Collar made in the style of Bedfordshire lace, England, mid-19th century.
Bedfordshire lace, or simply Beds lace, and also known as Bedfordshire Maltese lace, was based on local lace forms traditionally produced in the English Midlands and on the Maltese lace that was developed in the early nineteenth century and on show at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. Maltese lace, and Bedfordshire lace, are forms of guipure, bobbin lace. The Maltese lace in particular gave the Bedfordshire lace its rounded leave patterns.
Bedfordshire lace went out of fashion by the second half of the nineteenth century, partly because of the costs of its production. Hainault lace from Belgium is regarded to be a related to this group of laces.
Source: See wikipedia.
Digital source of illustration (retrieved 8 December 2020).
WV
