A Louis XV gold knotting shuttle

A large three-tone gold navette, oval in shape, with three rocaille medallions on either side, set against a squared, openwork background. The medallions centered on either side of the navette are decorated with a trophy featuring musical instruments, quivers and gardener's tools on an amati gold background. The other medallions feature floral motifs in multi-tone gold on an amati background. These motifs are framed by interlacing borders. The shuttle opens in two, allowing the silk thread to be attached and wound around the finely openwork central axis. This is a frivolity shuttle, used to make a lace composed of small knots, which in turn was used to make passementerie braids or picot lace for decorative cushions. These braids could be attached to the necklines of garments. A famous painting by Louis Tocqué "Madame Dangé faisant des noeuds" (1753, Louvre, Paris) in the Musée du Louvre evokes this art. An identical shuttle is on display in the Wallace Collection, London. Louis XV period. 
Bibliographie : La collection Wallace, Catalogue des boîtes en or Par Charles Truman.