Half Tea Cap of Bobbin Lace with an Inverted Heart-Shaped Flower on a Stem with Two Leaves

Half teacup cap of bobbin lace. Trapezium-shaped with strongly rounded corners at the top. Probably Chinese work, executed under the direction of French Franciscan sisters in Shanghai. The half teacup cap is scattered with six-petaled flowers, petals made in needle lace. The flowers are connected by an open lattice ground. Five larger flowers, two on each side and one in the center, are surrounded by oval frames in linen stitch. The central flower has, at some distance around it, a simple frame in the shape of an inverted heart, on a stem with a narrow upward-bending leaf on each side. Heart, stem and leaves are all made in linen stitch, of more or less the same width. Along the straight underside runs a decorative border with square needle shapes between two narrow strips. Along the outer edge of the rest of the half teacup cap runs a border in linen stitch.