Historical information

This piece is a filet lace with a hand darned pattern on machine net and embroidered for ribbon to be threaded through the reverse to highlight the design. It is also known as beading lace which is most commonly used in lingerie. Filet lace is a form of decorative knotted netting and as such can be presumed to have derived from fishnet and is similarly made using a shuttle-needle and a gauge stick or rod although this one has been made on a machine. In 1812, the first net-making machine was invented and was in commercial use by 1820. There are pre-made nets available on the market today but there are different types of net, some made especially for filet. The hand darning would have been made by anchoring the netting and using a long blunt needle and thread. Wider pieces of filet with hand embroidery were commonly used to trim clerical vestments.

Significance

Churchill Island has a large lace collection, which was added to by three successive generations of the Amess family - Jane, Janet, and Unity. The Amess family owned Churchill Island from 1872 to 1929. Jane was wife of Samuel Amess, who was the first Samuel Amess to own Churchill Island. The examples of lace are notable for their variety, and provide respresentative examples of techniques from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries.

Physical description

Filet hand darned pattern on machine net in repeating noughts and crosses geometric motifs.