This book offers a balanced selection of 75 lace pieces from the rich collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The collection owes many of its finest acquisitions to 'The First Dutch Society for Lace-Lovers, Het Kantsalet', which celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2000. 75 x Lace offers a comprehensive history of lace collecting in the Rijksmuseum over the past 150 years, plus a catalogue of 75 of its most beautiful and interesting pieces. These range from rare 17th-century linen collars with bobbin lace borders up to and beyond the christening set of costly Brussels needle lace used for the christening of Queen Wilhelmina and her successors. This set forms only one part of the impressive royal lace collection, which has been on loan in the Rijksmuseum since 1966. All 75 objects, arranged in chronological order to provide a survey of over three centuries of lace making, are expertly described and commented on by Patricia Wardle, who has been involved with the Rijksmuseum's lace collection for the past 20 years. She is a well-known author in this field, who has published extensively on different aspects of lace and lace making.