Lace trimming

According to the legend this special bobbin lace was made for the wedding of Elisabeth Braunschweig Wolfenbüttel and Carl VI., Holy Roman Emperor, in 1708 (according to other sources, in 1695). The lace depicts the couple among rich floral ornaments, scrolls and hunting trophies. They face each other in the oval frame there is a baldachin and the imperial crown above them, next to them a phoenix can be seen looking into the sun and extending its wings. The pattern is repeated on the one and a half meter long piece. Each pattern element of the lace was made separately and was then worked together with a fine net. Laces of similar patterns but with slight technical differences can be found in the Metropolitan Museum (New York), in the Royal Art and History Museum of Brussels and the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum (Braunschweig).