Swiss embroidered lace curtains

I’m back doing more lace curtain research this week and have discovered these very pretty Swiss embroidered curtains in a lace curtain catalogue from the west London department store Whiteley. The catalogue was produced in the early twentieth century but unfortunately no actual date is given. Swiss is a confusing term in the context of lace curtains because it can signify various different techniques. The Nottingham lace curtain machine can produce Swiss and Swiss combination stitches and Swiss lace is also a term for chemical lace. However, The very light open design of these curtains makes me think that they were made using the Schiffli embroidery machine straight onto a net background.

The three designs of curtains here were all available in white or ecru. The curtain with the design of irises (main image) cost 12/9 for a pair in the sale and each one was 126 inches long and 50 inches wide. The curtains in the lower image are both 126 x 60 inches in size, but are more expensive. The ones on the left cost 17/9 per pair and the others cost 24/3 per pair. I’m not sure why there is such a discrepancy in price as they both seem to have equally complicated designs, requiring similar amounts of work. All three curtain designs are sold in fairly large lengths and widths indicating that they are for a house with large, but not lavish, windows and their price, even in a sale, suggests they would have been bought by a well-to-do customer.