Fragment of a Band with Geometric Motif

17th-18th century

Fragment of a Band with Geometric Motif, 17th-18th century. Spain, 17th-18th century. Needle lace, filet/lacis (knotted ground and darned in two directions); bleached linen (est.); overall: 5.5 x 15.8 cm (2 3/16 x 6 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Myrta Leonora Jones 1919.784 The thick and graphic darning, or area of woven pattern, depicts triangular and circular geometric motifs. In addition to the knotting of the thread (filet/lacis technique), the lace maker used thicker thread to create the bold and heavy pattern. Myrta Leonora Jones, the donor of this work, was a women’s rights activist in Cleveland in the early 20th century.