Are these Very Old Onion Rings?

From time to time I find curious patterns in the Trove newspapers.
This one, from 1871 seems to be for a shamrock built using onion rings. No photo available on the page, no "Ah Ha!" moment like a Jane Eborall TIAS.. What do you get?
THE LADIES' WORKTABLE. (1871, March 4). The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), p. 28. Retrieved January 20, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164373708

How very interesting! Yes, I would think it would have much the same look as onion rings. I also like the “dots” of 6ds. Little mini rings I suppose?

To be honest, at first glance at the title for this thread I thought you might have been cleaning out your refrigerator!!!

I read it three times with crossed eyes. I couldn't make heads or tails of it without thread in my hands. That would be a TIAS for everyone!

I would call it an onion ring. It would definitely have the layers. Great find!

Read it about three more times, and it certainly seems like early onion rings to me! Would love to see it worked.

How interesting, @Judy. Trust the Aussies to provide TIAS in 1871!

Yes, I agree that it is a rudimentary onion ring. It's also interesting that the tatter used 'shamrock' and 'trefoil' interchangeably.

A terminology question about onion rings - What does "Mock Onion Ring' signify ?

1. concentric rings that may be made with a combination of true rings and chains (or only chains) ;

2. regular rings later arranged or linked in a way to resemble concentric, overlapping, or even interlaced layers ?
   @JudithConnors, would be grateful if you explained/clarified. Thanks

I have created a Google Doc with a couple of minor corrections of grammar. If anyone wants to help throw together a translation, it is open to editing. So far I'm stuck at "Having two threads." Does it mean tatting over two threads?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L550xeesBhwtgQFRY1XBAgAcxH9v6pxHKVQQRBxRGCc/edit?usp=sharing

Muskaan, can you give me the source, please? Onion rings are visual elements in tatting, distinguished by their layers, no matter how these may be formed. Many contemporary patterns use your 1. example.

@wodentoad, thank you for this Google Doc.: it's easier to read. It would seem that there are two threads at the start (possibly CTM on 2 shuttles). Shuttle 1 alone tats the trefoil, then uses the second/auxiliary thread to chain around the outside, providing the second layer of the onion-layered trefoil.

That makes sense, given the next directions. Can we get a test tat of this first? Just wrote down the first section. Please feel free to edit.

Needle tatters cannot make the joins at the top of the rings without taking the stitches off the needle, and then making the join and continuing.. The character of that join will determine if it can be a true ring. -- if you use the core thread for the join, you'll have difficulty closing -- and need to make sure the first half is perfectly tensioned before you go on. So, most needle tatters will use a mock ring for the second, third, layers, regardless of what was used for the inner one. I certainly would put the Ankars overlapping rings in a different category... A pomegranite could be simulated this way.. with a more complex inner structure, and then an outer layer, with embellishment at the top.

@JudithConnors, thanks for your prompt response. I will add links later tonight when I am at the computer.
Merely asking the question made me think deeper and I some clarity emerged from my confusion which arose when I recently came across numerous beautiful effects.

@Judy, thanks for explaining how needle tatters approach this element. Very insightful and enlightening for a shuttle tatter. Can I quote you in my blog ?

Post removed by muskaan.

I've worked the first round and added a couple of comments to the document. Here's what I have so far.

...and the stem is on as described in the text.

Well, here's my first stab at this pattern. It's a big mess, but I think all the elements are there. I suspect that there is only supposed to be one "shamrock" at the end of the row, and that the "stalk" made up of chains and small rings is supposed to be the main element for that row.

This pattern is written to be worked in several discrete rows, which are then connected with either a type of "hen & chicks" or a series of small rings connected by bare thread. It will take some work to figure out the bare thread spacing to make this look good.

Thanks for the edits! Feel free to write it out with modern notation on the page below it as well so we can see it all put together.

There needs to be an "old patterns" club here, lol! And we could release the first Craftree Coffee Table Book.

in reply to JudithConnors's post:

I understand that onion rings have layers that start and end at the same point.
There can be many variations within this - true rings, rings and chains, all chains. Chains allow us to increase the number and size of layers and also to add more colours.

Some may create a 3D effect as when we use curled rings -


or perpendicular arrangement of rings -
or layered onion rings

Now the following has created some confusion in my mind regarding whether these are onion rings, mock onion rings, or something else.

1. using half rings -
   

2. using half moon split rings around a central ring - using 2 colours gives an impression of concentric rings
   

3. Anastasija P. Yelisejeva has demonstrated an onion ring effect which she calls mock onion ring where the 2 layers come from 2 rings Not arising/ending at same point (scroll down to p4)

4. Rose Circle posted by Ka-ryun where the 3 rings, worked at a distance from each other, are interlaced while joining.
   

5. These leaves by Sakamichi - they seem to be made with a continuous chain linked at 2 ends. https://pds.exblog.jp/pds/1/201705/20/88/f0214688_18441655.jpg

Regards

Thanks, @kjminniti, for your translating the pattern into thread. Much appreciated!

in reply to muskaan's post:

Purist tatters would probably hold that onion rings are formed from true rings of increasing sizes encircling the central ring with a 2D perspective. Over the (many) years, the same visual construction has been created using chains as mock rings for the outer layers. These layers appear to emanate from the same point in the element. (**See the 2D design being discussed.)

Adventurous tatters create many shapes, however, layering rings upon one another, 3D style, does not form onion rings as they have been recognised historically. It's just layering or stacking.

NOTE: onion rings don't have decorative picots on the inner layers, but perhaps a couple on the outermost ring/chain. Picots tend to distract from the visual 'onion' formation.

Bear in mind that most lace is 2-dimensional, with techniques that sometimes build a relief around certain elements to emphasize their place in the design.

in reply to muskaan's post:

Absolutely!

Post removed by Judy.

I watch @muskaan 's developments with interest. She's tatting, creating from threads, but more and more of it is three dimensional. We can use tatting to force other three dimensional shapes -- those spiral earrings, for example -- and along with crochet and knit, can reproduce growth structures. I wonder if some of our experiments with non-tranditional, or non 2-D work will have applications in biology, physics, etc. and not just in the world of artistic creations.