This black lace shawl is rectangular with a hem bordering on three sides. The corners with the hem are rounded while the side without a hem has pointed corners. The hem has some damage and has a brown color in many places. Where it is discolored the also is also very delicate. The hem has a floral pattern that creates a scalloped border with flowers shaping the undulating rhythm. This floral pattern is different than that on the body of the shawl. On the hem the flowers are much smaller. The body of the shawl has a reapeated floral pattern with one large flower surrounded by a twisting design of leaves and stems. There are a couple isolated places where this lace is damaged by small holes but it is in much better shape compared to the hem.

Needle point lace originated in Greece and Italy c.a. 1500. Originally lace was mostly sitff geometric designs for adorning religious garb. Now floral patterns like this one dominate lace design.

Despina and her husband George Kremidas lived in the Greek village of Dessila, Greece. Dessila is a tiny village in the area of Messenia on the Peloponnese. Their daughter Angeliki, the third of five children, was the only member of the immediate family to emmigrate to America. While living in New England, she married Nicholas Apostolos and subsequently gave birth to two sons: George and James. The family moved to Michigan and both sons served in the military during World War II. Afterwards both sons earned degrees from Worsham College of Mortuary Scieince in Chicago and opened a mortuary in Muskegon, Michigan together. James married Geraldine Pavlis. In 1960 the two left to visit his family in Greece, however, on the day of their departure George Kremidas (James' grandfather) passed away at the age of 98. The personal artifacts included in this accession were given to the Apostles during this trip.

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