Sheringham Lacemakers ‘Make Lace Make Friends Day’
Date: October 2, 2010
Place: St. Andrew’s Methodist Church
Cromer Road, Sheringham, Norfolk
TIME: 10.00 AM UNTIL 4.00 PM
SPEAKER: Steve Smith
TICKETS £5.00 (incl tea & coffee)
checks payable to Sheringham Lacemakers
41 Bracken Avenue, Overstrand, Cromer, Norfolk NR27 0NZ
please incude SAE
West Midlands Lace Day
Date: October 2, 2010
Place: The Mercian Lace Association at Blakedown Parish Hall
Blakedown, Stourbridge, West Mids.
Time: 9:45 AM UNTIL 4:00 PM
Workshop: Sally Herd, “Chrysanthemum Lace”
TICKETS £3.00 members, £6.00 non members
information: 0121 308 0518
Lincolnshire Lacemakers Lace Day
Date: October 2, 2010
Place: Methodist Church
Queen Street, Horncastle, Lines LN9 6BD
TIME: 10.00 AM UNTIL 3.00 PM
SPEAKER: Mr. Hill, “Village Life”
TICKETS £3.00 at the door
information: 01527 523221
Itchen Valley Lacemakers Lace Day
Date: October 2, 2010
Place: St. Deny’s Church Centre
Dundee Road, St. Deny’s, Southampton
TIME: 10.00 AM UNTIL 4.00 PM
SPEAKER: Joyce Meader, “Historical Knit”
TICKETS £6.00
Cheques payable to ‘Itchen Valley Lacemakers’,
38 Bassett reen Close, Southampton SO16 3QS
information: 02380 769970
Please include SAE
Lacemakers of Ivinghoe Lace Day
Date: October 2, 2010
Place: Cheddington Village Hall
Cheddington, Bucks
Time: 10.00 AM UNTIL 4.00 PM
Tickets: £4.00
Cheques payable to Lacemakers of Ivinghoe
1 Polywick Road, Wigginton, Tring, Herts HP23 6ES
SAE please
Four different varieties of the above English token are known, all differing in the inscription on the outside edge of the coin (not visible in the photos), including one with no inscription. All were issued by Chambers Langston Hall & Co, and the above example has this written on the edge. The normal variety was copper, and it has long been rumored to also have been issued in silver.
On October 22, 2009, I purchased the astonishing example of the token pictured above from dealer Richard Gladdle on Ebay. It has a wonderful provenance:
The Collection of an MP, SNC November-December 1922 (12650)
(SNC is Spink’s Numismatic Circular, the number refers to their price list)
W. Longman Collection, Glendining Auction, 12-13 March 1958, lot 1 (part)
(Longman was a famous collector between the wars, he wrote “Tokens of the Eighteenth Century connected with Booksellers & Bookmakers” in 1916.)
N.T. Bagshawe Collection, Glendining Auction, 3 November 2000, lot 771, recté DH 3c; bt R. Gladdle September 2001;
(Bagshawe was a collector in the 40s and 50s and founded the Luton Museum and for forty years or so this coin was in the Museum on loan. When he died his son had all the stuff back and everything was sold in 2000.)
R. Brown Collection 2009.
(Brown was the Brown in ‘Forman Brown’ i.e., the owners of Southern Comfort and Jack Daniels. He died in 2006.)
One might speculate given its brilliant appearance that this is an example of a ‘silver’ token. Frankly, I don’t think there ever were any made in silver – not one example has ever come to light. I think the reference might be to this coin, formed by swaging a thick copper sheet over the blank, rather than the usual stamping process. It is a very high quality product, probably only a few produced. And just as we could add another line to the provenance (Dr. L. S. Waters, Los Alamos, New Mexico, October 2008- ) the impossible happened. The coin was shipped registered mail from England, and the tracking record at the post office read:
Inbound International Arrival, October 31, 2009, 11:02 am, ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS)
Origin Post is preparing Shipment
The coin was never seen again. It has been registered as stolen on every site we can find, the police have been contacted, and the Post Office has been searching (4 other coins from the same dealer disappeared the same way at the same time). If you come across this token, please send a note to lswaters619@comcast.net. It has a distinctive marker, a chip in the copper at the edge just under the ‘ER’ in ‘Berkhamsted’.
This is a tragic loss for the lace collecting and lacemaking community.
UK dealers Joachim and Betty Mendes are showing a large (262 x 31 cm) border of Youghal lace. An interesting piece, with a repeat of Irish harp motif with some notes of music. You actually have travel from harp to harp to get the whole song! The surrounding foliage is very nicely done. It is unusual to see such large pieces of Youghal of this quality. Stock No. F10 on their site, http://tinyurl.com/2cl5ema about halfway down.
May 25, 2014 – revised and updated this post.
Israeli artist Avital Pinnick has recently posted very useful information on Puncetto Valsesiano. She has developed a step-by-step series of instructions demonstrating the technique – the site currently has nine pages. Here is a list with pointers to each page:
puncetto-valsesiano-part-1 Introduction
puncetto-valsesiano-part-2 The Stitch
puncetto-valsesiano-part-3 Foundation Thread
puncetto-valsesiano-part-4 Circular Foundation Thread
puncetto-valsesiano-part-5 Ladder Foundation
puncetto-valsesiano-part-6 Squares and Bars
puncetto-valsesiano-part-7 Open Squares (contains the first flash animation)
puncetto-valsesiano-part-8 Web
puncetto-valsesiano-part-9 Diamond
In February 2011, the first of five new Puncetto technique videos was posted on YouTube, in German:
http://tinyurl.com/k9ckoe5 Anleitung für Puncetto Anfang
http://tinyurl.com/4bc89tj Anleitung 2 Puncetto Kästchenreihe
http://tinyurl.com/4dedotr Anleitung 3 Puncetto Kästchenreihe und neuen Faden anschlingen.
http://tinyurl.com/4rba7fz Anleitung 4 Puncetto Spinne unterer Teil
http://tinyurl.com/le2nqa8 Anleitung 5 Puncetto Spinne oberer Teil
We are now seeing more than a few sites on Pinterest on Puncetto Valsesiano:
http://www.pinterest.com/search/boards/?q=puncetto
Puncetto Valsesiano belongs to the tradition of Mediterranean and Eastern European freehand knotted needlelaces such as Armenian, Bibilla, Chebka from Tunesia, Oya, and several Greek variations. This lace is native to areas in the northern Italian Piedmont, and the site http://wp.me/p12Zh8-2i contains information direct from that region. An exhibition of this lace in Fobello can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/n4rhqta. Puncetto has a characteristically rectangular look, and was traditionally made as straight insertions to join two pieces of cloth. This rather rigid geometry is still evident when the lace is made as an edging with triangular or square peaks, and artists often make wonderful use of color. Puncetto can also be made in round motifs which can get quite elaborate, although still using rectangular elements in the different rounds. The use of the knotted stitch gives this lace a rather nubby texture, as opposed the smoother surfaces of laces using twisted buttonhole stitch variations- also part of the great Italian needlelace tradition. Technically it is worked without a marked pattern, and builds on a straight base thread or adds to the row below. It an be worked from right to left or left to right. Puncetto uses the Continental needlelace hand position, where the tip of the needle works away from the body (as contrasted to the English position where the needle tip is drawn toward the body). A wonderful demonstration in an oft-cited video can be found at http://tinyurl.com/6bdewz. A second, much lesser known video is available at http://tinyurl.com/4po9nn4.
Avital correctly points out that Punto Valsesiano is little documented, but with improving internet resources more is becoming available. Unfortunately the resources on the Lace Fairy site are now gone, because Lace Fairy is no longer supported.
Italian Needlelace has excellent information, and also reminds us of an older name for this work, Punto Avorio. As with many laces that were originally used to join or edge clothing or household linens, it is typically made with heavier thread. This, along with the tightness of the work and certain finishing techniques gives the lace the appearance of finely carved ivory, at least from a distance.
Sites in Italian include:
http://tinyurl.com/4ktbnm3
http://tinyurl.com/4noxrke
http://tinyurl.com/4tkh424
http://tinyurl.com/4oc9ncs
http://tinyurl.com/4pd2seq
http://tinyurl.com/4t6j3lu
http://tinyurl.com/4m8eqhl
http://tinyurl.com/lkaqafs
Here are a few other sites in English:
http://tinyurl.com/4dyqrun
http://tinyurl.com/k84teov
Here is a site in Japanese at http://tinyurl.com/4z7q7c6
A site in Czech is at http://tinyurl.com/ky5b7sq
Google Images does what it can in searching for Puncetto Valsesiano, with a few productive images.
Written material on this lace has always been around, but not in much volume. There seem to have been three main periods in which this lace is publicized. The 1884 DMC Encyclopedia of Needlework mentions Italian Punto Avario briefly. The undated “Poncetto Lace” by Signorina Theresa Rizzi of Valsesia is an excellent resource. Google books is actually of help here, pointing to a US catalog of copyrights which dates either this or a similar work to 1917. In 1926 Margaret Johnstone wrote an article for the Needle and Bobbin Club called “Ragusa: The Mystery Spot in Lace-History”, in which this lace is incorrectly attributed to Ragusa. It is noteworthy that some of the collection of lace which illustrated this work was sold on Ebay a few years ago, and other pieces are in the Met.
In the 1960’s and 70’s, two unexpected sources have technical information – the Anchor Manual of Needlework (chapter 21), and the old Golden Hands publication (Part 5/Vol 1, Part 6/Vol 1, Part 36/Vol 3). Anchor was first published in 1958, although the exact origins of the chapters are obscure. It may be a collection of earlier individual publications, but the primary purpose of the book was to sell Coats & Clark thread. The information in several chapters, such as Burano Lace, Puncetto, and Orvietto crochet is excellent, and must have been organized by authors close to the source.
Puncetto has been again documented in the past 2 decades, with several publications by Valsesian authors:
Three works published by the Societa’ Operaia di Mutuo Soccorso, founded in 1856:
– Paola Scarrone and Angela Stefanutto, “Manuale del Puncetto Colorato”, See Avital’s review of this book at http://tinyurl.com/3tbr295.
– A. Petterino Camaschella, “Il manuale del Puncetto Valsesiano”, 1992, Valsesia editrice. Recently reprinted as (I believe) “A Suola di Puncetto Valsesiano”, 2009.
– “L’Arte del Puncetto Valsesano”, 2013,
Works by Anna Axerio, Centro Libri Varallo:
“Puncetto Valsesiano – Manuale de Base”
“Puncetto Valsesiano, Gli Angoli”
“Puncetto Valsesiano – Le Puntine”, 1999
“Puncetto Valsesiano, Le Stella”, 2001
Many of these works can be purchased at Italian Needlecrafts, or from the Tombolo & Disegni site at http://tinyurl.com/4ao3kqp.
Given the increasing interest in this lace (note that is a lively Puncetto discussion group on the Needle Lace Talk form http://tinyurl.com/45waw6n) perhaps it is a good time for someone to think about a new work on the whole category of knotted freehand needlelaces. Perhaps OIDFA could form a study group. Or perhaps someone like Avital, with her unique geographic location, could consider it. There is a surprising amount of information on the web from local sources on the eastern knotted laces, but in languages with which the western community is unfortunately not always familiar. We should not be ignoring pieces like these videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW5RSHVb6uQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaJXDimQZTs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjNPj5iJlw8
http://tinyurl.com/2bvqonp Antique Maltese handmade lace for a Parasol
Current offer: GPB 29.99, no bids
Auction ends Sep 8, 2010, 09:23:36 PDT.
Offered by: Ebay name DISCOVER4, of London UK
Comments: Appears to be black silk. Good condition. This type of lace was also made in Beds, can be difficult to distinguish from Maltese.
sold for 77.00 GBP
http://tinyurl.com/25a7hzj Antique Lace 13″ Wide Handmade Chantilly Flounce c 1880
Current offer: $150.00, no bids.
Auction ends Sep 8, 2010, 09:23:36 PDT.
Offered by: Paivi Roberts, Ebay name GREATLACE, of Palm Springs, Florida
Comments: This is the real thing, very nice condition. Wide, long lengths of excellent Chantilly have been showing up quite often on Ebay in the past year.
sold for $150.00
http://tinyurl.com/2b6dqxk Rare Ancien Carreau de Dentelliere + 50 Cartes Modeles
Current offer: $150.00, no bids.
Auction ends Sep 10, 2010, 11:50:14 PDT.
Offered by: Ebay seller bpbob;p01, of Essonnes, France
Comments: I have 92 old and new lacemaking pillows in my collection, and I’ve never seen anything like this (comments are very welcome here). Not listed in Kloppel-Kissen-Stander. Patterns appear to be French. Wrote to the seller, got an obviously “babelfished’ reply, no more useful information. I think I read the date Feb 1932 on one of the patterns, it’s hard to tell, and I don’t know if it’s significant. The construction of this pillow is quite good. Be sure to ask the seller shipping costs outside of France to avoid surprises.
sold for 86.00 EUR
http://tinyurl.com/28c5rck Brussels Bobbin Lace fan, Cantonese Hand Carved sticks
Current offer: $106.50, unknown reserve not met.
Auction ends Sep 14, 2010, 06:01:55 PDT.
Offered by: New York and London dealer Anne Swift, Ebay name eastayton, London.
Comments: Very beautiful piece, looks like 19th-20th c Belgian bobbin and needlace applique on machine net. Comes with original case.
sold for $900.00
http://tinyurl.com/263chpl Omas schoner Kloppelstander Kloppelsack Decoartikel a65
Current offer: EUR 65.00, buy it now.
Auction ends no end date listed
Offered by: Ebay seller antik-volkskunst-erzgebirge
Comments: I’ve bought a lot of Erzgebirge pillows/stands from this dealer, very reliable, shipping to USA usually around 65 euros (check with seller to make sure). This is a very nice older Erzgebirge pillow and stand. Metal braces on the feet are unusual. It didn’t sell at Ebay auction in the past, so is currently buy-it-now.
sold for 60.00 EUR
LaceNews has been up for nearly a week – 24 posts, 578 hits as of today. Thanks to everyone for their support!
People certainly have noticed the large number of posts on Lace Days in the UK. Obviously the Lace Day is an institution in the UK with a well defined form successful for many years. There seem to be at least 10 going each month (I know of at least 15 for October). In the future I’ll post all known Lace Days in the UK at the beginning of the month in which they will be held. Additional announcements are welcome at any time, but the bulk will occur at the beginning of each month. I’ve got many inquiries out to the US and other countries for similar information.
In another attempt at organization, Ebay alerts will occur each Thursday and Sunday. Of course if anything really interesting comes up, special posts will be made.
Several interesting interviews with lace people are in progress, and various internet sites will be highlighted soon. The lace photo in the header of the site will also be changed monthly. Stay tuned!
Laurie
LaceNews 