White linen handkerchief decorated with cutwork, needle lace and embroidery, Italian, ca. 1600

Handkerchief of fine linen with decoration at the four corners : cutwork with needle lace fillings, and whitework embroidery in detached buttonhole and satin stitches; edged with needle lace.

The handkerchief was purchased from the lace dealer Samuel Chick in 1906.

Historical significance: The fine quality of the handkerchief's decoration reflects the importance of embroidery and lace in this period of ostentatious display in dress. Decorated in this way the handkerchief had a function beyond its everyday use, and could be carried as a fashionable accessory. The technique of cutwork used here was the creation of a delicate structure of needle lace stitches across the spaces cut in a fine linen ground. It reached the height of its popularity in the late sixteenth and early seventeeth century, when it was used to decorate every type of linen and in particular to draw attention to the face and throat in the form of collars and ruffs.

Handkerchiefs made of plain linen served the same function in the sixteenth century as they do today. However, if they were decorated they could also be carried purely as fashionable accessories and given as gifts. Queen Elizabeth I frequently received gifts of embroidered handkerchiefs on New Years' Day.

Handkerchiefs made of plain linen served the same function in the sixteenth century as they do today. However, if they were decorated they could also be carried purely as fashionable accessories and given as gifts.This example has whitework embroidery, worked in detached buttonhole and satin stitches, needle lace and cutwork decoration. Cutwork is the earliest form of needle lace. It is based on a woven ground, from which areas have been cut away. Elaborate cutwork was an important decoration on fashionable dress for both men and women from about 1570 to 1620.

288-1906