The term lace runner can be used in different ways. It was, for example, a nineteenth century English term for a person who hand embroidered lengths of machine net with darning stitches or running stitches. The term can also be used for strips of net or cloth, such as linen decorated with lace or embroidery of some kind. These were intended to run down, for instance, a table centre. Sometimes these strips are mistaken for stoles.
See also the Needles entry on the 1844 novel The Wrongs of Woman, by Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna.
Sources:
- Anon (1843). 'Children’s employment commission,' Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons, vol. 13, London: House of Commons, pp. 95-96.
- EARNSHAW, Pat (1984). A Dictionary of Lace, Aylesbury: Shire Publications Ltd., p. 149.
Digital source of illustration (retrieved 22 June 2016).
GVE