Fragment with Animal and Vegetal Motifs

16th century

Fragment with Animal and Vegetal Motifs, 16th century. Italy, 16th century. Needle lace, burato (twined ground and darned in two directions); unbleached and bleached linen (est.); overall: 29.2 x 32.2 cm (11 1/2 x 12 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of J. H. Wade 1920.1256 The dark yellow of the unbleached linen ground allows for the pattern, worked in bleached linen in the burato technique, to prominently stand out. A thicker white thread outlines the design of stags in the top register, the vegetal motifs throughout, and the griffin or crowned eagle on the right. The word lace derives from the Latin laqueus, meaning noose.