The History of Lace

Lace as we know it today developed prior to the sixteenth century from the drawn work, cutwork, and lacis (darning on squares of net) that evolved out of centuries of embroidery and needlework. Traces of elaborate netting have been found in the tombs of ancient Egypt; the Bible mentions “fine twisted linen wrought with needlework”; and centuries-old Scandinavian burial chambers have yielded fragments of gold lace.

This definitive history of lace-making is a landmark of nineteenth-cent…