Antique of the Week--Look into the Past!

From Jennifer at starchedandcrumpled.com:  "Dating to around 1910, this is an unfinished Irish crochet lace collar, still stitched to the blue fabric and paper with hand drawn pencil guidelines. The large motifs have been completed, and the joining lace tracery has just been begun.  The inner collar measurement is approximately 44cm, and the outer edge is 88cm. It is 10cm deep." 

Here is a full view of the collar.  As Jennifer noted above, the motifs are stitched to a fabric collar shape, and then basted to a paper backing.  Do you think that the fabric shape was a "pattern piece"?  One that they saved and re-used for other collars?  Note how she laid out the motifs in a symmetrical pattern, with the pomegranates thistles at both ends, then working inwards, the daisies, the swirling shamrock, the next swirling flower (what is that?) and centered with the elaborate, three dimensional Irish rose.  Two types of wheels would frame the face. 

Here is a great view of joining in progress!  Can you tell if she started on the outer cord, and worked her way towards the motif, or the opposite?  You can see that the motif is right-side-up.  We had questions about motif placement after watching the Russian style of Irish Crochet.  Do you join your work with the motifs face down or face up?  The Russians usually do it face down.  Maire Treanor does it face up, as she wants the Clones Knots to be on top of the work.  This person worked face up as well.

I wonder why this was never finished?

You can see the pencil tracing on the paper here on the outer edge of the collar, where the maker was going to put the edging.  See the little triple arcs along the upper left and lower left edges?

You also get a great view of the cord that was basted to the paper, outlining the collar and giving her something to anchor the joining ground to.  -posted by Kim


UPDATE!

From Eileen:  "I have observed that most of the motifs are contained in Vol 1 of the Hardouin series-all except the small wheel and 
flower. 


Le Chardon-Thistle-no.20 Les trois Spirales no 13 
La Marguerite no 18 
L’Helice no 1(The Propellor) 


Forgot to check on the rose but was common to have 10 or more petals with more than 3 layers of petals.

It is interesting to note the use of cord to form the outline of the collar.  I know that the lace made at Oriveto (Italy) uses the outline method from the needlepoint laces and the maker crochets over it to form the motifs.

In the background of the photos the invoice has a French Address.

It seems to me the maker of this was drawing upon techniques she was familiar with.

The direction of the small area of ground worked in the double picoted loop begins on the short edge and is worked towards the centre.  Not a direction I would have chosen for me it would have been more pleasing to the eye to begin at the base line and proceed towards the neckline, (like the centre outwards of a circle-have said this one lots before.)

No hard and fast rules have been written for these things in the end they are personal choice."