Authentication of Lace
Please consider me for IDs of your laces. I do quality professional identifications for dealers, museums and private collectors. Lace is my all consuming passion, and has been for more than the last forty years. I do not work for anyone else, so I can spend even more time making lace and teaching lace making.
Background: I've been a bobbin lacemaker for 45+ years, 35 years member of the International Old Lacers Guild, and listed as lace teacher with them and the US based Belgian Lace School, served as past Regional Director International Old Lacers Inc., currently as Vice President for the Lacemakers and Collectors Exchange of Clarendon Hills, Illinois. Having made so many types of laces helps immensely in recognising the details of their differences.
I've been fortunate to have studied with superb teachers:
English Buckinghamshire with Doris Southard and Geraldine Stott; English Bedfordshire with Yvonne Scheele-Kerkhof; and Jean Leader;Danish Tonder with Gunvor Jorgensen; Scandinavian Skansk with Mary Lou Kueker; Figures in lace with Radmila Zuman; Flanders with both Edith Starink and Robin Lewis Wild;Drafting Flanders Blonde, Chantilly, Mechlin, Mechlin Drafting, Belgian Binche,and Lace Design with Ulrike Loehr; Dutch 'sGravenmoerse Bobbin Lace with Susan Wenzel, and Normandy Lace with Elizabeth Kurella.
English Buckinghamshire with Doris Southard and Geraldine Stott; English Bedfordshire with Yvonne Scheele-Kerkhof; and Jean Leader;Danish Tonder with Gunvor Jorgensen; Scandinavian Skansk with Mary Lou Kueker; Figures in lace with Radmila Zuman; Flanders with both Edith Starink and Robin Lewis Wild;Drafting Flanders Blonde, Chantilly, Mechlin, Mechlin Drafting, Belgian Binche,and Lace Design with Ulrike Loehr; Dutch 'sGravenmoerse Bobbin Lace with Susan Wenzel, and Normandy Lace with Elizabeth Kurella.
I worked for three seasons in the textiles department of the University of Illinois at Champaign, cataloging, cleaning, and blocking the white laces collection. I've taught spinning, weaving, quilting, and tatting at the Champaign County Historical Museum for several years, and continue classes in my own studio, and perform numerous annual school programs. I've identified the lace fans in the collection of the Phoenix Museum of Art, prepared portions of exhibits for the University of Illinois Krannert Art Museum, delivered lectures and exhibits for the Fan Association of North America, re-enactor symposiums, and 28yrs of re-enactments of historical events for the Northwest Territory Alliance. My current income is derived from custom orders of reproduction weaving and laces of the 18th Century for reenactors, lectures for historical societies.... and IDs of antique laces collectors and for museums.
There are 4 types of reports available. Unless specified, I will send the Simple ID report. If I believe an item warrants more information to bring you better profit at sale, I will let you know so that you may request more information.
"Simple ID" reports are $2.00 per item. "Simple ID" reports includes Lace Technique name, and whether it is Handmade or Machine made. No documentation, appraisal, or other commentary.
"Simple ID with appraisal" $5 per item. Report includes the Lace Technique name, whether it is Handmade or Machine made, and Appraisal value at the expected high bid at auction such as ebay. New Commision value is the expected price of newly made copy, if a maker were to be found.
"Middle ID without bibliography" $7.00 Report includes the Lace Technique name, whether it is Handmade or Machine made, Fiber, and country of the technique origin. Additional notes as applicable to certain pieces. No appraisal, no bibliography of sources.
"Full Documentation ID" reports are $10.00 per item and include: Lace Technique name, whether it is Handmade or Machine made, Intended use of the lace, Fiber, Country of the technique origin, and Condition of the piece. Extra notes applicable to certain pieces are included. Also I enclose a bibliography of the reference works used. Appraisal value of the lace is included.
Your first report will have a simple report and a fully documented report (included without charge) so that you will be able to judge which type of report you wish to have for future IDs. Most clients choose the simple ID as a standard request, unless the value of the lace exceeds $75. I will let you know when such a lace is in your collection, and give you the opportunity to upgrade your report if it may bring you more profit at auction.
Payment is expected in advance of sending the reports. Please send payments in increments of $10 to take advantage of paypal fee schedule. Refunds of unused funds are easily sent at request. Accounting is always in the title so we both know the status of the account at all times.
The PayPal email banking system has worked very well for me as a seller and as a bidder on eBay. If you have not tried it out yet, you can check it out with the URL:
https://secure.paypal.com/auction/pal=dankate@xvi.net
https://secure.paypal.com/auction/pal=dankate@xvi.net
My PayPal address is dankate@xvi.net.
Most laces can be identified with an email photo or scan, but others require intense magnification and touch to determine one from the other. Owners have successfully sent .jpg pics or zip files through email, or clickables, or"holding addresses" for me to find the pics. (the same address that is typed into the ebay sell form.... but before it is sent to ebay). When I receive payment, clients start sending the lace pics.Usually, pictures are all I need to be able to say which the lace is. Occasionally I ask for more pics or closer detail.
Sometimes there is no alternative but to have it in my hand with a lens. High resolution scans can save the cost of mailing the laces back and forth. No matter what it takes, the price is the same per piece.The laces are shipped so that there is a tracking trail. The owner is responsible for insured shipping both ways. ALL of the pieces are returned. I am pleased to say that I have found many museum quality pieces that would have been overlooked.
There is so much gorgeous lace out there, and so few who have the years to study the teensy, nit picky, details that determine one type of lace from another. Sellers cannot be expected to do all that is required to make a living and be expert in every aspect of the goods they sell. It is simply impossible. One lifetime is just not enough. This is where I come in.... as consultant.
If you choose to send email pics of the laces, please number them in reference to the number of pieces in a batch. Please number/tag the pieces at home. If there are 20 pieces in the batch, number them 1of20,2of20,3of20 etc. Some pieces will surely have more than one picture of it. In that case keep the numbers the same except add a, b, c etc as in 2aof20,2bof20 2cof20 etc, so I know it is the same item with lots of pictures, and we both will know which item is being described.
Hints for pictures:
White laces should have a plain dark non textured background. Dark colors absorb shadows and make the threads easier to see. On a scanner it is easy to press the lace to the glass with the background between it and the cover. I use a blue plastic school folder or piece of wool cloth.
White laces should have a plain dark non textured background. Dark colors absorb shadows and make the threads easier to see. On a scanner it is easy to press the lace to the glass with the background between it and the cover. I use a blue plastic school folder or piece of wool cloth.
Black laces do show best on off-white or ecru. "Blinding white" is exactly that. Try to make it lay as flat as possible to the background so that the shadows will not obscure the view of the threads.
Ruffled or gathered things are very difficult, but it is often possible to lay the background and lace on a piece of corrugated cardboard so that a couple of angled sewing pins can hold it quite flat.
Cameras can be a challenge for lace. Sometimes it is good to hold the lace far enough away from the background that no shadows fall on the background at all, and then focus on the threads of the lace. Daylight is better than incandescent. There are fewer halos. Again, scans are wonderful as they take out the jiggle factor of cameras.
Please send one overall view and at least one closeup of each"different" area, as laces are often combinations of several types.
If you are using Adobe photo program on your detail views, do not condense the scans. Trim the view area first, and then get the best density around100 to 300 dpi. This will still make a small picture, but very very clear for details.
Send the pics to yourself first thru email to see how they will look on the screen. Check to see that at least one picture of each lace shows individual threads.
Certainly you will have questions, and I will be pleased to answer.
Please tuck my address in your files for reference. I would love to work with your collection.
