Hollie point

{{Short description|Needle lacing technique originating in England}} {{Infobox textile | name = Hollie point (Holy Point) | image = File:Sampler (USA), 1783 (CH 18483235).jpg | caption = Sampler contains Hollie point lace fillings | type = Lace | material = | method = Needle lace | process = Craft production | location = England | introduced = c16th century }}

'''Hollie point''' is an English needle lace noted for its use in baby clothes, particularly in the 18th century. It is also known as '''Holy point''', because it was originally used in liturgical laces.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gwynne |first=Judyth L. |title=The illustrated dictionary of lace |date=1997 |publisher=Batsford |isbn=978-0-7134-7821-1 |edition=1. publ |location=London}}</ref> The Puritans were the first to make common usage of Hollie point beginning in the reign of James I.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/DictionaryNeedlework|title=The Dictionary of Needlework|last=Caulfeild|first=S.F.A.|publisher=A. Bradley|year=1882|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/DictionaryNeedlework/page/n314 253]}}</ref> thumb|Sampler (England), 1802 (CH 18564109) Hollie point is a flat needlepoint lace whose name derives either from lace made for religious purposes (''holy work'') or from the holes that create the pattern.<ref name=trc>{{cite web|title=Hollie Point|url=https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/regional-traditions/europe-and-north-america/lace-types/hollie-point|website=Textile Research Center|access-date=16 March 2018|language=en-gb}}</ref> It is made up of rows of twisted buttonhole stitches worked over horizontal threads. At the end of each row, the stitching returns to the starting point, creating the next horizontal thread.<ref name=head>{{cite book|last=Head|first=R. E.|title=The Lace & Embroidery Collector: A Guide to Collectors of Old Lace and Embroidery|url=https://archive.org/details/laceembroideryco00head|year=1922|publisher=Dodd, Mead|pages=[https://archive.org/details/laceembroideryco00head/page/87 87]–89}}</ref> Simple pinprick designs are created by leaving gaps, or holes, in the otherwise plain cloth work formed by the buttonhole stitches.<ref name=earnshaw>{{cite book|last=Earnshaw|first=Pat|title=A Dictionary of Lace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kf_atmcxERcC&pg=PA80|year=1999|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=978-0-486-40482-0|pages=80–}}</ref>

Hollie point has always been more or a domestic, rather than a professional, art.<ref name=trc/> Hollie point was used primarily on baby clothes in the 18th and early 19th century, especially, christening sets. The lace was stitched in the crown of baby bonnets, or caps, and sometimes on a band that extended from the centre front of the cap to the nape of the neck. The shoulder seams of small shirts were decorated with initials, dates, and mottoes.<ref name=head /> Lace designs included religious motifs such as lilies of the annunciation, Tree of life, Star of Bethlehem, dove of peace, and Crown of Glory.<ref name=earnshaw />

Earlier mentions of similarly named laces, such as collars of "hollie work" that were listed in an inventory of Mary Queen of Scots, are thought to refer to other types of needlework that were done as "holy work".<ref name=trc/>

The Royal School of Needlework provides guidelines and structural details to reproduce Hollie Point stitches.

== References == {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== {{Cite book |last=Dye |first=Gilian |title=Lace Identification: A Practical Guide |date=2021 |publisher=The Crowood Press |others=Jean Leader |isbn=978-1-78500-866-5 |location=La Vergne}}

==External links== {{commons category|Hollie point}} *[http://larsdatter.com/18c/baby-caps.html#hollie 18th century baby caps with hollie point lace]

Category:Needle lace Category:Textile arts of England