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Collection of 18th and 19th century lace pieces, including Genoese, Gros Vintage Battenburg tape-lace vest, l. 17 ½”, early 1900s,
Point, Milanese, Brussels, Mechlin, Devon, Binche, and Alençon lace, photo: Rubylane.com
realized $376 in 2015 photo: www.bonhams.com

were the height of womanly fashion, many also offered scores of needle
and bobbin lace Bertha collars – flat, cloak-like coverups named for At Left: Festive French
Victorian handmade net
“Bertha Broadfoot,” Charlemagne’s reputedly modest mother. Yet lace baby bonnet,
many featured stunning ribbons, feathers, sequins, crystals, pearls, or photo: Rubylane.com
precious jewel embellishments. Moreover, beneath their corseted
hourglass silhouettes, Victorian women sometimes favored alluring,
lace-trimmed petticoats or camisoles.
Above all, explains Anna Halley, owner of The Highland Lace
Company based in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, lace signified Below: Linen tablecloth
romance. “In Victorian times, the ardent suitor would send a pair of featuring handmade
lace gloves to his beloved as a proposal of marriage. The young lady lace inserts and
would then demurely signal her acceptance by wearing the gloves to a trim, 86” x 93”,
photo: Rubylane.com
social engagement or church. Had she been undecided, she wore but
one, signaling to her gentleman that the wooing should be continued.”
Once wooed and won, brides wed wearing festive lacy gowns, veils,
capes, and trains.
After World War I, Belgian and Venetian lace, typically gracing
table runners and trimmings, grew bolder in design. By the mid-century,
American machine-made Battenburg tape-lace, enhanced with hand-
sewn needle lace fillings, edged an untold number of household linens
and women’s garments.
Through the years, lacy and lace-trimmed fabrics like these were
tucked away in hope chests and bureau drawers, then largely forgotten.
Today, however, collectors and devotees are bringing these treasures,
tangible links to women of the past, to life.
Lace-edged sheets and coverlets, for instance, can serve as attractive
curtains, bedspreads, or tablecloths. Frayed, stained, or yellowed
portions, trimmed away, can be fashioned into shawls, skirts, or sashes.
Moreover, lacy bits and bobs, salvaged at yard sales, estate sales,
flea markets, thrift shops, or antique stores, can be transformed into
attractive shelf edgings, lamp shades, baby quilts, pillows, evening bags,
or wall-hung ornaments under glass.
Vintage lace fabrics, dating from the past generation or so, are not
only the most plentiful but the least costly. Many, depending on their
design, size, purpose, and condition, can be found for under a hundred
dollars. Sets of stunning, antique lace cuffs, collars, ties, and veil
fragments—some over a hundred years old—may also be surprisingly
inexpensive. In 2015, for example, Bonhams auctioned a collection of
18th and 19th-century lace, including Genoese, Gros Point, Milanese,
Brussels, Mechlin, Devon, Binche, and Alençon fragments, for $376.
Fabulous antique lace fabrics continue to reach the market, explains
Ms. Halley. “It is amazing what is coming out in all directions recently!
There are lace auctions in Paris and the USA about once a year. And
Instagram is a really great place to find old, unusual treasures!”

32 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles