LACE, BOBBIN, MALTESE, EDGING

An exquisite edging of handmade silk Maltese bobbin lace from Malta 19th century.

A straight bobbin lace, clothwork pattern including the Maltese Cross, twisted and plaited bars. Narrow wheat ears grouped in flower formations.

In the 1830s Malta was suffering from famine. Queen Adelaide, wife of William IV in England, went to Malta and there she not only built a church but also started the making of Maltese lace by bringing in teachers from Genoa. It is believed that it was Lady Chichester who suggested the addition of a distinguishing feature, the Maltese Cross, the emblem of the Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem – [the ‘Hospitallers]’ – who wore the Maltese Cross as their badge since the First Crusade to the Holy Land in 1090s.

Sections of the footside part of the lace are coming apart.