LACE, BOBBIN, MALTESE, PARASOL COVER

Black Silk Maltese Bobbin Lace Parasol Cover with Maltese Cross Motifs, Late 19th Century

This exquisite hand-made black silk Maltese bobbin lace parasol cover was crafted in Malta in the late 19th century — a striking blend of utility, fashion, and national identity. Designed to fit over a circular parasol frame, the lace radiates from a central Maltese Cross, with teardrop-shaped motifs and pointed wheat ear patterns forming bands of daisy-like shapes. The piece is finished with an outer scalloped edge of leaf-like fronds.

Parasols were essential fashion accessories for women from the mid-19th to early 20th century, offering sun protection while signalling status and refinement. The name itself derives from Latin: “para-” (to shield) and “sol” (sun).

Maltese lace developed rapidly after 1833, when Queen Adelaide — visiting famine-stricken Malta — introduced Genoese lace teachers. With noble patronage and the symbolic inclusion of the eight-pointed Maltese Cross, the lace soon flourished, reaching international acclaim after the 1851 Great Exhibition in London.

Though later copied in English lace centres such as Bedfordshire, original Maltese lace retained a distinct identity, especially when worked in lustrous black silk and featuring national motifs like those seen in this parasol cover.

This piece is not only a masterwork of technical bobbin lace but a cultural emblem tied to the resilience and reinvention of Maltese artisans.