This example of Mechlin lace was likely worn by Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis, Martha Washington’s granddaughter, either as edging on a cap or on a neckline. A possible gathering thread still remains in the interior lace edge border, which could have been used to gather the lace into ruffles. Mechlin lace, dubbed “the queen of laces,” was initially known for its elaborate patterns, but later adapted to the simple and airy style of early nineteenth-century neoclassicism.