Rosaline lace
{{Short description|Two types of floral lace}}
{{Infobox textile
| name = Rosaline or Rosaline Perlée
| image = File:Rosaline Perlée.jpg
| caption = Rosaline Perlée typical small motifs
| type = Lace
| material = linen
| method = Bobbin lace
| process = Craft production
| location = Aalast region, Belgium
| introduced = 19th century
}}
Rosaline lace may refer to a late 17th-century Venetian needle lace, or a late 19th-century bobbin part lace imitation. A Brussels variant with needle lace pearls is called Rosaline Perlée. The variant made in Bruges lacked the pearls. A variant name for this lace style is Belgian Rococo.{{Cite book |last=Coffield |first=Caroline |title=A Rococo Adventure: Discovering the Art of Belgian Bobbin Lace |publisher=Bizarre Butterfly Publishing |year=1988 |isbn=9780915113057 |location=Phoenix Arizona |pages=11}} Here we refer to the bobbin lace style.
File:Panel (possibly Belgium), early 18th century (CH 18444625).jpg style that inspired the 19th century style]]
History
In the 1870s the second French empire collapsed, concurrently fashion changed. The cheaper guipures were affected but the better Brussels laces stayed in demand for wedding trousseaux. Designs and technique however remained much the same.{{cite book|last1=Toomer|first1=Heather|title=Lace: a guide to identification of old lace types and techniques|date=1989|publisher=B.T. Batsford Ltd|location=London|pages=99,177}} Individuality of lace types decreased and interest for making lace as a hobby increased. In the 1880s the lace industry revived with imitations of old laces.{{cite book|last1=Levey|first1=Santina M.|authorlink=Santina M. Levey|title=Lace: a history|date=1983|publisher=W.S. Manye & Son Ltd|isbn=090128615X|pages=3, 109, 112}} Aalst developed a lace with a technique based on Duchesse lace. The frequent little roses gave the lace its name: Rosaline. The same name has been used for a seventeenth century Venetian needle lace with similar design. The Belgian Rosaline was produced until the 1950s and rediscovered in 1980s.{{cite book |last1=Eemans-Moors |first1=Ghislaine |title=Rosaline Lace |date=1985 |publisher=Batsford |isbn=0713476036 |pages=59}} The lace is flexible to changing fashion. Worn and unsold pieces could be reassembled.
Features
Characteristic features are the roses with three or five petals, frequently arranged in trails. Unlike the Duchesse, the lace has no gimps. A Brussels variant has needle lace pearls mounted on the hearts of the roses, a Brugges variant lacks the pearls. A special variant connects the flowers with short crinkly edges. Another variant has needle lace fillings. The lace was almost exclusively made of fine linen threads.{{cite book|last1=Earnshaw|first1=Pat|title=The Identification of Lace|date=1985|publisher=Cantecleer|location=De Bilt|isbn=9021302179|page=104}} A piece of lace may look irregular when different parts were created by different people, tension and number of pairs may vary.
The lace requires six or seven pairs. The parts are worked more or less of tapes, mainly in cloth stitch. Each part starts and ends with a bundle, a shortcut for starting and tying off each pair individually. Traditionally these bundles are both on the front and on the back of the lace.{{cite journal|last1=Kruyskamp|first1=Ineke|last2=Scheele-Kerkhof|first2=Yvonne|title=Kijken naar kant (Looking at Lace)|journal=Kantbrief|issue=2002–1|pages=10–11}}
The needle lace pearls are created on a separate needle lace pricking or pattern piece with a buttonhole stitch wrap and then attached to the center of a flower.