Mixed tape lace - mat
This piece came from my grandmother, Violet Dibblee (nee Geddes) 1871-1961. She had carefully tacked it onto blue tissue paper and there is a label on it saying "Lent by Mrs Dibblee". She must have lent it to a display of lace somewhere, and so presumably she must have thought that it was an interesting or valuable piece. Her wedding veil originally belonged to her aunt, Margaret Geddes (1829-1911), so I wonder if this belonged to her aunt as well.
The tape in this mat looks like bobbin tape lace, but if you look carefully, the tape was originally straight, and folded, gathered, or coaxed into the shape below, with the fillings and the joins done afterwards. This makes it mixed tape lace. The tape is made of cloth stitch, and the pieces are joined with legs with picots.
This piece is too big to fit in my scanner (which is how I am reproducing the lace) so I can only show part of it on the right, but it is symmetrical. The entire piece is photographed below to show its shape.
