Wonderful transitional Binche or Valenciennes bobbin lace, early 1700s. Length is about 30 inches; the lace is a inch and a half wide, and it is attached to an inch of very fine translucent fab The stylized design is beautifully defined with twisted pairs to form open spaces. The background is a rose ground, also called five-hole or cinq trous. Elaborate filling stitches used in the two elements of the pattern repeat. Along the edge, in very small spaces there are bits of what will become in following decades the traditional braided Valenciennes ground. Note the small background area at the bottom right of the closeup picture for a bit of the traditional braided val ground. EY-SF-15 SOLD Details and fillingsCondition is decent. There are quite a few mends, probably very early ones. The bottom edge, which probably was frayed, has been neatly finished off in extremely fine thread with microscopic buttonhole stitches -- also probably a very early mend. Filling detail