Type of lace : Freehand Alpine lace (made without any pricking) Hemp or linen thread.
Location: Queyras is in the Southern French Alps, very close to the Italian border. On the Italian side, there is the same type of “tombolo” or “tambour” and the bobbins look the same. The lace is similar as well, though a little more elaborate. This Italian area is called Val Vareïta, which is studied under the name of “Val Vareïta Lace”.The tools:
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The tambour is made with
cembro-pine tree, a local tree which has a lot of domestic uses. It can
be easily carved, so that is why these tambours are so amazingly beautiful!
The bobbins are carved as well, not very long, with a small bulb at the bottom. The lacemaker puts few pins, just on the edges. Photo taken at the Museum of Grenoble, (Isère) France. |
The Lace:
The patterns are either very simple… "sample made by Françoise Monneret/extract from
her
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This coarse straight peasant
lace used to be made by women from the end of the 17thcentury, for their
own use. They stopped making it about the 1825s, some continuing for their
pleasure until 1850. The peasants who were very poor, made this lace to
adorn their “berres” or “cornettes”, their caps, as the laces sold by peddlers
were too expensive for them.
They made them “by heart” and it was a totally oral tradition, as there were certainly not any pricking: none has been found so far… The thread was hemp, cultivated
in the area, or linen, imported from Italy.
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…or elaborate and elegant, inspired by Flanders designs… "sample made by Françoise Monneret/extract from her catalogue.(see below)." |
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A berre
Photo taken at the Museum of Gap |
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A cornette
Photo taken at the exhibition of the “Association du Musée du Costume d’Autrefois”, summer 2000, in Abriès, France. |
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Articles:
Un sculpteur vous parle du tambour à dentelle du Queyras.by Pierre Prost- No. 57 Avril 1994. pp.4-7 (= Die Spitze 2/94). Les Fuseaux du Queyras.by Pierre Prost- No 59 Octobre 1994. pp.11-13. Le Tambour du Queyras Les "Pieds" ou "Supports" des Tambours.by Pierre Prost- No 61 Avril 1995. pp.3-4. Dentelles des coiffes des Alpes. by Nelly Comino-Favro, (with Nicole Ovaere): No 65 Avril 1996, pp.6-10. La Dentelle du Queyras. by Farfantoli, Jean-Paul & by Pierre Prost, No 66 Juillet 1996. pp.3-6.
La décoration des tambours italiens de la Val Varaïta (Piémont).by Pierre Prost- No 80 1/2000 pp. 4-6. With English translation.
BOOKS:
- The Lace of Tignes and the Lace of Queyras. by Françoise Monneret No.4/1999: