What is "reticella"

n. An old Venetian lace-like fabric

Reticella (also reticello or in French point coupé or point couppe) is a needle lace dating from the 15th century and remaining popular into the first quarter of the 17th century.

Reticella was originally a form of cutwork in which threads were pulled from linen fabric to make a "grid" on which the pattern was stitched, primarily using buttonhole stitch. Later reticella used a grid made of thread rather than a fabric ground. Both methods resulted in a characteristic geometric design of squares and circles with various arched or scalloped borders.

Books of patterns for reticella designed by Federico de Vinciolo (France, 1587) and Cesare Vecellio (Italy, probably from the 1590s but printed 1617) were popular and were frequently reprinted.

Reticella developed into Punto in Aria.

Image:Larkin cary detail.jpg|English woman wearing a reticella lace collar and cuffs tinted with yellow starch, c. 1614-1618 Image:Reticella vinciolo.gif|Pattern for reticella or point couppe from Vinciolo's Les Singuliers et Nouveaux Pourtaicts, 1609 reprint of 1587 edition.