thumb|right|200px|Lace from [[Lier, Belgium|Lier ]]
Tambour lace refers to a family of lace made by stretching a fine net over a frame (the eponymous tambour, from the French for drum) and creating a chain stitch, known as tambour, using a fine, pointed hook to reach through the net and draw the working thread through.
Lier lace is also produced as a stitch work on netting structure with a hook. It is one of the decorated net styles of lace that also include Coggeshall lace as well as the Irish laces Limerick and Carrickmacross.
The tambour embroidery technique became popular in western fashion during the 18th century. It was particularly fashionable in the early 19th century when applied to net fabrics, creating a look similar to lace.
thumb|Tambour-worked waistcoat pocket detail, silk, c. 1770–1800. MoMu Fashion Museum Antwerp, ST130C
Textiles and garments of heavy fabrics such as jackets, waistcoats, and gowns featuring tambour embroidery were created in India for export in the 18th century. Pieces in imitation began to be manufactured in the west using adapted embroidery techniques due to the rising popularity of imported garments .
Little is heard of tambour lace until the 1760s when translucent muslins from India, already tamboured with sprigs, were coming into fashion.
alt=|left|thumb|[[The Ladies Waldegrave by Sir Joshua Reynolds]]In the second half of the 18th and into the early 19th century, tambouring was a fashionable pastime for ladies of the French and English courts. It was usually practised on fine muslin, therefore becoming associated with lace, and was known as sewed muslin or flowered muslin.
In western fashion garments and accessories of lightweight textiles were popular through the late 18th to the mid-19th century. Simple chain stitches of the tambour technique embellished clothing with cotton, silk, and silver guilt thread, as well as beads and sequins.
See also
- Sewed muslin
- Embroidery