller eastayton, London, England, United Kingdom
Comments: A pair of Alencon lappets, joined together at the top ends. They have the sparser look of later 18th century work, detailed around the edges with scattered small motifs in the center. Ordinary reseau ground, and nice fillings worked in the spaces along the edges. Interesting picot work, or rather the lack of picot work. Picots are only used along the outer edge and around a few of the edge motifs. The photos aren’t close enough, but I’m having a hard time seeing if the horsehair used to make the picots is still there. Overall it’s a good example of this type of lappet. The net ground has some pulls, but it is rare for this ground to survive intact.  The area of the top join is also not shown, so it’s difficult to say whether they have been shortened. The overall length probably indicates that things are intact.

   $112.50, 4 bidders, reserve not met.

http://tinyurl.com/7q8hags FRENCH VALENCIENNES HAND MADE BOBBIN LACE LAPPETS ca, 1760
Size: 3.5″ x 41″
Starting Price: $10.00 with reserve
Auction ends: Dec 03, 2011 15:00:09 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller eastayton, London, England, United Kingdom
Comments: A pair of joined ’round hole’ Valenciennes lappets. This is one of my favorite laces. The design depends only on the excellence of the clothwork, with rows of holes giving a ‘line drawing” appearance. This has the sparse design of the later 18th century. I’d go around 1780 on the basis of the design.  The condition of the lace appears very good, no obvious holes or damage. But there are some condition issues. The lappets have been shortened, and you can see the discontinuity of the design at the top join. I’m also fairly sure that the picot edge is a later addition, this was often done to ‘sharpen up’ early laces. It would be a machine made row of picots sewn onto the edge.

   $26.99, 2 bidders, reserve not met.

http://tinyurl.com/ckczuwk TENERIFE HANDMADE SOL LACE FAN 19th CENTURY with BOX
Size: 14″ long
Starting Price: $10.00 with reserve
Auction ends: Dec 03, 2011 15:00:17 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller eastayton, London, England, United Kingdom
Comments: I’ve never seen a Nanduti fan before, this is a very good piece. The work is quite fine, concentrating on medallions with little of the grid-like large area fillings that are so characteristic of this lace. The lace is so fine that I find the carved sticks a bit of a distraction – the lace might be better served if it were removed from the sticks. One broken stick, but I don’t see any problems with the lace. Comes with a box, presumed original.

   Sold for $530.09, 9 bidders.

http://tinyurl.com/73hxwj2 MALTESE HANDMADE SILK BOBBIN LACE 19th C 350×90 cms
Size: 36″ x 140″
Starting Price: $10.00 with reserve
Auction ends: Dec 03, 2011 15:00:22 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller eastayton, London, England, United Kingdom
Comments: A very long, very wide Maltese border. A lace like this is made in strips to accommodate the long, narrow Maltese pillow. These are sewn together for after careful matching for the final piece. This one has an excellent design, with well-worked guipure motifs against a plaited leaf background grid. Whether a lace like this was made in Malta or Gozo is open to question, but the better quality guipure work could be a sign of Gozo work. It’s also a little hard to think of a use for such a piece outside the church. I don’t see any condition problems from the photos. Very nice piece.

   Sold for $590.00, 10 bidders.

http://tinyurl.com/879rhtf SHETLAND SCOTLAND HAND KNITTED WOOLLEN SHAWL Ca 1850 VERY FINE
Size: 63″ square
Starting Price: $10.00 with reserve
Auction ends: Dec 03, 2011 15:00:32 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller eastayton, London, England, United Kingdom
Comments: A fine Shetland knitted shawl, total weight 2.8 ounces. The design is beautifully executed, quite varied and complex. I don’t see any condition problems which is even more remarkable.

   Sold for $483.99, 5 bidders.

http://tinyurl.com/bomauql TENERIFE SOL SILK LACE FICHU of SUPERB QUALITY 19th CENTURY
Size: 23″ x 60″
Starting Price: $10.00 with reserve
Auction ends: Dec 03, 2011 15:00:35 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller eastayton, London, England, United Kingdom
Comments: A fine Teneriffe or Nanduti head covering. Even though it lacks the palm leaf edge, I’m inclined toward Nanduti on this because of the very fine work and extensive use if filling stitches between the sol motifs. Note the half-roundels on the edge, which is very unusual. I am a bit bothered by the series of crosses down the center of the piece, and the mismatch in the edges just at that point. It almost looks like this has been joined from two separate pieces.  Maybe not, but it does look just a little odd. The condition appears very good, I can’t see any problems.

   Sold for $543.77, 7 bidders.

http://tinyurl.com/87d2a8x BRUSSELS POINT DE GAZE HANDMADE NEEDLE LACE HANDKERCHIEF 19th C MOUCHOIR
Size: 13″ square
Starting Price: $10.00 with reserve
Auction ends: Dec 03, 2011 15:00:39 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller eastayton, London, England, United Kingdom
Comments: A flat point de gaze handkerchief – no raised petal roses. Very few fillings, and the design is a little plain, with large areas of undecorated clothwork. Some attempt at naturalism. But overall it has a nice presence. The condition looks very good, I don’t see any obvious problems.

   $202.50, 11 bidders, reserve not met.

http://tinyurl.com/826jzp2 ANTIQUE LACE SUPERB PIECE OF HONITON LACE 2 YARDS
Size: 3″ x 73″
Starting Price: $49.99
Auction ends: Dec 03, 2011 18:48:03 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller greatlace, Paris – Palm Beach, United States
Comments: A Honiton guipure border with a narrow repeat. The work is closely done with good raised veining and fillings. It’s a nice, gold design, well beyond the snails/slugs venue.  I don’t see any damage from the photos.

   Sold for $49.99, 1 bidder.

http://tinyurl.com/82tmcv8 ANTIQUE LACE-CIRCA 18THC. FLEMISH/ MILAN LACE
Size: 4.75″ x 32″
Starting Price: $85.00
Auction ends: Dec 04, 2011 07:48:40 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller mithya, London-New York, United States
Comments: I think I’ll go with Milanese on this one. The work on the brides, and fairly simple tape with a heavier thread, and the more elaborate edge just seem Italian. I like the bold design, wish there were more of it. Condition looks good from the photos.

   No bids.

http://tinyurl.com/7ualmk2 ANTIQUE LACE-FINE BRUSSELS POINT DE GAZE LAPPET
Size: 3.5″ x 44″
Starting Price: $125.00
Auction ends: Dec 04, 2011 08:20:22 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller mithya, London-New York, United States
Comments: A good narrow lappet-ended scarf of Point de Gaze. No raised work, and few fillings, but I like the contrast of the denser edge motifs and the lighter flowers on the needlelace ground up the center. It has a funny edge treatment with a thread running between widely spaced picots. And note the double looped edge to the filling rings which is probably a characteristic of this manufacturer. It actually is a fairly simple piece, but looks quite nice. Very good condition.

   Sold for $125.00, 1 bidder.

http://tinyurl.com/6pbo9w5 ANTIQUE LACE-18THC FLEMISH LAPPETS
Size: 3.25″ X 22″ each?
Starting Price: $45.00
Auction ends: Dec 04, 2011 08:22:00 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller mithya, London-New York, United States
Comments: Maybe dates around 1770.  The technique is quite interesting, the droschel ground is sometimes worked into the needlelace motifs, but it also seems like some of the motifs were appliqued onto the ground. If you look very closely you can see a few motifs lifting up from the ground. Wish there was a photo of the back of one of these, I’d like to see how the droschel threads carry over. I’ve seen this kind of thing before and have wondered if the needlelace was actually made somewhere like Alençon and sent to Belgium for grounding.  Things like this are mentioned in the literature, but without good examples. Very similar motifs were used in Alençon work itself.  It would be an interesting project for a student to investigate this. Condition is problematic, there’s a lot of damage to the ground.

   Sold for $60.00, 2 bidders.

http://tinyurl.com/75tomru ANTIQUE LACE-EXQUISITE 19THC.BURANO LACE
Size: 3.5″ x 46″
Starting Price: $150.00
Auction ends: Dec 04, 2011 08:33:26 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller mithya, London-New York, United States
Comments: Wish there were more of this. It’s a later Italian attempt at Herren Alençon, but the design hints more at late 18thc – early 19thc Mechlin. Note the buds in the upper ground look a little like the Mechlin quatrefoils. A very simple, effective repeat.  I am wondering about the foot edge, it doesn’t look to sharp, and the buds along the edge almost go too high up. I’d like more space between them and the actual edge. Probably nothing wrong, and the rest looks in good condition.

   No bids.

http://tinyurl.com/6qpzjwz Maltese Silk Lace Square
Size: 35″ square
Starting Price: $49.00
Auction ends: Dec 04, 2011 17:00:49 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller rockofagus, East Aurora, NY, United States
Comments: This seller is showing several good Maltese pieces t his week, and I especially like this square cloth. The leaf tallies are nicely organized into circular medallions with the Maltese cross elements confined to the edges and very center. The condition looks very good, maybe a few separations between the narrow bands, but nothing major.

   Sold for $102.50, 2 bidders.

http://tinyurl.com/6slcb9p Antique Brussels Lace Floral Wedding Handkerchief/Hankie
Size: 12″ square
Starting Price: $99.00
Auction ends: Dec 04, 2011 17:54:19 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller babysthree, Littleton, Colorado, United States
Comments: A Brussels Duchesse handkerchief, no needlelace which puts it more on the Bruges side. Good work on the flowers. I don’t see any major damage, but the whole thing has a bit of a wrinkled look. Maybe recently washed?

   Sold for $99.00, 1 bidder.

http://tinyurl.com/7aprbwx ANTIQUE LACE FABULOUS FRENCH WEDDING HANKIE DUCHESSE APPLIQUEE MONOGRAM BB
Size: 17″ square
Starting Price: $49.99 with reserve
Auction ends: Dec 04, 2011 18:16:20 PST
Offered by: Ebay seller greatlace, Paris – Palm Beach, United States
Comments: This is really fun.It’s a Brussels application on machine net but with a fairly wild design. Nice needlelace fillings, mainly different varieties of rings. The work on the bobbinlace is great, note the large areas of cloth stitch. It looks like the wavy pattern you see in the lower leaves of the corner motifs is deliberate. The whole thing is also quite large for a handkerchief. Very minor defects. My only complaint is that the BB monogram, although nice, just isn’t up to the standard of the rest of the piece. Even a single letter monogram could have made better use of that complex space.

   Sold for $175.00, 3 bidders.