punto a groppo

punto a groppo, (Italian: “knotted lace”), ancestor of bobbin lace (q.v.). It was worked in 16th-century Italy by knotting, twisting, and tying fringes, all without weights, or bobbins. Patterns were geometric, sometimes interspersed with schematic human figures. It is thought that bobbin, or pillow, lace developed when the threads came to be attached with lead weights and the design anchored on a pad, or pillow. Macramé (q.v.) work is a modern form of punto a groppo.