Cleveland Museum of Art

Corner Fragment with a Variety of Patterns

Date

1800s

Medium

Bleached linen (est.): needle lace, machine-made burato (twined ground and darned in two directions), cutwork, drawnwork, and applied fringe

Culture

Italy, 1800s

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Textiles often incorporate multiple needlework techniques within a single piece. One of the main techniques in this example of lace is called cutwork. In cutwork, portions of the textile ground, such as a linen or cotton cloth, are cut away and threads are removed to create holes. The edges of the hole are then reinforced with embroidery and a pattern of needle lace can be created within the perimeter. Rather than adding to the cloth to create a design, the craftsperson removes threads to fabricate a pattern. The various techniques used in this fragment suggest that it may have been made as a sampler to practice different lacemaking techniques.

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