Lace

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is an exquisitely crafted needle lace cravat end. Lace was often utilized as neckwear in the 17th and 18th centuries for aesthetic purposes and to emphasize the fine quality the wearer could afford. This particular piece is finely detailed with mirror-image motifs which take no identifiable shape but are nevertheless intriguing. The addition of the raised work adds a sense of depth and texture to already arresting surface effect.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art