Corner Fragment with a Variety of Patterns

19th century

Corner Fragment with a Variety of Patterns, 19th century. Italy, 19th century. Needle lace, machine-made burato (twined ground and darned in two directions), cutwork, drawnwork, and applied fringe; bleached linen (est.); overall: 79.8 x 71.4 cm (31 7/16 x 28 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Louise Tifft Brown 1933.334 Textiles often incorporate multiple needlework techniques within a single piece. One of the main techniques in this example of lace is called cutwork. In cutwork, portions of the textile ground, such as a linen or cotton cloth, are cut away and threads are removed to create holes. The edges of the hole are then reinforced with embroidery and a pattern of needle lace can be created within the perimeter. Rather than adding to the cloth to create a design, the craftsperson removes threads to fabricate a pattern. The various techniques used in this fragment suggest that it may have been made as a sampler to practice different lacemaking techniques.