Richelieu is a form of whitework, where portions of the design are cut away from the ground fabric, creating a lace-lake effect. “Brides” or “bars” created from the embroidery thread connect between the edges of the cutwork to add stability to the ground fabric and are part of the design feature creating a lace-lake effect. The technique was popularised in France during the 17th century, during the reign of Cardinal Richelieu, after whom it is named. Richelieu embroidery typically involves working on a piece of sheer fabric, such as organza or linen. Thus this magnificent table linen is a typical example of such laborious and intensive hand work. I obtained the table linen from a lady seller who inherited the piece from her great grandmother and through her mother and goes back to the 1870's. For all those decennia it has never left the armoire and by the looks of it has been very seldom used. Although the table linen is 2 meter long and thus suitable for that length table, it can also be used for longer tables say up to 3 meters or even longer. What I do is to put either a white plain table linen on the table first or alternatively coloured linen or felt in dark green, red, blue etc. depending on your choice. Yes you will land up with 50cm on either side in a different shade, but a) you will bring out the open Richelieu design , b) you can fill out both ends with floral decoration, except if you need to deck the table for 14 persons ( 6 either side and 1 on each end) I would put another floral decoration on both ends in the centre and one in the centre. I strongly believe this was a marriage gift as the circles are linked linked like 2 wedding rings. There are 4 vertical borders in lace to separate the circles. The edges are framed again with a lace border. It is an exceptional piece, rare and a one off. P.S. THE NAPKINS A.B. ARE NOT INCLUDED, AND ARE IN THE SAME AUCTION WITH TABLE LINEN. Vintage linen have already known a first life and can therefore have slight traces of the past. We select the items in the best possible way, with love and dedication. Honest descriptions and images gives a real vision of the items. The linen that we offer for sale is not new linen, unless specifically mentioned, it is second-hand and old linen. As such it may have already been washed, used or even worn. In spite of the great care we take during the preparation, small imperfections can and may escape us. They do not in any way call into question the unique and rare character of these wonderful pieces. I present you our French Antique linen unwashed, as taken out of the armoire, unless otherwise described . It is all clean, but plan to give it a wash before use. Please be aware of the above before you bid and buy. Thank you for taking this into account