Cap crown

Unknown

1720–40 · Needle lace, point d’Alençon, linen · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Laces produced in Alençon and Argentan, where the French lacemaking industry was established in the seventeenth century, evolved in tandem with changing fashions. For a brief period in the first half of the eighteenth century, these laces, called Argentella, were produced with a background, or mesh, of solid hexagons enclosed within hexagonal outlines. They were intended to mirror the patterns of contemporary dress silks. Both silks and laces of the period often employed motifs of exotic foliage, such as the palm trees in this cap crown.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1720–40

Medium

Needle lace, point d’Alençon, linen

Culture

French

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of The Lady Reigate, in memory of her mother, Mrs. William Redmond Cross, 1979