Point de Venise is a
Venetian needle lace
Needle lace is a type of lace created using a needle and thread to stitch up hundreds of small stitches to form the lace itself.
In its purest form, the only equipment and materials used are a needle, thread and scissors. The origins of need ...
from the 17th century characterized by scrolling floral patterns with additional
flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...
l motifs worked in relief (in contrast with the geometric designs of the earlier
reticella
Reticella (also reticello or in French point coupé or point couppe) is a needle lace dating from the 15th century and remaining popular into the first quarter of the 17th century.
Reticella was originally a form of cutwork in which threads wer ...
). By the
mid-seventeenth century, it had overtaken
Flemish lace
Flanders lace (point de Flandres) was made in Flanders, which was particularly well known for its bobbin lace. The supreme epoch of Flemish lace lasted from about 1550-1750.
The lacemaking areas of Antwerp, Mechlin, Binche and Valenciennes are re ...
as the most desirable type of lace in contemporary European fashion.
Beginning in 1620 it became separated into Venetian raised lace (which became known by the French term "''gros point de Venise''") and Venetian flat lace (in French "''point plat de Venise''"). The former (now known in English as "''Venetian Gros Point''") is characterized by having a raised pattern created through the use of cordonette worked over with buttonholing so that the curves achieved an elevated quality similar to a relief carving.
Notes
References
*Lefébure, Ernest, b. 1835: ''Embroidery and Lace: Their Manufacture and History from the Remotest Antiquity to the Present Day'' (London: H. Grevel and Co., 1888), ed. by Alan S. Col
Online Books page*Montupet, Janine, and Ghislaine Schoeller: ''Lace: The Elegant Web'',
Needle lace
Textile arts of Italy
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