Tatting shuttle - Frivolité tool

The lattice curves are continued in thin columns. The shorter ones end in two confronting, lobed leaves, with crested birds sitting on the top, looking back. The birds are holding light blue tulips in their beaks. The taller columns end in cloud motifs, with lions stepping to the right, woven in silver frieze thread. The bottom shows flower motifs in rectangles, alternating with cufic characters and arabesques. A silk fabric with identical pattern was exhibited in 1873, at the Vienna Exhibition (see Lützow 1875 p.62). A similar fabric can be found in the Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna (see Volker 1986 Int. No. T 2605, p.7, pict. 13). The Italian silk fabric from about 1400, on which this piece was modelled, can also be found in the Viennese Museum (see Volker 1986 p.7, pict. 12, Inv.No. T. 802). The model is illustrated in Fischbach 1874, plate 48 the pattern stripes are repeated above each other.