Punto in Aria lace, c. 1625/1650 Italy and Punto de Venecia lace, c. 1650 Spain. Countess of Effingham's collection

Punto in Aria lace, c. 1625/1650 Italy and Punto de Venecia lace, c. 1650 Spain. Countess of Effingham's collection
Set consisting of two strips of antique lace: the first, a strip of needle lace called Punto in aria, second quarter of the 17th century (c. 1625/1650), made in Italy or Spain (larger piece); the second, a strip of needle lace called Punto de Venecia al relieve, mid-17th century (c. 1650), made in Italy or Spain (smaller piece, in the centre).

Provenance:

Collection of Gladys Irene Freeman, Countess of Effingham, UK.

These two laces come from the collection of Gladys Irene Freeman, who was made Countess of Effingham on 12 August 1952. She was the second wife of Mowbray Henry Gordon Howard, 6th Earl of Effingham (1905 - 1996). The two pieces are antique basted on a maroon textile that acts as a support, where two cartouches and a label inform of the provenance and nineteenth-century cataloguing of the set:

"no. 703. OLD TAPE LACE with needle / made fillings. Italian, possibly L. 17n. C. / Priests Alb flounce, / made to resemble "point plat": Previously / in Irene Countess of Effingham's collection" (1st cartouche, referring to the large piece).

"Tape lace. Possibly Spanish, nº 651" (2nd cartouche, referring to the small piece).

"No. 703 Tape lace / Probably / Italian / L 17º C" (hanging label). The first two texts, written in pen with black ink, fitted between horizontal lines in black pencil; the text of the label, more modern, in black biros.

Measurements: 88 x 55.5 (red support); central strip 74 x 7.5 cm; 224 x 23.5 cm.Good preservation.

An outstanding piece of lace, from this same collection of the said Countess, was auctioned at Kerry Taylor Auctions (auction 27 February 2017, lot 406, estimate £500-900, hammer price £1. 200; see last photograph of this lot): "An exceptional figurative panel of Gros Point de Venise, late 17th century, with design of a lion, deer and other creatures within giant flowering plants, with a variety of patterned fillings and picots to the lion's mane, 12 by 40cm For a similar panel probably from the same flounce see 'The Margaret Simeon collection', Phillips, 9.9.1992 lot 192. Provenance: The Countess of Effingham collection".