Edging

Art Historical Context

This exquisite "Edging" is a masterful piece of 16th-century Italianbin lace, crafted by an unknown artist. Measuring a slender 15½ x ½ inches (39.4 x 1.3 cm), it served as a decorative trim, likely for collars, cuffs, or garment hems during the Renaissance. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department European Sculpture and Decorative (acquired via the Rogers Fund in 1920), it the era's obsession with refined textiles as symbols of status and elegance. Bobbin lace, a technique that emerged in Europe around this time, involved skilled artisans using small bobbins—pins holding threads...