Set of three doilies c. 20th century

These doilies, by an anonymous maker, are real monuments of patient, painstaking labor. All those tiny knots and twists – imagine the hours spent coaxing a single thread into these delicate patterns! The texture is everything. It’s not just the way the thread feels, but how the light catches on those intricate loops, creating shadows and highlights that shift as you move around it. Each stitch is like a tiny brushstroke, building up a surface that’s both fragile and surprisingly robust. Look closely, and you'll see the subtle variations in tension and density, like the artist breathing life into the material. It reminds me of Agnes Martin, but instead of pencil lines on canvas, it’s thread on… well, whatever surface these end up gracing. Both artists share this commitment to repetition and subtle variation. It’s a reminder that art isn’t always about grand gestures – sometimes, it’s about the quiet accumulation of small moments.