Burano Needle Lace on Exhibition in Vicenza

In May 2009 Signora Maria Vittoria Coen Del Vecchio donated the Burano needle lace border of an altar cloth made ​​in the early 1930s to the Diocesan Museum of Vicenza. 

Destined for the main altar of the Basilica of San Nicola in Bari, this extraordinary work was done by lacemakers who made 16 scenes which depict the most popular moments of the life and miracles of St. Nicholas with the scene depicting the elevation of the saint in the centre. 

Image captured from video footage owned by Telechiara Produzioni.

Image captured from video footage owned by Telechiara Produzioni.

The lace measures 13 feet long by 1.5 feet high and can be viewed right now along with the original designs until April 1, 2012 at the Diocesan Museum of Vicenza as part of the San Nicola, Tiziano, il Merletto exhibit.

Image captured from video footage owned by Telechiara Produzioni.

There are a couple of videos on YouTube to watch, the first one talks about the lace at the 5:30 minute mark, and the second one gives closer views of some of the details.

Image captured from video footage owned by Telechiara Produzioni.

In February there will be a series of lectures at the museum, the one I would love to attend is entitled Il merletto di San Nicola [the lace of St. Nicholas] given by lace expert Doretta Davanzo Poli on Sunday, February 12th at 5pm.

There must be a show catalogue but I cannot find where to get it from outside of the museum itself. I believe there must be one as there is a listing on the Ca' Foscari University website of an article written by Doretta Davanzo Poli entitled Manifattura Veneziana, in San Nicola/Tiziano/Il merletto a cura di F. Gasparini, M. Guderzo, L. Trevisan, Treviso, Antiga Edizioni, 2011, pp.78-83. 

If you get there, I'd love to hear all about it!

Burano Lace Museum Reopens

Burano Lace Museum under restoration in 2009

The Museo del Merletto on Burano in the lagoon of Venice re-opens it's doors tomorrow after years of restoration, reorganization and restructurization!

You can find the museum in the Podestà di Torcello in Piazza Galuppi at number 187 on the island of Burano. Take the Linea LN vaporetto from Fondamenta Nuova to get to Burano, it takes about 40 minutes.

Here is a translation of what is written about the opening exhibition:

The exhibition, organized for the inauguration, by Doretta Davanzo Poli [author and expert see a list of her publications here], features over 150 pieces of lace selected from the most significant collections of Venetian Civic Museums, as well as some paintings, engravings, drawings, documents, magazines, textiles and costumes from the 15th to the 20th centuries.

During the opening hours of the museum you can see the work of skilled and tireless lace masters, still custodians of an art passed down from generation to generation. 

The new museum guide will be available from the 27th of June in all the bookstores of the Fondazione Musei Civici.

Colourful houses on Burano

Burano is worth the trip without the museum but with the museum it would be exceptional! Beware of lace pieces with prices too good to be true... they are made in China!

You can check out a video made by master lacemaker Lucia Costantini in the Burano Lace Museum here.

Thanks to Vima for the heads-up!

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!

Piave Embroidery

In the years before the Second World War three sisters named Nella, Mimi and Marta Sammartini devised an embroidery technique which they named after the area where they lived. The Piave Valley Region lies a bit north of Venice, Italy.

Piave Embroidery is executed on Tulle with diagonal Darning Stitches, Padded Satin Stitches, Rush Stitch and other embroidery and filling stitches and then applied, using Overcast Stitch and Stem Stitch to the backside of Organdy fabric, the very finest transparent cotton. Excess Tulle is cut away around the embroidery and often areas inside the embroidery too. Sometimes secondary layers of Organdy are applied as well to create varying levels of transparency. It is done most often in white on white with 1 to 3 threads of embroidery floss: the incredible transparency of this embroidery makes it perfect for delicate pieces like soft, gauzy curtains, overdresses, veils, and tablecloths.

In 1940 Italian decorator Piero Fornasetti lent his designs to works of Piave Embroidery which were exhibited at the International Exposition of Decorative Arts in Milan. It is not clear if this is one of them, though the information on this photo says that it was exhibited in the same exposition in Milan in 1940. This photo is from the Manuale del Cucito e del Ricamo, 2nd edition. The dress on the figure is in embroidered Tulle, the solid areas are made with multiple layers of Organdy:


In the late 20th century this lost technique was reborn and brought to life by Silvana De Marchi working with Luisa Cigagna, Doretta Davanzo Poli, Tudy Sammartini, and other descendants of the Sammartini sisters. Antique pieces of Piave Embroidery were recovered from the homes of descendants and used to inspire new designs. Tudy Sammartini remembers her aunts recounting that Marta would design the patterns and Mimi and Nella would embroider them.

Ricamo Italiano, an Italian embroidery magazine, ran a story on the rediscovery of the technique along with modern interpretations which used old designs with coloured embroidery floss in their June 2006 edition.

RAKAM, another Italian embroidery magazine, ran a series of photos of several pieces from the 1930s in their March 2008 issue.

Instructions can also be found in old issues of the Italian needlework magazine Fili: specifically no. 28 from 1936 and no. 37 from 1937.

Tuttoricamo has a brief article under "Techniques" on their website with a link to a free downloadable pattern from the Italian embroidery magazine Ricamo Italiano.

There are a few pages in the Anchor Manual of Needlework (Interweave Press) on Piave Embroidery.

Venice and Fortuny

If you're planning to be in Venice before the 18th of July this year, there is an exhibition on now at the Palazzo Fortuny called La Seta e il Velluto [Silk and Velvet]. There are a number of early 20th century clothing pieces on display including a series of rare Delphos (pleated silk satin dresses) owned by American collectors.

The Palazzo Fortuny is located in the historic centre of Venice near the Rialto bridge at: San Marco 3780, Boat Stop A, S. Angelo, Route 1. The museum is open daily from 10 am to 6 pm but is closed on Tuesdays.

Mariano Fortuny was a Spanish artist who became famous in Venice in the early 20th century. Fabrics of his design are still manufactured and sold today, you can see a number of them here.

The Venice showroom is now reopened and you can go for a look (and buy fabric!) Monday to Friday, between 9:30 am and 12:30 pm and then between 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm on the Giudecca canal at no. 805.


A great book (if you can find it and afford it) is Fortuny by Anne-Marie Deschodt and Doretta Davanzo Poli. (text in English)