Extant Ruffs and Supertasse.
Mrs Jackson, in her article mentions the
starch required for maintaining Ruffs as 'Devils Broth'. She says that the
secret of starching was brought to England from Flanders. She also cites
the reason for the destruction of old ruffs is the recycling of the lace, which
is more hardy than the lawn or cambric used, into new Ruffs. The
recycling of fabric from one garment into another is not an uncommon practice.
Mrs Jackson also discusses cut work and embroidered
cambric being used on edgings of the ruffs besides the 'bone' laces and 'purlings'.
Frequently small seed pears were sown at the edges, and sometimes "silver
and spangles" are mentioned amongst the enrichments of the lace-trimmed
ruffs, besides rubies and other precious stones.
This article seems
to take an Anglo perspective on Lace and Ruffs. Mrs Jackson often refers
to images in paintings to support her argument. While I have seen many
examples of seed beads in English Ruffs, I have yet to see evidence of this in
Venetian ruffs. The 'rubies and other precious stones' she refers to might
be the practice of using 'ouches', small brooches to adorn
neck ruffs as seen in "A Lady in White by Domenico Robust, 1581-84, currently in a private
collection."
In each of the extant Ruffs shown
above, elaborate wiring is clearly visible to allow for the outstanding effect.
In one case and elaborate trim has been applied to hide the supertasse. The
supertasse, was sometimes whipped over with gold, silver, or silken
threads. Stubbs , an English writer of 1583, comments: "There is also
a certain device made of wires, crested for the purpose ... called a supertasse
or underpropper. This is applied round their neck under the Ruff upon the
outside of the band, to bear up the whole frame and body of the Ruff from
falling or hanging down"
Even though
Sequins are referred to in Mrs Jackson's article, there is no visual or extant
references to back this up that I know of for this application. The word
'sequin' is derived from the Venetian word "zecchino", meaning Ducat.
It could therefore be hypothesised that sequins were used in Venetian ruffs.
In Gold and Silver Lace, Part I,
Jourdain, M. The Connoisseur, Vol. 17 (1906), that can be accessed at
this link http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/articles/jm_lacep.pdf
Ms Jourdain cites a Venetian sumptuary law in 1542 on gold and silver laces
restricting their widths to due dita, i.e. about 5
centimetres.
It is important to
note that if a sumptuary law is made in order to restrict excesses of an object,
it stands to reason there these excesses are being practised. If not,
there would be no need for the laws to be passed.
Gold and silver
laces were not able to be worked as finely as linen or silk laces as the base
'threads' were not as fine as their less shiny counterparts. Patterns
therefore were larger and simpler than the non metal laces.
Again there is no
extant or visual record of wither of these laces being used in Ruff
production. We do have ample evidence of both cloths of gold and silver,
and gold and silver laces. It is not hard to leap to these materials being
used to make Ruffs.
These treasure is
from Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
|
|
Title: Collar
Year: c. 1615-35
Unknown artist: dress
maker
Technique: Linen batiste
Dimensions: neckband 38 cm
Object number: BK-NM-13112
|
This collar is
made of particularly fine batiste or cambric. As the name suggests, the material
originally came from the Flemish town of Kamerijk or Cambrai. It was introduced
to the Northern Netherlands by the Flemish refugees who arrived in the late
sixteenth century. Haarlem weavers specialised in the fabric. Because of its
shape, this kind of collar was known as a millstone ruff*.
The millstone ruff is a round collar made of pleated white linen. It
was fashionable in Holland from the late 16th century to about 1625. They began
small, but became increasing broad until finally resembling millstones.
Manufacturing such large ruffs was a complicated and time-consuming task for the
specialists who made them - mostly Flemish or Dutch women. A ruff like this
required a great deal of material, sometimes as much as 15 metres. Usually
cambric was used, a fine linen often decorated with bobbin lace. After washing
and starching, it was gathered or pleated and set on a collar and then ironed
into circular shapes with 'pipe' irons. These costly collars or ruffs were worn
by the well-to-do, both men and women.. These became fashionable in the
second half of the sixteenth century under the influence of the Spanish rulers.
Early millstone ruffs were starched with regular pleats. This example, however,
is looser and less tidy. It is of a type that was popular with young,
fashionable men around 1615 to 1635. This is the only surviving pleated ruff in
the world.
|
*Millstone Ruff
|
|
The millstone ruff is a round
collar made of pleated white linen. It was fashionable in Holland from the late
16th century to about 1625. They began small, but became increasing broad until
finally resembling millstones. Manufacturing such large ruffs was a complicated
and time-consuming task for the specialists who made them - mostly Flemish or
Dutch women. A ruff like this required a great deal of material, sometimes as
much as 15 metres. Usually cambric was used, a fine linen often decorated
with bobbin lace. After washing and starching, it was gathered or pleated
and set on a collar and ironed into circular shapes with 'pipe' irons. These
costly collars or ruffs were worn by the well-to-do, both men and women.
Taken directly
from the Rijksmuseum web page for this item accessed 14 February 2008. http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/BK-NM-13112?lang=en&context_space=aria_encyclopedia&context_id=00046900
|
and this one...
As it would have been worn.
Flat view of the same ruff.
Looks a lot like some of the standing ruffs in
late C16 Venetian imagery. |
Title: Falling collar
Year: c. 1625-40
Unknown artist: lace maker
Technique: Linen with needle lace, reticella and punto in aria
Dimensions: b. 66 cm; kant b. 16 cm
Object number: BK-1978-462
|
Although the needle lace* border
was probably from Italy, the collar was made in the Northern Netherlands. The
anonymous lacemaker employed the so-called reticella method to produce
geometrical patterns. This type of men's collar came into fashion in the second
quarter of the seventeenth century. It was attached at the front under the chin
with a cord which terminated in tassels known as acorns. They owed their name,
'akertjes'** in Dutch, to their resemblance to these nuts.
|
*Needle Lace
|
| Needle lace
is made with needle and thread. The original pattern is drawn on
darker paper, with is sewn onto a piece of double linen. This forms
the temporary basis for the lace and is later removed. Two threads
are then sewn along the outline of the design to hold the needlework in
place. The places within the contours are filled with a ground of
pars or mesh while scalloping and buttonhole stitches provide the thicker
elements of the design. The threads are stitched around the
contours, not through the paper and linen. When the needlepoint work
is finished, the two layers of cloth are parted and the threads holding
the outlines in place are cut loose. Once separated from the paper
the lace consists purely of contours, mesh and stitches. |
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intellectual content, composition, layout, designs and photographs copyright
2007 to Deborah Lane ©
, 2003 to Deborah Murray ©
or Mistress Oonagh O'Neill ©.
All Original renaissance art works and artefacts are not copyright to Deborah
Lane, and are shown for educational use only. If you see something you'd
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