Thu Apr 7, 2022 07:15 PM

This lace edged cap and ruff on James Ley, 1st Earl of Marlborough are great uses of lace in this portrait by an anonymous artist. It is dated after 1624 as that was when he assumed the office of Lord High Treasurer and received the white staff of office.

https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw04219/James-Ley-1st-Earl-of-Marlborough

I don’t have an exact match for the lace patterns, but I’ve included images and a link to Ciotti’s 1591 “Prima Parte de’ Fiori, e Disegni di varie sorti di Ricami Moderni” because the second pattern book with an English publisher is “A booke of curious and strange inventions, called the first part of needleworkes” by William Barley in 1596. It is a version of Ciotti. (The first pattern book were aware of published in England is Poyntz’s version of Vinciolo in 1591.) https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/347578