Lanzo Folk Art

In the first decade of the 20th century Elena Albert Mars, a painter originally from Nice, started to apply Crochet made by local peasant girls to a local handwoven hempcloth called Trògio in a small town called Lanzo near Turin. Wool threads were used to execute the Crochet.

Many items were made such as wall hangings, cushions, tablemats, bags, curtains and other household items using motifs of flowers, foliage, trees, fruit and scrollwork.

This style of applied "embroidery" became very popular and was even exported mainly to Norway, the UK and the US. Some pieces were commissioned for the famous shop "Lavori Femminili" in Turin. A delegation of girls dressed in the folk costumes of Lanzo brought a few Lanzo embroideries to Rome and donated them to Prince Umberto and Maria José for their wedding in 1930.

The Second World War led to the decline of this technique and it was all but forgotten for a few decades before being "reborn" in the early 1970s by Ester Fornaia Borla who participated in a community effort to revive the folk art of the area. Researching the technique, she discovered old works kept by the descendants of Elena Albert Mars and she then began teaching the art to others. One of her biggest challenges was to reproduce the handwoven hempcloth which by then was no longer produced. She was able to procure an antique loom and learned to weave from the Scuola di Tessitura [School of Weaving] in Turin. Ester was responsible for initiating several local exhibitions with the proceeds of any sale of items going to charity.

Border taken from the Italia Invita 2005 book:


In 1997, after a few years of inactivity, about 20 local women founded the group Ricamare a Lanzo and became part of a larger group called Ricamare in Piemonte initiating annual courses and exhibition. The group is still active today and has participated in the Italia Invita Lace and Embroidery Forums and also their work has been featured in both RAKAM and Ricamo Italiano, two of Italy's foremost needlework publications.

From RAKAM January 2003:


Ester Fornaia Borla is still teaching this technique today and can be reached through the website for Ricamare a Lanzo.

Filet Lace in Turin

Whenever I used to think of Filet lace, I always thought of designs done mostly in Darning stitch or Crochet Filet... Italian Filet from the various regions has really opened my eyes to how different and interesting this ancient art can be.

Right now at the Palazzo Madama in Turin there is a lace exhibit which will be there until the end of the year. This particular display, which consists of 95 pieces of lace including Reticello, Venice Gros Point, Punto in Aria, Filet and types of 17th and 18th century laces, shows the course lace has taken through history. The museum holds over 450 pieces so this is but a small sampling.

If you download their newsletter (at the bottom of the page, click on: SCARICA IL NUMERO O (2MB) - text in Italian), check out the header on top of page 5 for some really unusual needlework with gold and little pieces of coloured stones dating back to the Renaissance which was donated to the museum by Elisa Ricci, foremost Italian needlework scholar, author, collector of the early 20th century. There is a photo of the full piece on the link for the exhibition but it's difficult to see anything, the shot in the newsletter is a closeup of a small section and the gold threads and beads are clearer. There is a full page colour photo of this piece in the book: Tessuti Ricami e Merletti in Italia by Marina Carmignani if you can get your hands on a copy (it's a very expensive book!) though, the text does not go into much detail. This piece alone would be worth going to this exhibit.

Visit the museum's Flickr group to see more than six hundred photos of the museum and some of its displays. It's definitely worth making yourself a cuppa and looking through them, not so much from a textile standpoint but for internal shots of the amazing palazzo! There are more interior photos on the website here.

Ah... where was I? It is so easy for me to get sidetracked... yes, Filet lace. A kind Italian friend sent me some photos of the show - among which were these two photos of a most interesting piece of Filet lace:


Look at all the different stitches used on this piece... and different weights of thread to add emphasis to certain motifs. Definitely a piece worth studying - what a lot of work!

For more reading on a different type of Italian Filet, check out the post on Sardinian Bosa Filet lace. For lots of photos, go to the Museo del Merletto an online museum of lace.

Thanks to Silvia for the photos!

Chiacchierino ad Ago - Needle Tatting

Tatting or Chiacchierino [kjak-kjer-ee-no] in Italian, is stylish, daring, has good design, harmony and beauty - in Italy of course!

I recently received the gift of a new book on Needle Tatting written by a Polish lady who has lived in Italy since 1999. Alicja Kwartnik of the Laboratorio di Techniche Artistiche [Workshop of Artistic Techniques] teaches Needle Tatting in the Val d'Arno Region of Tuscany where she lives.

Some friends of mine took her workshop at the Italia Invita 2009 Forum in Parma.


Alicja's love affair with the manual arts has lasted almost 40 years and her work is precise, imaginative and very attractive.

In the book there are many Tatting projects of varying difficulty. I love the towel edgings and these little sachets:


There are also many jewelry projects and the attachment of beads and crystals; bookmarks, coasters, table mats, key fobs, table centres, Christmas tree decorations, and even a summer purse pattern!

Alicja writes that she likes to use unusual materials for Tatting projects like raffia, string, crochet cotton and wool.

This book makes me want to hunt down my Tatting needle which I set aside in frustration many years ago.

Mani di Fata has several Italian pattern books for Tatting, occasionally there are patterns in RAKAM magazine as well.

For some eye candy, check out this website of a couple of Italian ladies from Apuglia. (I don't know if this is Needle Tatting or not.)

To purchase Chiacchierino ad Ago by Alicja Kwartnik, send an email to either Elena at Italian Needlecrafts or Gianfranca of Tombolo Disegni.

Thanks to Isabella for the photo of the Tatting workshop!

Jesurum - A lace tradition in Venice

Michelangelo Jesurum opened his first lace-making workshop in 1870 after learning the art of Pellestrina bobbin lace as part of an effort going on in Venice at the time (1870) to revive the ancient art of lacemaking which had fallen into decline. Adding coloured threads to the laces earned a Grand Prize for Jesurum at the 1878 Universal Exhibition in Paris. There is a small picture of the prize-winning entry on the Jesurum website but there is a great picture of another coloured silk thread piece in the book: Il Merletto Veneziano by Doretta Davanzo Poli (1998). There are lots of other pictures of Jesurum lace in this book, as well as a wealth of photos of all kinds of Venetian lace and info (text in Italian).

By the beginning of the 20th century there were seven Jesurum workshops employing nearly 3000 women and the lace was recognized and sought worldwide.


Jesurum became lacemakers to the Italian Royal family and other nobility throughout Europe. In 1906 Michelangelo Jesurum opened a Lace Museum in his home.

World War I interrupted the workshops and halted the market for lace. Jesurum kept many of its workers employed making military uniforms. Only a marginal increase in business after the war put the company in danger of bankruptcy and closure. In 1939 the Levi Moreno family took over the company but kept the name as it was well-known and respected.


Some pieces from the Levi Moreno family lace collection are on display at the Relais Ca' Maffio situated half way between Venice and Treviso, if you find yourself out that way!

Recently Jesurum is under new ownership and has opened a new store on Calle Larga XXII Marzo, San Marco 2401 - just off Piazza San Marco in Venice where they sell household and yacht linens.


The Online Digital Document Archive has a free, downloadable Jesurum monograph (text in Italian) in which the last paragraph reads: The simplicity of the manual production used in Venetian lace therefore consents the most variety and the most valuable results: a Jesurum lace has the same worth as any work of art and, like a painting could be signed before being offered for the admiration of those who love beautiful things.

There are photos of Jesurum laces in Elisa Ricci's Old Italian Lace (1913), also available from the Online Digital Document Archive.


On YouTube there is an excellent 9 minute documentary on the lace of Pellestrina. Make sure to watch it in 720pHD!

Different Styles of Reticello - Part Three

Sometimes there are people or animals in Reticello as is the case in this border, taken from Old Italian Lace (1913) by Elisa Ricci, preserved now at the Victoria & Albert museum.


(As mentioned in the two previous posts in this series, Old Italian Lace can be downloaded in pdf form from the Online Digital Documents website.)

How can you tell this is Reticello and not Punto in Aria or some other needle lace?
Antonio Merli in his 1864 text - Origine ed uso delle Trine a filo di Refe says the following:
"Reticello is made in two ways: the oldest consists of withdrawing ground threads from a part of the fabric and working a design with the needle over top of those [threads] remaining - perfected then by sometimes adding additional threads when the design requires; the other [method] is by building a square or rectangular framework on top of parchment and working it similarly to the preceding method."
So, see those vertical bars? Reticello. Remember though, very often different techniques were combined on one piece. It is not always easy to find one classification for some embroideries.

From the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte Museum in Bologna:


There is something really interesting in discovering and identifying human figures and animals in needlework. I know some people who even collect all the examples they can find. Figures are found in needle lace (and embroideries) especially in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Maria Del Popolo's style of Reticello is different again from the previous ones we've looked at.


She does some of the most amazing Reticello work which she learned from her mother! This is the cover of her third book: Disegni di Reticello Antico which is just for drooling over, there are no didactic instructions inside like there are in her first two publications: Il Reticello Antico and Reticello Antico e Filet. You can see some examples of her work here, here and here.

Next time we'll visit some of those elaborate Reticello collars and cuffs from Renaissance art and antique pattern books.

You can get Maria Del Popolo's books from Tombolo Disegni. Click on "Libri/Books", then "Libri Ricamo", then "Libri Ricamo Italiani" - send an email request to order.

Different Styles of Reticello - Part One
Different Styles of Reticello - Part Two

Different Styles of Reticello - Part Four

Thanks to Elisabetta for the Bologna Reticello photo!

Ricamo Estense

I'm still in the mood for colourful embroideries today. I want to show you some Ricamo Estense or Estense Embroidery from Ferrara, Italy. Just to give you a bit of historical background, Ferrara was ruled by the Este family for a number of years with particular prosperity and patronage of the arts during the Renaissance. Graffito (also known as Sgraffito) ceramics from this period and area were amazingly detailed and breathtakingly beautiful.

In 2007 I translated an Italian needlework book about embroideries which had been inspired by the Graffito ceramics of Ferrara. You can read a great review of Estense Embroidery from the Ferrarese Graffito Ceramics at Mary Corbet's blog: Needle 'n Thread.

In 2009 I went to visit the author, Elisabetta Holzer Spinelli at her home in Ferrara and met Manuela Barattini, the potter who's work inspires Ricamo Estense. Here is Manuela with a plate after firing and before:


Manuela also participated in the exhibit for the reprinting of Disegni per Merletti e Ricami demonstrating that the antique patterns could be used for other design mediums. This piece is modeled after a Paganino design:


Elisabetta herself also participated in the exhibit with these two borders done in Ricamo Estense:


Since the 2007 printing of her book, Elisabetta has been anything but idle. If possible, she has created embroideries more beautiful than before.


Elisabetta likes to hunt through antique needlework books and revive old forgotten stitches. She is especially talented with colour and stitch combinations giving depth to her embroideries.


Right now Elisabetta is in Dobbiaco in the Southern Tyrol region of Italy teaching a Ricamo Estense course. I can't show you the project they are stitching but I can tell you it's amazing. What I wouldn't give to be at that class right now!

Coloured Deruta Embroidery

Let's have a little colour today. While in Assisi last year I photographed this sign outside a shop, thinking excitedly that it was a store selling Deruta Embroideries (which is what it says) but alas, inside there were touristy things and books – the shop clerk said that during the 1950s it was the shop I was hoping for.


I do know however, that Coloured Deruta Embroideries do exist and that they are still being stitched today.

As is the case in many instances, embroideries were initiated to match tablewear or were inspired by ceramic tiles. Deruta is especially known for its outstanding ceramics worldwide. The colours fascinate me and I find myself drawn to ochre, terracotta, green and blue - if you looked at my collection of threads you'd find that anytime I had to buy some kind of thread just to bring it home without any special project in mind, these are the colours I chose.

Coloured Deruta Embroideries are executed on medium weight Umbrian linen with Embroidery Floss.

This work was featured on an Italian telephone card for Telecom Italia in 2009:


There is a 4 minute video on YouTube of the Fili d'Amore presentation ceremony in which you can see some of the embroideries and fuserole which were also featured on telephone cards. (Make sure you watch it in 720pHD!)

Embroidery in Deruta dates back to the 13th century but in the early 20th century it experienced a revival with the national movement of "Feminine Industries" which popped up all over the country promoting special styles and stitches from each region of Italy. Embroidery schools and workshops were started in Deruta by nuns and a pair of local sisters, Aurelia and Luce Corcioni which experienced worldwide success in the selling of their beautiful needlework. Local ceramic beads called fuserole were incorporated into the tassels on their cushions, curtains and tablemats.

These are some of my fuserole, purchased at both Italia Invita Forums in 2007 and 2009:


Fuserole started out as the weights to balance spindles when spinning thread and date back to Etruscan times. Between the 14th and 17th centuries they were glazed, coloured and decorated with sayings and good wishes, names or virtuous designs and were given as love tokens. This one is a reproduction of a 15th century fuseruola:


In 2004 the Accademia Punto Deruta was founded to preserve and promote Coloured Deruta Embroidery and the other two styles of Deruta needlework: Antique Deruta Embroidery and Catherine de' Medici Embroidery.

Modern Coloured Deruta Embroidery is made using Long and Short Stitch and Stem Stitch and sometimes Rush Stitch as well (which is similar to Roumanian Couching).

From the Italia Invita 2009 Forum book:


There are some free patterns to download at the Italian Embroidery magazine Ricamo Italiano's website, all text is in Italian: here and here.