Saint Anthony of Padua, patron saint of those seeking lost things, and in Portugal and Brazil, the patron of marriages. Statues of St. Anthony are buried head first, and in a prayerful form of blackmail, seekers of a husband promise to right his image only afer a good prospect is produced. Just why he is portrayed with the Christ child and a stalk of lilies I wasn’t able to find out. But if any saint has a direct line for miracles, it must be St. Anthony. Canonized less than a year after he died, he must have been doing something good! A curly-haired Saint Anthony with Christ child appear on one of a pair of bobbin lace cuffs, St. Francis of Assisi in the other. These cuffs in the Connin-Barber almost certainly match up with a deep flounce in the Ikle collection in St. Gallen Switzerland. Were they part of the same set of ecclesiastical lace sold in a 1920s Swiss Auction? Was J. Margaret Barber at that auction? Curly hair, fingers -- the technique in this lace is a tally-makers delight. Come study these marvelous pieces up close and personal at the Sweet Briar lace retreat.