Exceptional Art Nouveau needlepoint lace collar, Vienna, circa 1900. Remarkably fine workmanship, with a design that is well representative of the short Art Nouveau lacemaking production that was in vogue in Vienna at the time, and particularly rare to find today. Delicate decoration of perfect symmetry, with umbellifers on their stems and supple foliage, the umbels made in very tightly worked festoon stitch of great finesse, each of the tiny florets adorned with a needlepoint fashion; motifs linked by a fine network of very small needlepoint gauze stitches. Size laid flat Height: 47 cm Width: 40 cm (good condition, rare very small holes or fine repeats in the network, one small stain) This lace is to be compared with a drawing illustrated in the portfolio "VIENNA DENTELLE" by J.HRDLICKA, professor at the School of Decorative Arts in Vienna, number 166 of this sale. An identical model is on deposit at the "Museum for Kunst und Gewerbe" in Hamburg, inv. 1902.235 See "Lace a History" by Santina M. Levey, Fig.493