I'd like to hang grandmother's lace curtains, but they are badly in need of repair. What should I do?
When lace is in need of restoration or conservation, the attention of an expert is usually demanded. So, I have called upon my dear friend, Bryce Reveley, who lives in New Orleans. Mrs. Reveley runs a business called Gentle Arts which cleans, restores, conserves and appraises old lace. Her clients are individuals as well as auction houses and museums.
Mrs. Reveley says repairing lace is a specialized art requiring knowledge of how the lace is constructed--that is, if it is bobbin lace or needle lace or a combination of the two techniques, or if it is machinemade.
Bobbin Lace also called "Pillow Lace"
Bobbin lace is more common and was used in linens and lingerie. It is made on a pillow by twisting many threads around pins. This is called bobbing, thus the name bobbin lace. There are more than 300 types of bobbin lace.
Needle lace, which resembles crochet, is stiff and has a densely woven pattern, generally in a floral motif. The stitches are looped and made with a single thread. This type of lace was more rare and was used in elegant apparel and altar linens.
And some antique lace is machine made. Mrs. Reveley says that the first lace-making machine was invented in the late 1800s. "You could easily have a piece of beautiful lace that is nearly 100 years old, yet is machine-made," she says.
"It's almost impossible to tell the difference between a piece of handmade lace and a piece that is machine-made without a lot of practice. After the turn of the century, lacemakers became more proficient and lacemaking machines became more sophisticated.
"Often I use a magnifying glass to find an irregular pattern that would be indistinguishable to the naked eye. Sometimes I look for the way the threads are clipped, but even that can be deceptive. And often I can tell just by the way the piece feels--and that just comes from years of experience," she says.
The actual mending involves duplicating the exact stitches that were used to make the lace including using the same types of thread. Mrs. Reveley can re-create the medallions, flowers, and figures that give each piece of lace its unique personality. To the untrained eye, her work is invisible. Painstaking work under the best conditions, conserving lace is made more difficult by the fragility of the fabric. And the average person doesn't realize the subtle variations in thread color--white, cream, ecru, beige, and gray.
So, for your own peace of mind, please let a professional conservator make those repairs. You'll be ever so happy you did.
The thrill of the auction is over--for the moment. With art & antiques, pleasure also comes from acquiring the specialized knowledge involved in their preservation. Even experienced collectors may not know exactly how to care for fine art. At BIDDINGTON'S, upmarket, online art auctions & art gallery, our in-house oracle on fine art preservation and restoration procedures is Augusta Biddington. Mrs. Biddington is an old hand at old things. Unfortunately, This archived feature was first published in 1998. Mrs. Biddington is no longer able to provide answers to specific questions.