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i , + , c purple, and broidered work, and fine Iliad, book vm., Lord Derby s trans. !• ' , , , . „ linen, and coral, and agate. And again, when Diomed wounds ]2 u Op U8 phrygianum." Yeuus, his spear pierces 13 In the yearg 1770 and 1771 By an "Th' ambrosial veil, the Graces' work.'' Englishwoman (Mrs. Miller). London, Ibid. 1777. NEEDLEWORK. In the " London Chronicle " of 1767 will be found an account of the opening of a Scandinavian barrow, near Wareham, in Dorset- shire. Within the hollow trunk of an oak were found many bones, wrapped in a covering of deerskins neatly sewn together. There were the remains of a piece of lace of gold wire 4 inches long, and 2 J inches broad, Fig. 1 ; black and much decayed, of the old lozenge pattern, that oldest and most universal of all designs, again found depicted on the coats of the ancient Danes, where the borders are edged with an open or network of the same pattern. 14 Professor Worsaae ascribes this specimen to the Iron age. Fig. 1. Gold lace found in a barrow. Our Anglo-Saxon ladies excelled in this womanly accomplish- ment ; and gorgeous are the accounts of the gold-starred and scarlet-embroidered tunics and violet sarks worked by the nuns. The " opus anglicanum " was sought for by foreign prelates, and made the subject of papal correspondence. 15 Nor did our Anglo- Saxon kings ever fail, in their pilgrimages to Rome, to bestow on the sovereign Pontiff garments richly embroidered in gold and precious stones. Royal and noble ladies plied their needles for the adornment of the church ; and great St. Dunstan himself designed patterns to be executed by their hands. 16 The four daughters of Edward the Elder were famed for their ability. Their father, says William of Malmesbury, caused them in childhood " to give their whole attention to letters, and 14 Strut! 15 The richly-embroidered orphreys of the English clergy excited the admiration of Pope Innocent IV. (1246), who in- quired where they were made, and being answered in England, he exclaimed, " Truly England is our garden of delight, in sooth, it is a well inexhaustible, and where there is great abundance ; from thence much may be extracted." And immediately he despatched official letters to some of the Cistercian abbots in Eng- land, enjoining tbem to procure a certain quantity of such embroidered vestments, and send them to Rome for his own use. — Matthew of Paris. 16 Ethelwynne, a noble lady, is recorded to have enlisted him in her service, to design the ornaments of a stole; and Dunstan sat daily in the lady's bower, superintending her work, together with the maidens. D 2 ■1 HISTORY OF LACE, afterwards employed them in the Labours of the distaff and the needle." Edgitha, Queen of Edward the Confessor, was, says the same historian, " perfect mistress of her needle." L1 Though needlework was greatly cultivated in Prance, and •• Berthe aux grands pieds," mother of Charlemagne, was a cele- brated worker — '• a ouvivr si com je vous dirai N'avoil meillbr ouvriere tea de V Arcjentier du Boy, Archives Nat. K. K. 106. 26 Taylor, the Water Poet, " Katharine of Aragon." 87 The industry of Henry's last queen was. as great as that of his first. Speci- mens still exist at Sizergh Castle, West- moreland, of Katharine Parr's needle- work, a counterpane and a toilet cover. An astrologer, who cast her nativity, foretold she would be a queen ; so when a child, on her mother requiring her to work, she would exclaim, " My hands are ordaintd to touch crowns and sceptres, not needles and spindles." NEEDLEWORK. 7 No one would suspect the Virgin Queen of solacing herself with the charms of the needle; Every woman, however, had to make one shirt in her lifetime, and the " Lady Elizabeth's Grace," on the second anniversary of Prince Edward's birth, then only six years of age, presented her brother with a cambric smock wrought by her own royal hands. The works of Scotland's Mary, who early studied all female accomplishments under her governess, Lady Fleming, are too well known to require notice. In the letters of the ill-fated queen are constant demands for silk and other sewing materials where- with to solace her long captivity. She had also studied under Catherine de Medicis, herself an unrivalled needlewoman. As- sembling her youthful daughters, Claude, Elizabeth, and Margaret, with Mary Stuart and her Guise cousins, "elle passoit," says Brantome, 28 " fort son temps les apres-disnees a besogner apres ses ouvrages de soye, ou elle estoit tant parfaicte qu'il estoit possible." The ability of Eeine Margot 29 is celebrated by Eonsard, who exalts her as imitating Pallas in the art. 30 Needlework was the daily employment of the convent. As early as the fourteenth century it was termed " nun's work ; " 31 and even now, in secluded parts of the kingdom, ancient lace is styled by that name. 32 Nor was the occupation solely confined to females. Monks were commended for their skill in embroidery ; 33 and in the frontispieces of early pattern books published in the sixteenth century men are 28 " Dames illustres." 31 1380. " (Euvre denonnain."— Inven- 29 The "Reine des Marguerites,'' the taire de Charles V. learned sister of Francis I., was not less 32 " My grandmother, who had other accomplished at her needle, and entries lace, called this " (some needle-point) for working materials appear in her ac- il nun's work." — Extract from a Letter counts up to the year of her death, 1549. from the Isle of Man, 1862. " Trois marcs d'or et d'argent foumis " A butcher's wife showed Miss O par Jehan Danes, pour servir aux ou- a piece of Alemjon point, which she vraiges de la dicte dame." — Livre de de- called 'nun's work.'" — Extract from a penses de Marguerite d'Angouleme, par le Letter from Scotland, 1863. Comte de la Ferriere-Percy ; Paris, 1 862. A lace-maker of Totness, now in her 30 " Elle addonnoit son courage 94th year, still uses what she calls a A faire maint bel ouvrage " nun's pillow." Dessus la toile, et encor 1763. In the " Edinburgh Advertiser " A joindre la soye et l'or. appears, " Imported from the Grand Vous d'un pareil exercise Canaries, into Scotland, nun's work." Mariez par artifice 33 As, for instance, " the imbrothering" Dessus la toile en maint trait of the monks of the monastery of Wols- L'or et la soie en pourtrait." trope, in Lincolnshire. Ode a la Boyne de Navarre, liv. ii. od. vii. 8 HISTOKY OF LACE. represented working at frames, and these books are stated to have been written "for the profit of men, as wel] as of women." 34 Many were composed by ecclesiastics ; 35 and iii the library of St.-Genevieve at Paris are several works of this class, 38 inherited from the monastery of that name. As these books contain little or no letterpress, they could scarcely have been collected by the monks, unless with a view to using them. At the dissolution of the monasteries, the great Roman Catholic Ladies came to the rescue. Of the widow of the ill-fated Earl of Arnndel.it is recorded : "Her gentlewomen and chambermaids she ever busied in works ordained for the service of the church. She permitted none to be idle at any time." 37 Instructresses in the art of embroidery were now at a pre- mium. The old nuns had died out, and there were none to replace them. Mrs. Hutchinson, in her " Memoirs," enumerates, among the eight tutors she had at seven years of age, one for needlework ; while Hannah Senior, about the same period, entered the service of the Earl of Thomond, to teach his daughters the use of their needle, with the salary of 2001. a year. The money, however, was never paid ; so she petitions the Privy Council for leave to sue him. 38 When, in 1614, the King of Siam applied to King James for an English wife, a gentleman of " honourable parentage " offers his daughter, whom he describes of excellent parts for " music, her needle, and good discourse." 39 And these are the sole accom- plishments he mentions. The bishops, however, shocked at the proceeding, interfered, and put an end to the projected alliance. Xo ecclesiastical objection, however, was made to the epitaph of Catherine Sloper. She sleeps in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey, 1620: " Exquisite at her needle." 34 " Livre de Lingerie," Dom. de Sera, is from the "Monasterio St. Germani h 1581. "Donne, donzelle, con gli huo- Pratis." mim"—Taglienti,15^0. Patterns which n He died 1595. " Lives of the Earl " les Seigneurs, Dames et Damoiselles and Count ess of Arundel," from the ont eu pour agreables." — Vinciolo, 1587. original MS. by the Duke of Norfolk. 35 Jehan Mayol, carme de Lyon ; London, 1857. Fra Hieronimo, dell' Ordine dei Servi ; 3H P. R. O. Calendar of State Papers, Pere Dominique, religieux carme, and Domestic, Charles I. vol. clxix. 12. others. 3!) P. R. O. Calendar of State Papers, 36 One in the Bibliotheque Nationale Colonial, No. 789. NEEDLEWORK. 9 Till a very late date we have ample record of the esteem in which this art was held. In the days of the Commonwealth, Mrs. Walker is described to have been as well-skilled in needlework " as if she had been brought up in a convent." She kept, however, a gentlewoman for teaching her daughters. Evelyn, again, praises the talent of his daughter, Mrs. Draper. " She had," writes he, " an extraordinary genius for whatever hand can do with a needle." The gay queen of Charles I., followed by the consorts of the younger Stuarts, wrought a change in the simple habits of their royal predecessors, for when Queen Mary, in her Dutch simplicity, sat for hours knotting fringe, her favourite employment, Bishop Burnet, her biographer, adds : " It was a strange thing to see a queen work so many hours of the day ;" and her homely habits formed a never ending subject of ridicule for the wit of Sir Charles Sedley. 40 From the middle of the last century, or, rather, from the French Revolution, the more artistic style of needlework and embroidery fell into decadence. The simplicity of male costume rendered it a less necessary adjunct to female or, indeed, male education ; for, strange to say, two of the greatest generals of the Republic, Hoche and Moreau, added to their pay by embroidering satin waistcoats long after they had entered the military service. The needle now became replaced by trumpery fancy works, which the better taste of the last few years has happily exploded. We may look on the art as almost at an end. The sewing- machine Las added to the exigences of the distressed needlewoman, and those who could once gain a fair livelihood now fear starva- tion. On the other hand, locomotion and cheap travelling have rendered the life of our countrywomen so much less stay-at-home ; they have little time for the homely employment of their ancestors. We may verily say, with the prophet Daniel, of the present generation, " Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." 40 See his epigram, " The Royal Knot- XIV., a contemporary writer states of ter," about " the Queen : " — Madame de Maintenon that, "a peine " Who, when she rides in coach abroad, imt f Ue d /T I* T^T ' ^ q ? ^ t- i , , ,. ,, , „ cocher eut touette les chevaux. la dame Is always knotting threads. .. . .. , ., mit ses lunettes et tira de 1 ouvrage qu elle Describing her daily drive with Louis avait dans son sac." 10 HISTORY OF LACK. CHAPTER II. OUTWORK. " Et lors, sous vos lacis a mille fcnestrages, Raiseuls et poiuct couppes et tous vos clairs ouvrages." Jean Godard, 1588. It is from that open-work embroidery which in the sixteenth century came into such universal use that we must derive the origin of lace, and, in order to work out the subject, trace it through all its gradations. This embroidery, though comprising a wide variety of decora- tion, went by the general name of cutwork. The fashion of adorning linen has prevailed from the earliest times. Either the edges were worked in close embroidery — the threads drawn and fashioned with a needle in various forms — or the ends of the cloth unravelled and plaited with geometric precision. To judge from the description of the linen grave-clothes of St. Cuthbert, as given by an eye-witness x to his disinterment in the twelfth century, they were ornamented in a manner similar to that we have described. " There had been," says the chronicler, "put over him a sheet .... this sheet had a fringe of linen thread of a finger's length ; upon its sides and ends were woven a border of projecting workmanship fabricated of the thread itself, bearing the figures of birds and beasts, so arranged that between every two pairs there were interwoven among them the repre- sentation of a branching tree which divides the figures. This tree, so tastefully depicted, appears to be putting forth its leaves," &c. There can be no doubt that this sheet, for many centuries preserved in the cathedral church of Durham, was a specimen of drawn or cut work, which, though later it came into general use, w T as at an early period of our history alone used for ecclesias- tical purposes, and an art which was, till the dissolution of monasteries, looked upon as a church secret. 1 Translated from the " Libellus de Admirandis beati Cuthberti Miraculis," of Reginald, monk of Durham, by Rev. J. Rain. Durham, 1855. CUT WORK, U Though outwork is mentioned in Hardyng's Chronicle, 2 when, describing the luxury in King Eichard II.'s reign, he says — " Cut werke was greate both in court and townes, Both in menes hoddis and also in their gownes," yet this oft quoted passage, no more than that of Chaucer, in which he accuses the priests of wearing gowns of scarlet and green colours ornamented with cut work, cannot be received as evidence of this mode of decoration being in general use. It refers rather to the fashion of cutting out 3 pieces of velvet or other materials, and sewing them down to the garment with a braid, the applied or " applique " work of later times. That linen was then adorned with the needle, we have evidence in the work of his consort, Queen Anne of Bohemia. In the cathedral at Prague is preserved a priest's robe, executed by her hand, a curious piece of mediaeval embroidery and cutwork, yellow with age, but in perfect condition. Coeval with these styles of decoration was drawn-work, in which the weft and woof threads of the tissue were drawn, re- taining the design and forming the threads into a square network, rendered firm by a stitch at each intersection. The design was then embroidered, often in colours. 4 The linen shirt or smock was the special object of adornment, and on the decoration of the collar and sleeves much time and ingenuity were expended. In the ancient ballad of " Lord Thomas," 5 the fair Annette cries :— " My maids, gae to my dressing-room. And dress me in my smock ; The one half is o' the Holland fine, The other o' needlework." Chaucer, too, does not disdain to describe the embroidery of a lady's smock : — ■ u White was her smocke, embrouded all before And eke behynde, on her colar aboute, Of cole blacke sylke, within and eke without." 8 " Chronicle of John Hardyng," circ. the Philippine Islands. It was revived in 1470. Europe during the last century, and speci- 3 Temp. Rich. II. In their garments mens were executed closely resembling " so much pouncing of chesell to make lace, under the various appellations of holes, so much dragging (zigzagging) of drawn-work (Fig. 28), Indian work (see sheers," &o,—Good Parson, Chaucer. "Denmark"), Dresden point (see "Ger- 4 Drawn-work continued to a late many "), Hamburg point, &c. period in Russia, and is still to be found 5 Percy, " Reliques of Ancient Po- in the productions of Brazil, Chili, and etry,'' vol. iii. L2 HISTOHY OF LACE. The sums exjHMuliul <>n the decoration of tliis most necessary article of dress sadly excited the wrath of Mr. Stubbs, who thus vents his indignation : "These shirtes (sometymes it happeneth) are wrought throughout with needlework of silkc, and such Like, and curiously stitched with open seame, and many other knackes besides, more than I can describe ; in so much, I have beard of shirtes that have cost some ten shillynges, some twenty, some forty, some five pounds, some twenty nobles, and (which is horrible to heare) some ten pound a pece." ° In the time of Henry VIII. the shirt was "pynched" or plaited : — " Gtime nere with your shirtes bordered and displayed, Iu foarme of Burplois." 7 These, 8 with handkerchiefs, 9 sheet, and pillow-beres 10 (pillow- cases), were embroidered with silks of various colours, until the fashion gradually gave place to cutwork. 6 " Anatomie of Abuses," by rhilip Stubbs, 1583. 7 " The Shyp of Folysof the Worlde," translated out of Latin by Alex. Barclay, 1508. 8 The inventories of all nations abound in mention of these costly articles. The " smocks" of Katharine of Aragon, " for to lay in," were wrought about the collar with gold and silk. Lord Monteagle, 1523, had " two fine smocks of cambric wrought with gold." (Inv. P. E. O.) Among tbe New Year's gifts offered to Queen Mary Tudor (1556), we find a smock wrought over with silk, and collar and ruffles of damask, gold purl, and silver. Again, in the household expenses of Marguerite de France, 1545, we find a charge of " 4 livrts 12 sols, pour une garniture de chemise ouvre de soye cramoisie pour madiete dame" (Bib. Xat. MSS. Fonds Franc;ais, 10,394). About the same date (G. W. A. Eliz. 1 & 2, 1 558-59) appear charges for " length- ening one smock e of drawne work, 20s. Six white smocks edged with white needlework lace, 10s. To overcasting and edging 4 smockes of drawne work with ruffs, wristbands, and collars, three of them with black work, and three of them with red," &c. At the funeral of Henry II. of France, 1559, the effigy was described as attired in " une chemise de toile de Hollande, borde'e au col et aux manches d'ouvraige fort excellent." — Godefroy, Le Ce're'monial de France, 1610. 9 See " France." 10 The pillow-bere has always been an object of luxury, a custom not yet extinct in France, where the " taies d'oreiller, brode'es aux armes," and trimmed with a rich point, form an important feature in a modern trousseau. In the inventory of Margaret of Austria, the gentle governess of the Low Countries, are noted — " Quatre toyes d'oraillers ouvrees d'or et de feoye cramuysie et de verde. " Autres quatres toyes d'oraillers faitcs et ouvrees d'or et de soye bleu a losanges qui out este'es donneVs a Madame par dom Diego de Cabrera." — Corr. de VEm- pereur Maximilian I' r et de Marguerite d'Autriche, par M. Leglay ; Paris, 1839. Edward Vf. has (Harl. MSS. 1419) " 18 pillow-beres of hollande with brode seams of silk of sundry coloured needle- work." And again, " One pillow-bere of line hollande wrought with a brode seam of Venice gold and silver, and silk nedlework." And, Lady Zouche presents Queen Elizabeth, as a New Year's gift, with " One pair of pillow-biares of Holland work, wrought with black silk drawne work." — Nichols' lloyal Frog reuses. OUTWORK. 13 The description of the widow of John Whitcomb, a wealthy clothier of Newbury, in Henry VIII.'s reign, when she laid aside her weeds, is the first notice we have of cutwork being in general use. " She came," says the writer, " out of the kitchen in a fair train gown stuck full of silver pins, having a white cap upon her head, with cuts of curious needlework, the same an apron, white as the driven snow." Ficr. 2. " Spiderwork," thirteenth century. Bock Coll. South Kensington Museum. Fier. 3. "Spiderwork," fourteenth century. Bock Coll. South Kensington Museum. The embroidering on a net-work ground was a work of great antiquity. It is the " opus fllatorium " of the fourteenth cen- tury, 11 the spiderwork or " opus araneum " of continental writers, revived, in modern times, under the names of " filet brode " and " guipure d'art." We give two specimens of coloured silk network, 11 Three pieces of this work are in the Exeter Inventory, dated 1327, quoted hy Canon Rock. M HISTORY OF LACE. the one (Fig. 2) ornamented with small embroidered shields and crosses, the other (Fig. 3) with the mediaeval gammadion pattern. We are now arrived at the Renaissance, a period when.so close an union existed between the line arts and manufactures; when the most trifling objects of luxury, instead of being consigned to the vulgar taste of the mechanic, received from artists their most graceful inspirations. Embroidery profited by the genera] impulse, and books of designs were composed for that species which, under the general name of outwork, formed the great employment for the women of the day. The volume most generally circulated especially among the ladies of the French court, for whose use it was designed, is that of the Venetian Vinciolo, to whom, some say, Fi£. 4. Point coupe. Vinciolo. we know not on what authority, Catherine de Medicis granted, in 1585, the exclusive privilege of making and selling the " collerettes gaudronnees " 12 she had herself introduced. This work, which passed through many editions, dating from 1587 to 1623, is entitled, " Les singuliers et nouveaux pourtraicts et ouvrages de Lingerie. Servans de patrons a faire toutes sortes de poincts, 12 Goderonne — goudronne, incorrectly derived from pitch (goudron), has no relation to stiffness or starch, but is used to designate the fluted pattern &o much in vogue in the sixteenth century — the " gadrooncd" edge of silversmiths. 1588. "Ilavaitune fraise empesee et godronnee a gros godrons, au bout de laquelle il y avoit de belle et grande den telle, les manchcttes estoient goudi on- nees de mesme." CUTWORK. ir» couppe, Lacis & autres. 13 Dedie a la Royne. Nouvellement inventez, au proffit et contentement, des nobles Dames et Da- moiselles & autres gentils esprits, amateurs d'un tel art. Par le Seigneur Federic de Vinciolo Venitien. A Paris. Par Jean le Clerc le jeune, etc., 1587." Two little figures, representing ladies in the costume of the period, with working-frames in their hands, decorate the title-page. 14 Fig. 5. 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In 18G6, when present at a peasant's wedding in the church of St.-Lo (Departement de la Manche), the author observed that the " toile d'honneur," which is always held extended over the heads of the married pair while the priest pronounces the blessing, was of the finest cutwork, trimmed with lace. Both in the north and in the south of Europe the art still lingers on. Swedish housewives pierce and stitch the holiday collars of their husbands and sons ; and careful ladies, drawing the threads of the fine linen sheets destined for the " guest-chamber," produce an ornament of geometric design. Scarce tw 7 enty years since an expiring relic of this art might be sometimes seen on the white smock-frock of the English labourer, which, independent of elaborate stitching, was enriched with an insertion of cutwork, running from the collar to the shoulder crossw^ays, like that we see decorating the surplices of the sixteenth centurv. ( 21 ) CHAPTEE III. LACE. " Je demandai de ladentelle : Voici le tulle de Bruxelles, La blonde, le point d'Alencon, Et la Maline, si legere ; L'application d'Angleterre (Qui se fait a Paris, dit-on) * Voici la guipure indigene, Et voici la Valenciennes, Le point d'esprit, et le point de Paris ; Bref les dentelles Les plus nouvelles Que produisent tous les pays." Le Palais des Dentelles, Bothomago. Lace 1 is defined as a plain or ornamental network, wrought of fine threads of gold, silver, silk, flax, or cotton, interwoven ; to which may be added " poil de chevre," and also the fibre of the aloe, employed by the peasants of Italy and Spain. The term " lacez," rendered in the English translation of the statutes 2 " lace," implies braids, such as were used for decorating the different parts olthe dress, and appears long before lace, properly so called, came into use. "Passament" 3 also was a general term for gimps and braids, as well as for lace. Modern industry has separated these two classes of work, but the words being formerly used to express both renders it difficult in historic research to separate one from the other. The same confusion occurs in France, where the first lace was called " passement," because it was applied to the same use, to braid or lay flat over the coats and other garments. The lace trade was entirely in the hands of the " Passementiers " of Paris, who were 1 Lace. French, "dentelle;" German, 2 Statute 3 Edw. IV. c. iii. " Spitzen ; " Italian, " merletto," " trina ;" 3 " Passement, a lace or lacing." — Cot- Genoa, " pizzo ; " Spanish, "encaje;" grave. Dutch, "kanten." 22 HISTORY OF LACE. allowed to make all sorts of " passcments de dentelle snr Foreiller aux fuseaux, aux epingles et a la main, d'or, d'argent, tant fin que faux, do soye, de fil blanc et de couleur," &c. They therefore applied the same terms to their different products, whatever the material. The word " passement " continued to be used till the middle of Fiff. 7. Grande dantelle au point devant 1 'aiguille. Montbeliard, 159'8. the seventeenth century, it being specified as " passements aux fuseaux," " passements a l'aiguille ; " only it was more specially applied to lace without an edge. When with indented edge, it was so qualified, "passement a dentelle." Nor will the term " dentelle " be found in the earlier French LACE. 23 dictionaries. 4 It was not till fashion caused the passeinent to be made with a toothed edge that the expression of "passeinent dentele " first appears. In the acounts of Henry II. of France, and his queen, we have frequent notices of " passement jaulne dantelle des deux costez," 5 "passement de soye incarnat dentelle d'un coste," 6 &c. &c. but no mention of the word " dentelle." It does, however, occur, in an inventory of an earlier date, that of ^Marguerite de France, sister of Francis I., who, in 1 54:5, paid the sum of " vi livres pom- soixante aulnes, fine dantelle de Florance pour rnettre a des colletz." 7 After a lapse of twenty years and more, among the articles fur- nished to Mary Stuart in 1567, is " Une pacque de petite dentelle ;" 8 and this is the sole mention of the word in all her accounts. Fig. 8. Fie:. 9. Petite dantelle. 1598. Petite dantelle. 1598. We have like entries in the expenses of Henry I V.'s first queen. 9 Gradually the " passement dentele " subsided into the modern "dentelle." It is in a pattern book, published at Alontbeliard, in 1598, 10 we nrst find designs for " dantelles." It contains twenty patterns, of all sizes, "bien petites, petites (Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11), moyennes, et grosses " (Fig. 7), the term always applied to toothed edges. 4 Not in those of Eob. Estienne, 1549 ; Frere de l'Aval, 1549; or Nicot, 1606. Cotgrave has, " Dentelle, small edging (and indented), bone-lace, or needle- work." In " Diet, de l'Academie," 1694, we find, "Dentelle. sorte de passement a j,our et a mailles tres. fines ainsi nonime parceque les premieres qu'on fit etoient dentelees." 5 Comptes de TArgentier du JRoi, 1557. Arch. Nat K. K. 106. " Passement de fine soie noire dentelle d'un coste." " Passement blane," " grise," also occur. 6 Argenterie de la Eeine, 1556. Arch. Nat K. K. US. 7 Depenses de la Maisoti de Madame Marguerite de France, Sceur du Boi. Bib. Nat MSS. F. Fr. 10,394. fol. 62. 8 " Plus de delivre une pacque de petite dentelle qui est estez cousu en- semble pour mettre sur les coutures des rideaux des ditz litz contenant 80 aunes." Eec. Off. Fdin. This custom of trim- ming the seams of bed-curtains with a lace indented on both sides was common throughout Europe. 9 1577. " Pour deux aulnes de passe- ment d'argent a hautte dantelle pour mettre U ung renvers, au pris de soixante solz 1' a nine. " Pour uneaulne de dentelle pour faire deux cornettes pour servir a la dicte dame, quatre livres." — Cptes. de la I? de Navarre. Arch. Xat. K. K. 162. 10 Appendix. 21 HISTORY OF LACK. The word " dentelle " seems now in general use; but Vecellio, in his "Corona," lf>92, has "opere a mazette," pillow lace, and Migncrak first gives the novelty of " passements an fuzeau," pillow lace (Fig. 12), for which Vinciolo, in his edition of 1(523, Fig. 10. Pier. ii. Petite dank-lie. 15'js. Kef. 12. Petite duntelle. 1598. Fig. 13. ■BL-riii^Ba Pavement au fuseau. Mignerak, 1605. Passement au fuseau. Vinciolo, edition 1623. also furnishes patterns* (Figs. 13 and 14) ; and Parasole, 1616, gives designs for " merli a piombini " (Fig. 15). In the inventory of Henrietta Maria, dated 161 9, 11 appear a 11 "Petits et grands passements; id. &c. — Inv.de Madame Soeur duRoi. Arch, a Tesguille; id. facit an mestier; id. de Nat. K. K. 234. Flandres a poinctes ; id. orange a jour ; So late as 1645, in the inventory of the id.de Flandres satine;" with " reseuil, church of St.-Medard at Paris (Arch, dantelles, grandes et petites, or, argent," Nat. L. L. 858), the word is used. We LACE. 25 variety of laces, all qualified under the name of " passement ;" and in that of the Marechal La Motte, 1627, we find the term applied to every description of lace. " Item, quatre paires de manchettes garnyes de passement tant de Venise, Gennes, et de Malines." 12 Another " terme de passementier " which has given rise to some confusion is the word " guipure." Strictly speaking, it was used to express a thick thread or cord over which was twisted a silk, gold, or silver thread. 13 Originally slips of parchment (cartisane) were used, but this was found to perish from damp, and was replaced by a cotton material called " canetille." Fig. 14. Fig. 15. Passement au fuseau. Vinciolo, edition 1623. Merletti a piombini. Parasole, 1616. When in the seventeenth century passements were made of linen thread, to imitate the high reliefs of the needle-made points, then in so much estimation, a thick cord worked over with the thread (guipe) was introduced to mark the salient points of the pattern. Thus the term of guipure was applied to the thread laces with guipure reliefs, and the designation has since remained find, " Quatre tours de chaire de thoille baptiste, ung beau surplis pour le predi- cates, six autres, cinq corporaulx," all " a grand passement." Also, " deux pe- tits corporaulx a petit passement," and " trois tours de chaire garnyz de grand passement a dentelle." 12 Inv. apres le deces de Mgr. le Mare'- ehal de La Motte. Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 11.426. 13 " Guiper. Tordre les fils pendans d'une frange par le moyen de Pinstrunient qu'on nomme guipoir, fer crochu d'un cote, et charge' de l'autre d'un petit mor- ceau de plomb pour lui donner du poids." — Savary. "Guipure. A grosse black thread covered or whipt about with silk." — Cotgrave. 2G HISTORY OF LACK. to all laces without grounds of which the various patterns are united by brides ; 14 the term is also applied to the bold flowing patterns of Flanders and Italy, united by a, eoarse reseau ground, and indeed is almost indefinitely amplified. Lace consists of two parts, the ground and the flower, pattern, or " gimp." The older laces, points, and guipures, are not worked upon a, network ground ; the flowers are connected by irregular threads overcast with button-hole stitch, and sometimes fringed with loops or knots, styled " thorns " ; in Italian, " punti a spina." These uniting threads are called by our lace-makers "pearl ties" — Handle Holme 15 styles them " cockscombs " — the Italians " legs," the French " barrettes " or " brides ;" the latter term is that now universally adopted. To express the honeycomb or network ground, we likewise use the French term "reseau." It is also called "fond," "champ," " treille," and sometimes " entoilage," on account of its containing the " toile " flower or ornament so styled from its flat, close texture resembling linen, and also from its being often made of that material, or of muslin. 16 The flower, or ornamental pattern, is either made together with the ground, as in Valenciennes or Mechlin, or separately, and then either worked in or sewn on (applique.) The open-work stitches introduced into the pattern are called " modes," "jours ;" by our Devonshire workers, "fillings." All lace is terminated by two edges, the " pearl," " picot," 17 or (i couronne," — a row of little points at equal distances, and the " footing " or " engrelure," — a narrow lace, which serves to keep the stitches of the ground firm, and to sew the lace to the garment upon which it is to be worn. Lace is divided into two distinct classes, point and pillow. The first is made by the needle on a parchment pattern, and termed " needle point," " point a l'aiguille," " punto in aco." 14 In an inventory of the cliurch of 16 " Grille," " grillage," is another term the Oratoire, at Paris, of the seventeenth applied to the flowers, but distinguished century, are veils for the host : one, " de from toile' by having little square spaces taffetas blanc garny d'une guipure ;" the between the thread ("grille," grating), the other, " de satin blanc a fleurs, avec une work not being so compact as the toile. dentelle de guipure." Bib. Nat. MSS. 17 " Une robe et tablier, garnis d'une F. Fr. 8621. dentelle d'Angleterre a picot." — Inv. de 15 "Store-house of Armory and Bla- deces de la Duclieese de Bourbon. Arch, son," 1688. Nat. X. 10,064. LACE. 27 The word point is sometimes incorrectly applied to pillow-lace, as " point de Malines," " point de Yalencienne," " point de Paris," 18 "point.de neige," 19 " point a la reine." " Cette homme est bien en points " was a phrase used to denote a person who wore rich lace. 20 The manner of making pillow lace 21 need hardly be described. The " pillow " 22 is a round or oval board, stuffed so as to form a cushion, and placed upon the knees of the workwoman. On this pillow a stiff piece of parchment is fixed, with small holes pricked through to mark the pattern. Through these holes pins are stuck into the cushion. The threads with which the lace is formed are wound upon "bobbins," small round pieces of wood, about the size of a pencil, having round their upper ends a deep groove, so formed as to reduce the bobbin to a thin neck, on which the thread is wound, a separate bobbin being used for each thread. By the twisting and crossing of these threads the ground of the lace is formed. The pattern or figure, technically called " gimp," is made by interweaving a thread much thicker than that forming the groundwork, according to the design pricked out on the parchment. 23 Such has been the pillow, and the method of using it, with but slight variation, since its introduction. To avoid repetition, we propose giving a separate history of the manufacture in each country ; but in order to furnish some general notion of the relative ages of lace, it may be as well to enumerate the kinds most in use when Colbert, by his establish- ment of the Points de France, in 1665, caused a general develop- 18 "Une chemisette de toiled' Hollande Point also means a particular stitch, garnye de point de Paris." — Inv. d'Anne as " point nouey " point d'esprit," " a d'Escoubleau, Baronne de Sourdis, veuve chainette." de Francois de Simiane. 1681. Arch. 20 "Diet, d' Ant. Furetiere. Augmeute Nat. M. M. 802. par M. Basnage. La Haye, 1727." 19 1651. " Huit aulnes de toile com- 2 i French, " dentelle a fuseaux ; " munegarniesde neige." — Inv.desmeubles Italian, " merli a piombini;" Dutch, de la Sacristie de VOratoire de Je'sus, " gespeldewerkte kant;" Old Flemish, a Paris. Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 8621. " spelle werk." " Neuf autres petites nappes ; les deux 22 French, " carrcau," " cousin,"" oreil- premieres de toile unie ; la troisieme a ler;" Italian, "tonibolo;" Venetian, dentelle quallifie de neige." — Ibid. " ballon ; " Spanish, " mundillo." " Point de neige " recalls the quarrel of 23 The number of bobbins is generally Gros Bene and Marinette : — equal to 50 to each square inch. If the " Ton beau galant de neige, avec ta lace be one inch wide, it will have 625 nonpareille, meshes in each square inch, or 22,500 in II n'aura plus l'honneur d'etre sur mon a yard. The work, therefore, goes on oreille." very slowly, though generally performed Moliere, Depit amoureux, 1656. with the greatest dexterity. 28 IIISTOKY nV LACK. nu'iii of the lace manufacture throughout Europe! Acccordine" to M. Aubry, the laces known at that period were :— I. Point or needle-made lace. — Principally made at Venice, Brussels, and in Spain. "2. Bisette. — A narrow, coarse, indented thread pillow lace of three qualities, made in the environs of Paris 2 ' by the peasant- women, principally for their own use. Though proverbially of little value : " Ce n'est que de la bisette," 25 it formed an article of traffic with the mercers and lingeres of the day. 3. Campane. 26 — A white, narrow, fine, indented thread pillow edging, 27 used to sew upon other laces, 28 cither to widen them or to replace a worn-out picot or pearl. 4. Gueuse. — A thread lace, which owed to its simplicity the name it bore. The ground was network (a reseau), the flowers a loose, thick thread, worked in on a pillow, what is now called " torchon." Gueuse was formerly an article of extensive con- 24 At Gisors, Saint-Denis, Montmo- rency, and Villiers-le-Bel. — Savary, Grand Vict, du Commerce, 1720. Cotgrave gives, " Bisette. A plate (of gold, silver, or copper) wherewith some kinds of stuffes are stripped." Oudin, " Feuille ou paillette d'or ou d'argent." As " terme depassementier" it frequently occurs in old inventories. 1545. " 55 sols pour une once bizette d'argent pour mectre a des colletz." — Ac- counts of Madame Marguerite de France. Bib. Nat. 1579. " Petite bizette d'or findentellez des deux costez pour servir a des manches de satin cramoisy " of Catherine de Medicis. — Tre"sorerie de la royne mere du roy. Arch. Nat. K. K. 115. In the Chartley Inv. 1586, of Mary Stuart, is mentioned, " Un plotton de bisette noire." 25 " Diet, de 1' Academic" 26 Campane, from " sonnette, clochette, meme grelot." " Les festons qu'on met aux etoffes et aux dentelles." — Oudin. 27 Like bizette, a " terme de passe- mentier." Campane lace was also made of gold, and of coloured silks, for trimming mantles, scarfs, &c. We find, in the Great "Wardrobe Accounts of George I., 1714, an entry of "Gold Campagne buttons." Evelyn, in his " Fop's Dictionary," 1690, gives, " Campane, a kind of narrow, pricked lace ; " and in the " Ladies' Dictionary," 1694, it is de- scribed as " a kind of narrow lace, picked or scalloped." In the Great Wardrobe Account of William III., 1688-9, we have, "lepoynt campanie tseniaB." 28 In the last century it was much the fashion to trim the scalloped edges of a broader lace with a narrower, which was called " campaner." 1720. " Une garniture de teste a trois pieces de dentelle d'Angletcrre a raiseau, garni autour d'une campane a dents." — Inv. de la Duchesse de Bourbon. 1741. " Une paire de manches a trois rangs de Malines a raizeau campanee." — Inv. de deces de Mademoiselle Marie Anne de Bourbon de Clermont. Arch. Nat. X. 11,071. (Daughter of Made- moiselle de Nantes and Louis Duke de Bourbon.) *' Une coeffure de Malines a raizeau a deux pieces campanee." — Ibid. In the lace-bills of Madame du Barry, preserved in the Bib. Nat., are various entries of "Angleterre et point a 1' ai- guille, campanee des deux cotes," for ruffles, camisoles, &c. LACE. 29 sumption in France, but, from the beginning of the last century, little used, save by the lower classes. Many old persons may still remember the term, " beggars' lace." 5. Mignonette. 29 — A light, fine, pillow lace, called " blonde de ill," 30 also " point de tulle," from the ground resembling that fabric. It was made of Lille thread, bleached at Antwerp, of different widths, never exceeding 2 or 3 inches. This lace was manu- factured at Lille and Arras, and also in the environs of Paris, in Lorraine, Auvergne, Normandy, and Switzerland. It was an article of considerable export, and at times in high favour, from Fig. 16. Old Mechlin. its lightness and clear ground, for head-dresses 31 and other trimmings. 32 6. Point de Paris, or point double. 29 1729. " Huit palatines tant points que mignonettes." — Inv. de deces de Louise Henriette de Bourbon- Conty, Prinoesse du Sang, Duchesse de Orleans. Arch. Nat. X. 10,077. " Trente-vingt paires de manchettes, quatre coeffures, le tout tant de differents point qu'Angleterre, mignonettes que tulles."— Ibid. 1761. " Fichus garnis a trois rangs de blonde de fil sur entoilage." — Inv. de Charlotte Aglae d' Orleans, Princesse du Sang, Duchesse de Modene (daughter of the Regent). 1789. Ruffles of blonde de fil appear also in the Inv. de deces de Monseigneur le Due de Duras. Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 11,440. 30 1758. « Une paire de manchettes a trois rangs de blonde de fil sur en- toilage." — Inv. de Mademoiselle Louise Anne de Bourbon Cond€ de Charollais (sister of Mademoiselle de Clermont). Arch. Nat. X. 10,076. 31 "On employe aussi pour les coeffures de la mignonette, et on a tellement per- fectionne cette dentelle, que estant peu de chose dans son commencement est de- venue de consequence et meme tres chere, j'entends, la plus fine qu'on fait sur de beaux patrons." — Le Mercure Galant, 1699. 32 It frequently appears in the adver- tisements of the last century. In the " Scottish Advertiser," 1769, we find enumerated among the stock in trade, " Mennuet and blonde lace." 30 HISTORY OF LACE. 7. Valenciennes. 8. Mechlin. All the lares of Inlanders, with the exception of those of Brussels, were known in commerce at this period under the general name of Mechlin (Fig. 16). J). Guipures. 10. Gold laee. Most of these laces are enumerated in a jeu d'esprit, entitled " La Kevolte des Passemens," published at Paris in 1661. 33 In consequence of a sumptuary edict against luxury in apparel, - .Mesdames les Broderies — " Les Poinctes, Dentelles, Passemens, Qui, par une vaine despence, Ruinoient, aujourd'huy la France " — meet, and concert measures for their common safety. Point de Genes, with Point de Raguse, first address the company ; next, Point de Venise, who seems to look on Raguse with a jealous eye, exclaims — " Encore pour vous, Poinct de Raguse, II est bon, crainte d'attentat, D'en vouloir purger un estat. Les gens aussy fins que vous estes Ne sont bons que, comme vous faites, Pour ruiner tous les estats. ] Et vous, Aurillac on Venise, Si nous plions notre valise," what will be our fate ? The other laces speak, in their turn, most despondently, till a " vieille broderie d'or," consoling them, talks of the vanity of this world : — " Who knows it better than I, who have dwelt in kings' houses?" One " grande dentelle d'Angleterre " now proposes they should all retire to a convent. To this the " Dentelles de Flandres " object ; they w 7 ould sooner be sewn at once to the bottom of a petticoat. Mesdames les Broderies resign themselves to become " ameuble- ment;" the more devout of the party to appear as "devants d'autel;" those who feel too young to renounce the world and its vanities will seek refuge in the masquerade shops. " Dentelle noire d'Angleterre " lets herself out cheap to a 33 In the " Eecueil de pieces les plus The poem is dedicated to Mademoiselle agreables de ce temps, composees par de la Trousse, cousin of Madame de divers autheurs. Paris, chez Charles Sevigne, and was probably written by Sercy. mdclxi." one of her coterie. LACE. 31 fowler, as a net to catch woodcocks, for which she felt "assez propre " in her present predicament. The Points all resolve to retire to their own countries, save Aurillac, who fears she may be turned into a strainer " pour passer les fromages d'Auvergne," a smell insupportable to one who had revelled in civet and orange flower. All were starting, — " Chacun, dissimulant sa rage, Doucement ploit son bagage, Resolu d'obeir au sort," when " Une pauvre malheureuse, Qu'on apelle, dit on, la Gueuse," arrives in a great rage, from a village in the environs of Paris. "She is not of high birth, but has her feelings all the same. She will never submit. She has no refuge — not even a place in the hospital. Let them follow her advice, and ' elle engageoit sa chainette,' she will replace them all in their former position." Next morn, the Points assemble. " Une grande Cravate 34 fanfaron " exclaims :— " II nous faut venger cet affront, Revoltons-nous, noble assemblee." A council of war ensues : — " La dessus, le Poinct d'Alencon Ayant bien appris sa lecon Fit une fort belle harangue." Flanders now boasts how she had made two campaigns under Monsieur, as a cravat ; another had learned the art of war under Turenne ; a third was torn at the siege of Dunkirk. " Eacontant des combats qu'ils ne virent jamais," one and all had figured at some siege or battle. " Qu'avons nous a redouter ? " cries Dentelle d'Angleterre. Not so, thinks Point de Genes, " qui avoit le corps un peu gros." 34 The Cravates or Croates soldiers charm to protect them from sabre-cuts. had a band of stuff round their throats What began in superstition ended in to support an amulet they wore as a fashion. HISTOEY OF LACE. They all swear ik Foy de Passement, Foy de Poinots et de Brodeiie, Do Guipure et d'Orfevrerie, Do Gueuse do touto faoon," to declare open war, and to banish the parliament. The Laces assemble at the lair of St.-Germain, there to be re- viewed by General Luxe. The muster-roll is called over by Colonel Sotte Pepensc. Dentelles do Moresse, Escadrons de Neige, Dentelles de Havre, EiSCrues, Soies noires, and Points d'Espagne, &c, march forth in warlike array, to conquer or to die. At the first approach of the artillery they all take to their heels, and are condemned by a council of war. The Points to be made into tinder, for the sole use of the Jung's Mousquetaires ; the Laces to be converted into paper; the Dentelles, Escrues, Gueuses, Passemens, and Silk Lace to be made into cordage and sent to the galleys ; the Gold ami Silver Laces, the original authors of the sedition, to be " burned alive." Finally, through the intercession of Love, " Le petit dieu plein de finesse," they are again pardoned and restored to court favour. The poem is curious, as giving an account of the various kinds of lace, and as a specimen of the taste of the time, but the " ton precieux " of the Hotel Eambouillet pervades throughout. The lace trade, up to this period, was entirely in the hands of pedlars, who carried their wares to the principal towns and large country-houses. It was through his relative, a lace colporteur of Lorraine, that the youthful Claude Gelee was taken to Kome to study. " One Madame La Boord," says Evelyn, " a French peddling- woman, served Queen Katherine with petticoats, fans, and foreign laces." These hawkers attended the great fairs 35 of Europe, where all purchases were made. 36 35 These were, in France, Guibray, Duchess of Eichmond, and the Duke of Beaucaire, and Bordeaux; in Germany, Buckingham, visited Saffron Walden fair, Fjankfort; in Italy, Novi. the queen asked for a pair of yellow 36 All articles of luxury were to be stockings, and Sir Bernard Gascoyue, met with at the provincial fairs. When, for a pair of gloves stitched with blue, in 1671, Catherine of Braganzn, the LACE. 33 Even as early as King Henry III. 37 we have a notice "to purchase robes at the fair of St. Ives, for the use of Richard our brother ;" and in the dramas of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we find constant allusion to these provincial markets : — 38 " Seven Pedlars' shops, nay all Sturbridge fair, 39 will Scarce furnish her." 40 The custom of carrying lace from house to house still exists in Belgium, where, at Spa and other places, colporteurs, 41 with packs similar to those borne by our pedlars, bring round to the visitors laces of great value, which they sell at cheaper rates than those exposed in the shops. 42 Many travellers, too, through the counties of Buckingham and Bedford, or the more southern regions of Devon, will still call to mind the inevitable lace box handed round for purchase by the waiter at the conclusion of the inn dinner ; as well as the girls who, awaiting the arrival of each travelling carriage or postchaise, climbed up to the windows of the vehicle, rarely allowing the occupants to go their way until they had purchased some article of the wares so pertinaciously offered to their inspection. 37 10 Hen. III., Devon's "Issues of the Exchequer." 38 « ]sj lace-woman," says Ben Jon- son, "that brings French masks and outworks." That lace was sold by pedlars in the time of Henry VIII., we find from a play, " The Four P's," written in 1544, by John Heywood. Among the contents of a pedlar's box are given " lasses knotted," "laces round and flat for women's heads," " sieve laces," &c. On opening the box of the murdered pedlar (" Fool of Quality," 1766), " they found therein silk, linen, laces," &c. 39 Defoe describes Sturbridge fair as the greatest of all Europe. " Nor," says he, " are the fairs of Leipsig in Saxony, the Mart at Frankfort-on-the Maine, or the fair of Nuremburg or Augsburg, any way comparable to this fair of Stur- bridge." In 1423, the citizens of London and the suburbs being accused of sending works of "embroidery of gold, or silver, of Cipre, or of gold of Luk, togedre with Spanish Laton of insuffisant stuff to the fayres of Sturesbrugg, Ely, Oxenford, and Salisbury "—in fact, of palming off inferior goods for country use — " all such are forfeited."— Rot. Pari. 2 Hen. VI. Nu. 49. 40 "Lingua, or the Combat of the Tongue," a Comedy, 1 607. 41 This system of colporteurs dates from the early Greeks. They are termed both in Greek and Hebrew, "voya- geurs." 42 " She came to the house under the pretence of offering some lace, holland, and fine tea, remarkably cheap." — Female Spectator, 1757. D :\\ HISTORY OF LACK. CHAPTEK IV. ITALY. ''It grazed on my shoulder, fakes me away six parts of an Italian outwork hand I wore, cost me three pounds in the Exchange hut three days before." Ben Jonson, Every Man Out ofh's Humour, 1500. " Ruffled well wrought and fine falling bands of Italian outwork." Fair Maid of the Exchange, 1G27. The Italians claim the invention of point or needle-made lace. Tt has been suggested that they derived the art of fine needlework from the Greeks who took refuge in Italy from the troubles of the Lower Empire ; and what further confirms its Byzantine origin is, that those very places which kept up the closest intercourse with the Greek Empire are the cities where point lace was earliest made and flourished to the greatest extent. 1 A modern Italian author, 2 on the other hand, asserts that the Italians learned embroidery from the Saracens of Sicily, as the Spaniards acquired the art from the Moors of Granada or Seville, and brings forward, as proof of his theory, that the word " to embroider," both in Italian and Spanish, 3 is derived from the Arabic, and no similar word exists in any other European language. This theory may apply to embroidery, but certainly not to lace, for how could the Easterns teach an art of which they were ignorant themselves ? With the excejDtion of the Turkish crochet, " oyah," and some darned netting and drawn-work which occur on Persian and Chinese tissues, there is nothing approaching to lace to be found in any article of Oriental manufacture. Leaving to the learned these doubtful disputations, we proceed to show that evidences of lace appear in Italy as early as the fifteenth century. 1 "Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth dell' Arte del Kicamo," Padova, 1830. Century," Sir Digby Wyatt. 3 Ricamare, Recamar. 2 Francesco Nardi, "SulV Origine ITALY. 35 The Cavaliere Antonio Merli, in his interesting pamphlet on Italian lace,* mentions an account preserved in the municipal archives of Ferrara, dated 1469, as probably referring to lace ; 5 but he more especially brings forward a document of the Sforza family, dated 1493, 6 in which the word " trina " 7 (under its ancient form, " tarnete ") constantly occurs, together with bone and bobbin lace. Again, the Florentine poet, Firenzuola, who wrote from 1520 to 1530, composed an elegy upon a collar of raised point, made bv the hand of his mistress. See " Florence." Cavaliere Merli cites, as the earliest-known painting in which lace occurs, a maiolica disc, after the style of the Delia Kobbia family, in which, surrounded by a wreath of fruit, is represented the half-figure of a lady, dressed in a rich brocade, with a collar of white lace. The costume is of the fifteenth century ; but as Luca della Kobbia's descendants worked to a later period, the precise date of the work cannot be fixed. Evidences of white lace, or passement, are said to appear in the pictures of Carpaccio, in the gallery at Venice, and in another by Gentile Bellini, where the dress of one of the ladies is trimmed round the neck with a white lace. The date of this last painting is 1500. We have not seen them. Lace was made throughout Italy mostly by the nuns, and ex- 4 "Origine ed Uso dell Trine a spoiled them. L. 1 10. It. for thread filo di refe " (thread). 1864. Privately and wax. L. 5." printed. These trimmings (gramite), Cav. Merli 5 "1469. — Io, Battista de Nicollo, thinks, were probably " trine." d' Andrea da Ferrara, debio avere per mia 6 See " Milan." manifatura et reve percuxere etcandelle 7 "Trina," like our word lace, is used per inzirare ... It. per desgramitare e in a general sense for braid or passement. refilare e inzirare e ripezaree reapicarele Floris, in his Dictionary (" A Worlde of gramite a camixi quatordece per li signori Words," John Floris, London, 1598), calonexi, et per li, mansonarij le qual gives : — gramite staxea malissimamente, p. che " Trine, — cuts, snips, pincke worke on alcune persone le a guaste. Lire 110. It. garments ; and Trinci,— gardings, fring- per reve et p. candelle. L. 5." ings, lacings, &c, or other ornaments of " 1469. — I, Baptist de Nicollo, of Andrea garments." da Ferrara, have owing to me for my " Merlo," " merletto," are the more making, and thread to sew, and candles modern terms for lace. We find the first to wax . . . Item, for untrimming and as early as the poet Firenzuola. (See reweaving and waxing and repiecing and " Florence.") It does not occur in any rejoining the trimmings of fourteen all>s pattern book of an older date than the for the canons and attendants of the " Fiori da Ricami," of Pasini, and the church, the which trimmings were in a two works of Francesco de' Franceschi, very bad state because some persons had all printed in 1591. D 2 36 HISTORY OF LACK. pressly Poi the service of the clnircH. 8 Venice was celebrated for het point, and Genoa for her ] >i 1 K >w lace. The Italian [aces best known in the commercial world, in the earlier periods, were those of Venice, Milan, and Genoa. 8 At present, if you show an. Italian a piece of old lace, he will exclaim : " Opera di monachc ; roba di chie-a." ITALY. 37 It would be difficult to enumerate the various kinds of needle- made lace produced by Italy in her palmy days. The Cavaliere Merli has endeavoured to classify them according to the names given in the pattern books, with which, as well as with her lace, Venice supplied the world. Out of more than a Fig. 18. Punto a grojro. Knotted point. hundred of these works, the names of which have been collected, above one-third were published in Venice. 1. Punto a reticella. 9 — Already described, p. 16 (Fig. 17). 2. Punto tagliato. 10 — Outwork, already described, p. lb*. 3. Punto in aria. 11 — See "Venice." 9 First mentioned in the Sforza In- 10 First given in the " Honesto ventory, 1493 (see "Milan"); not in Esempio," 1550, and passim. the pattern books till Vecellio, 1592 ; but n Mentioned by Taglienti (1530), and Taglienti (1530) gives " su la rete" and afterwards in the " Trionfo " (1555), and " II Specchio di Pensieri " (1548) " punto passim. in rede." 38 BISTORT OF LACE. 4, Pun to a fogliami. 12 — See " Venice.*' 5. Punto a gropo, or gropari. 18 — Groppo, or gruppo, signifies a knot, or tie, and in this lace the threads arc knotted together, like the fringes of the (Genoese macrame. 14 After this manner is made the trimming to the linen scarfs or cloths which the Roman peasants wear folded square over the head, and hanging down the back (Fig. 18). (). Punto a maglia quadra. — Lacis; square netting, 15 the " modano " of the Tuscans (Fig. 19). This was much used for the Fig. 19. Punto a maglia. Lacis. hangings of beds, and those curtains, placed across the windows, called " stores " by the French, by the Italians, " stuora." 16 12 Given in "II Monte," circa 1550, gliatn," Pavasole (1600) "lavori di ma- but described earlier by Firenzuola, glia." See " Florence." 16 " Punti a stuora" occur in "II 13 Taglienti (1530) has " groppi," Specchio" (1548), "I Frutti " (1564), "moreschi," and " arabescbi ;" and "II and in the "Vera Perfettione" (1591). Specchio" (1548) "ponti gropposi." See The word " stuora," modern " stuoja," also the Sf'orza Inventory, 1493. means also a mat of plaited rushes, which 14 See " Genoa." some of these interlaced patterns may 15 Taglienti (1530) gives, "a ma- be intended to imitate. ITALY 39 7. Burato. — The word means a stiff cloth or canvas (" toille clere " of Taglienti, 1527), on which the pattern is embroidered, reducing it to a kind of rude lace. One of the pattern books 17 is devoted exclusively to its teaching. 8. Punto di Venezia. — The Venetian points, fine and wonder- ful works of the needle, that baffle all description, and are endless in varietv. The grounded laces fabricated at Burano will be noticed later. D. Punto tirato. — Drawn-work. 18 Fig. 20 is a lace ground made by drawing the threads of muslin (fili tirati). 19 The present Fig. 20. Pun to tirato. Drawn lace. specimen is simple in design, but some are very complicated and beautiful. Italy, we believe, furnished her own thread. "Fine white or nun's thread is made by the Augustine nuns of Crema, twisted after the manner as the silk of Bolonia," writes Skippin, 1631. 17 Burato. See Appendix. 18 There are many patterns for this work in " Le Pompe di Minerva," 1612. Taglienti (1530) has "desfilato" among his " punti." 19 Many other points are enumerated in the pattern bonks, of which we know nothing, such as "gasii" (I Frutti, 1564), "trezola" (ibid), " rimessi " ( Vera Per- fetteone, 1591), 40 UISTOBY OE LACE. VENICE. 41 VENICE. Mrs. Termagant. " I'll spoil your point de Venise for yon. Shadwell, Squire of Alsalia. " Elle n'avoit point de mouclioir, Mais un riche et tres beau peignoir Des pins chers de point de Venise, En negligeance elle avoit mise." Les Combats, &c. 1663. To Venice belongs the invention of the two most perfect productions of the needle, " point coupe," and the Venetian point in relief (Fig. 21). In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the making of the first was almost universal in every household, Fis;. 22. Venetian point. but its use had become so general as to render it a commercial speculation, and manufactories of it had been established in different countries. The richness of its Gothic patterns and the delicacy of its workmanship rendered it specially calculated for the enrichment and adorning of linen. The " punto in aria" of the pattern books, worked on a parch- ment pattern, and connected by brides, comprised an infinite 12 111ST0KY OF LACE, variety of patterns, answering to what is usually termed "flat \ enetian." Various other wonderful products of the noodle are Fig. 23. Venetian point. included under the general name of Venetian points, all of exquisite workmanship, but which baffle description (Figs. 22, 23). Fie:. 24. Mei maid's lace. In the islands of the Lagune there still lingers a tale of the first origin of this most charming production. VENICE. 43 A sailor youth, bound for the Southern Seas, brought home to his betrothed a bunch of that pretty coralline (Fig. 24) known to the unlearned as the " mermaid's lace." 20 The girl, a worker in points, struck by the graceful nature of the seaweed, with its small white knots united, as it were, by a " bride," imitated it with her needle, and after several unsuccessful trials produced that delicate guipure which before long became the taste of all Europe. 21 The Venetian point in relief, the " punto a fogliami " (French, Fig. 25. Venttian point in relief. " a ramages ") of the pattern books, is the richest and most com- plicated of all points. All the outlines in high relief are formed by means of cottons placed as thick as may be required to raise them. Sometimes the pattern is in double and triple relief; an infinity of beautiful stitches are introduced into the flowers, which are surrounded by a pearl of geometric regularity, the 20 Halimedia opuntia. lection in the International Exhibition 21 The fringed edging to a Venetian has great resemblance to the mermaid's collar in the Dupont-Auberville col- coralline. I i I11STOKY OF LACE. pearls sometimes in scallops, "campanne," «is the French term it. This is called "rose (from "raised' 1 ) point," "gl'OS point e mettein mezzo que»to cordoncello, Mira quel bel fogliame, ch' un acanto Ella il fe pure, ella lo fece." Sembra,'che sopra un mur vadacarponi. Elegia supra un Collaretto, Firenzuola. Mira quei fior, ch' un candido ne cade 55 Rymer's" Fcedera." 38 Hen. VIII. = Yicino al seme, apr' or la bocia 1' altro. 1546. Quei cordiglin, che'l legand'ognitorno, 56 4 Hen. VII. = 1488-9. Come rilevan ben ! mostrando ch' ella 57 Compte des dtfpenses de la waison de E la vera maestra di quest' arte, Madame Marguerite de France, Soeur du Come ben com parti ti son quei punti ! Hoi. Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 10,394. Ye' come son ugual quei bottoncelli, 58 Cornptes de la Heine de Navarre. Come s' alzano in guisa d'un bel colle Arch. Nat. K. K. 170. 1/ un fome V altro ! 50 In 1535. STATES OF THE POPE. 53 and silver embroidery of such surpassing beauty that they are still carefully preserved and publicly exhibited on fete days. One Francesca Bulgarini also instructed the schools in the making of lace of every kind, especially the Venetian reticella. 80 STATES OF THE POPE. Lace was made in many parts of Komagna. Besides the knotted lace already alluded to, 61 the peasant- women wore on Fi°\ 28. •~n ir"nMm-i"Ti«rinr— nMT»f"ir , i-ir-iiT Unfinished drawn work. their collerettes much lace of that large-flowered pattern and fancy ground found alike in Flanders and on the head-dresses of the Neapolitan and Calabrian peasants. Specimens of pillow lace of the province of Urbino, lately sent to us from Italy, resemble in pattern and texture the fine close She died in 18G2. Gl See p. 38. 54 111ST0KY OF LACK. Brabant lace on the collar of Christian [V., figured in our notice oi' Denmark. The workmanship is of great beauty. Fig. 28 represents a fragment of a piece of lace of great in- terest, communicated by the Countess Gigliucci. It is worked with the needle upon muslin, and only a few inches of the lace are finished. This incompleteness makes it the more valuable as it enables us to trace the manner of its execution, all the threads being left hanging to its several parts. The countess states that she found the work at a villa belonging to Count Gigliucci, near Pernio, on the Adriatic, and it is supposed to have been executed by the count's great-grandmother above 1(50 years ago— an ex- quisite specimen of " the needle's excellency." Though the riches of our Lady of Loreto fill a volume in themselves, 62 and her image was fresh clad every day of the year, the account of her jewels and plate so overpower any mention of her lace, which were doubtless in accordance with the rest of the wardrobe, there is nothing to tell on the subject. The laces of the Vatican and the holy Conclave, mostly presents from crowned heads, are magnificent beyond all description. They are, however, constantly in the market, sold at the death of a cardinal by his heirs, and often repurchased by some newly elected prelate, each of whom on attaining a high ecclesiastical dignity is compelled to furnish himself with several sets. A lady, 63 describing the ceremony of washing the feet by the Pope, writes, in 1771, " One of his cardinals brought him an apron 64 of old point with a broad border of Mechlin lace, and tied it with a white ribbon round his holiness's waist." In this guise protected, he performed the ceremony. Clement IX. was in the habit of making presents of Italian lace, at that period still prized in France, to Monsieur de Sorbiere, with whom he had lived on terms of intimacy previous to his elevation. " He sends ruffles," cries the irritated Gaul, who looked for something more tangible, " to a man who never has a shirt." 65 62 Inventaire du Tre'sor de N. D. de Goldsmith, in his poem, " The Haunch of Lorette. Bib. Nat. MSS. Venison," the giving of venison to hungry 63 " Letters from Italy." poets who were in want of mutton ; he 64 "The gremial or apron placed on the says: — lap of the Koman Catholic bishops when « Such dainties to send them their health performing sacred functions in a sitting ^ wou i c | hurt • posture."— Pugin's Glossary of Ecclesi- It's like sending them ruffles when want- astica.l Ornament. mfr a shirt." 65 This reminds one of the lines of NAPLES. 55 NAPLES. When Davies, barber surgeon of London/ 6 visited Naples in 1597, he writes, " Among the traffic of this city is lace of all sorts and garters." Fynes Moryson, his contemporary, declares " the Italians care not for foreign apparel, they have ruffles of Flanders linen wrought with Italian cutwork so much in use with us. They wear no lace in gold and silver, but black ; " while Lassels says, all they care for is to keep a coach ; their point de Venise and gold lace are all turned into horses and liveries. 67 Of this lace we find but scanty mention. In the tailor's bill of Sir Timothy Hutton, 1615, when a scholar at Cambridge, a charge is made for " four oz. and a half quarter and dram of Naples lace." And in the accounts of laces furnished for the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth to the Elector Palatine, 1612, is noted " narrow black Naples lace, purled on both sides." The principal fabric of lace was in the Island of Ischia. Vecellio, in 1590, mentions the ladies' sleeves being trimmed with very fine thread lace. 68 Ischia lace may still be met with, and serves for trimming toilets, table-covers, curtains, &c, consisting generally of a square netting ground, with the pattern embroidered. Much torchon lace, of well-designed patterns, was also made, similar in style to that given in Fig. 34. Though no longer fabricated in the island, the women at Naples still make a coarse lace, which they sell about the streets. 69 Towards the middle of the last century, many of the Italian sculptors adopted an atrocious system, only to be rivalled in bad taste by those of the Lower Empire, that of dressing the individuals they modelled in the costume of the period, the colours of the. 66 " A true Eelation of the Travailes, sottile, hmghe fino in terra, con maniche and most miserable Captivitie of W. larghe assai, attorno alle quali sono attac- Davies." Lond. 1614. cati alcuni merletti lavorali di refe sot- 67 ' ; An Italian Voyage, or a complete tilissimo. — Habiti di donna dell' Isola Journey through Italy, by Rich. Lassels, d' Ischia." — DegH Habiti Aidichi e Mo- Gent." 2nd edit. Lond. 1698. A reprint, derni di Diverse Parti del Mondo, di with additions by another hand, of the Cesare Vecellio. Venezia, 1590. original edition. Paris, 1670. Lowndrs' G9 We have among the points given by " Bibliographer's Manual." Bonn's new Taglienti (1530) " pugliese." Lace is edit. still made in Puglia and the other r>outh~ 68 " Portano alcune vesti ditela di lino ern provinces of Naples and in Sicily. 56 1IIST0HY OF LACE. dress represented in varied marbles. In the villa of Prince Valguarnera, near Palermo, were some years since many of these strange productions with rich laces of coffee-coloured point, ad- mirably chiselled, it must be owned, in giallo antico, the long flowing ruffles and head-tires of the ladies being reproduced in white alabaster. 70 GENOA. " Gcnova la Supcrba." " Lost, — A rich needle work called Poynt Jean, a yard and a half long and ball* quarter broad." — The Intelligencer, Feb. 29, 1G63. 11 Genoa, for points."— Grand Tour, 1756. The art of making gold thread, already known to the Etrus- cans, took a singular development in Italy during the fourteenth century. Genoa 71 first imitated the gold threads of Cyprus. Lucca followed in her wake, while Venice and Milan appear much later in the field. Gold of Jeane formed, as already mentioned, an item in our early statutes. The merchants mingled the pure gold with Spanish " laton," producing a sort of " faux galon," such as is used for theatrical purposes in the present day. They made also silver and gold lace out of drawn wire, after the fashion of those discovered, not long since, at Herculaneurn. When Skippin visited Turin, in 1651, he describes the manner of preparing the metal wire. The art maintained itself latest at Milan, but died out towards the end of the seventeenth century. In the wardrobe of Mary de Medicis is enumerated, among other articles, a " mouchoir de point de Gennes frise." 72 Moryson, who visited the Kepublic in 1589, declares "the Genoese wear no lace or gardes." Genoa was as celebrated for its pillow lace as Venice for its needle-made. The characteristic of this lace was its design, a kind of barleycorn-shaped pattern, radiating into rosettes from a 70 Brydone, "Tour through Sicily," between 1411 and 1420 amounted to 1773. L. 73,387. From which period this in- 71 " From the tax-books preserved in dustry rapidly declined, and the workers the Archives of S. George, it appears emigrated." — Merit. that a tax upon gold thread of four 72 Garderobe de feue Madame, 1G4G. danari upon every lira in value of the Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 11,426. -worked material was levied, which GENOA. 57 centre. It was particularly adapted for the large turn-over collar of Louis XIII., and was produced by plaiting, and made entirely on the pillow (Fig. 29). We find little mention of Genoa point 73 before the seventeenth century, 74 when it formed an article of great commerce. The first allusion to these points is in the prohibitory edict of 1639, a period when Genoa point was in universal use for collars, 75 cuffs, and other articles of dress. 76 No better customer was found for these luxurious articles of adornment than Madame de Puissieux. 77 " Elle etoit magnifique et ruin a elle et ses enfans. On portoit en ce temps-la," writes St.-Simon, " force points de Genes qui etoient extremement chers ; c'etoit la grande parure — et la parure de tout age : elle en mangea pour 100,000 ecus (20,0007.) en une annee, a ronger entre ses dents celle qu'elle avoit autour de sa tete et de ses bras." 78 " The Genoese utter a world of points of needlework," writes Lassels, at the end of the century, and throughout the eighteenth we hear constantly of the gold, silver, and thread lace, as well as of the points of Genoa, being held in high estimation. Gold and silver lace was prohibited to be worn within the walls of the city, but they wear, writes Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, exceeding fine lace and linen. 79 Indeed, by the sumptuary laws of the Republic, the richest costume allowed to the ladies was black velvet trimmed with their home-made lace. The "femmes bourgeoises" still edge their aprons with lace, and 73 Signore Tessada, the great lace " Une petit manteau brode et son col- fabricant of Genoa, carries back the let de point de Genes." — The Chevalier manufacture of Italian lace as early as d'Albret. the year 1400, and forwarded to the '' Linge, bijoux et points de Genes." — author specimens which he declares to Loret, Muse Historique, 1650. be of that date. " Item, ung autre mouchoir de point 74 As late as 1597, writes Vulsonde la de Genes."— Inv. du Mareehal de La Colombiere, " ni les points de Gennes, ni Motte, 1657. de Flandre n' etoient en usage." — Vray 7(J The " Lois de la Galanterie Fran- Thedtre d'Honneur et de Chevalerie. coise," 1644, speaking of the lace-trimmed Paris 1648. " canons," says, " il sera toujours mieux 75 Queen Christina is described by the s'il y peut avoir deux ou trois rangs de Grande Mademoiselle, on the occasion of Point de Genes, ce qui accompagnera le her visit, as wearing, " au cou, un jabot qui sera de meme parure." mouchoir de point de Genes, noue avec 77 Madame de Puissieux died in 1677, un ruban couleur de feu." — Me'm. de at the age of 80. Mademoiselle de Montpensier. 78 " Mem." t. xiv. p. 286. " Item, ung peignoir, tablier etcornette 79 Signore Tessadahas inhis possession de toile baptiste garnie de point de a pair of gold lappets of very beautiful Genes." — Inv. de la Comtesse de Soissous, design, made at Genoa about the year 1634. 1700. 58 HISTORY OV LACK. Fte. 29. Genoa point. Pillow-made. From a collar in the possession of the Author. GENOA. 50 some of the elder women wear square linen veils trimmed with coarse lace. 80 " That decayed city, Genoa, makes much lace, but inferior to that of Flanders," states Anderson, in his " Origin of Commerce," 1764. Savary, speaking of the Genoa manufacture, says : " As regards France, these points have had the same lot as those of Venice- ruined by the act of prohibition." In 1840, there were only six lace-sellers in the city of Genoa. The women work in their own houses, receiving materials and patterns from the merchant, who pays for their labour. 81 Lace, in Genoa, is called "pizzo." "Punti in aco" were not made in this city. The points of Genoa were all the work of the pillow, " a piombini," 82 or " a mazzetta," as the Italians term it, of fine handspun thread brought from Lombardy. Silk was procured from Naples. Of this Lombardy thread is the magnificent collerette of which we give an example (Fig. 29). This was the Genoa point par excellence, and is still known by this appellation. The old Genoa point still finds favour in the eyes of the clergy, and on fete days, either at Genoa or Savona, may be seen splendid lace decorating the " camicie " of the ecclesiastics. The barristers of Genoa retain as a part of their costume falling bands of rich lace. The lace manufacture extends along the coast from Albissola, on the western Eiviera, to Santa Margherita, on the eastern. Santa Margherita and Eapallo are called by Luxada 83 the emporium of the lace industry of Genoa. The workers are mostly the wives and daughters of the coral-fishers, who support themselves by this occupation during the long and perilous voyages of their husbands. In the archives of the parochial church of Santa Margherita is pre- served a book of accounts, in which mention is made, in the year 1592, of gifts to the church, old nets from the coral fishery, together with pissetti (pizzi) ; the one a votive offering of some successful fishermen, the other the work of their wives or daughters, given in 80 "Letters from Italy," 1770. "a ossi," of bone ; and, lastly, "a piom- 81 Cavasco, " Statistique de Genes," bini ;" and it is very certain thai lead was 1840. used for bobbins in Italy, probably for 82 The bobbins appear to have been weaving some kind of coarse guipure, made in Italy of various materials. We See Parasole (1600). have " merletti a fusi," in which case 83 "Memorie Storichc di Sanla Mar- they are of wood. The Sforza inventory ghcrita." gives, "a doii fitxi," two bobbins; then, 10 HISTORY OF LACE. gratitude for the safe return of their relatives. There was also found an old worn parchment pattern for a hind of tape guipure ( Fig. 30). The manufacture, therefore, has existed in the province Fisr. 30. Lace pattern f'uund in the church at Santa Margherita. Circa 1592. of Chiavari for many centures. Much of this description of lace is assigned to Genoa. In these tape guipures, the tape or braid was first made, and the ground worked in on the parchment either by the needle or on the pillow (Fig. 31). The laces consist of GENOA. 61 white thread of various qualities, either for wear, church decoration, or for exportation to America. Later, this art gave place to the making of black blonde, in imitation of Chantilly. In the year 1850, the lace-workers began to make silk guipures for France, and these now form their chief Fig. 31. Tape guipure. Pillow-made. Genoa. produce. The exportation is very great, and lace-making is the daily occupation not only of the women, 84 but the ladies of the commune. 85 The " maestri," or overseers, receive all orders from the trade, and find hands to execute them. The silk and thread required for the lace is weighed out and given to the lace-makers, 84 In 1862, Santa Margherita bad 2210 lace-workers; Eapallo, 1494. 85 Communicated by Sig. Gio. Tessada, Junr., of Genca. 62 HISTORY OF LACE. and the work, when completed, is re-weighed, fcq see that it cor- responds with that of the material given. The maestri contrive to realise large fortunes, and become in time signori; not so the poor lace-makers, whose hardest day's gain seldom exceeds a franc and a halt? The laces of Albissola, 87 near Savona, of black and white thread, or silk of different colours, were once an article of considerable exportation to the principal cities of Spain — Cadiz, Madrid, and Seville. This industry was of early date. In many of the parochial churches of Albissola are specimens of the native fabric dating from 1G00, the work of devout ladies; and parchment ] >at terns, drawn and pricked for pillow lace, bearing the earlier Fiar. 32. Parchment pattern used to cover a book, bearing the date of 1577. (Reduced.) date of 1577, have been lately found covering old law books, the property of a notary of Albissola. The designs (Fig. 32) are iiowing, but poor, and have probably served for some shawl or apron, for it was a custom long handed down for the daughters of great nobles, previous to their marriage, to select veils and shawls of this fabric, and, in the memory of an aged workwoman, the last of these bridal veils was made for a lady of the Gentili family. Princes and lords of different provinces in Italy sent commissions to Albissola for these articles in the palmy days of the manufacture, and four women would be employed at one pillow, with sixty dozen bobbins at a time. 88 The making of this lace formed an occupation by which women in moderate circumstances were willing to increase their incomes. Each of these ladies, called a maestra, had 86 Gandolfi, " Considerazioni agrario." 8 ' A small borgo, about an hour's drive from Sjavona, on the road leading to Genoa. 88 Cav. Merli. GENOA. G3 a number of workers under her either at home or out. She sup- plied the patterns, pricked them herself, and paid her workwomen at the end of the week ; each day's work being notched on a tally. 89 The women would earn from ten soldi to two lire a day. The last fine laces made at Albissola were bought up by the lace merchants of Milan on the occasion of the coronation of Napoleon I. in that city. Fiar. 33. if W'~'3m Frina;e<1 macrame. Genoa. A considerable quantity of lace was formerly made from the fibre of the aloe (filo d' erba spada), 90 by the peasants of Albissola, either of its natural cream colour or dyed black. This lace, how- ever, like that fabricated in the neighbourhood of Barcelona, would not stand washing. 91 There exists a beautiful and ingenious work, taught in the 89 In the Albert Museum of Exeter are several of these tallies marked with the names of their owners — Bianca, Maria Crocera, and others. 90 Called by the people of the Riviera, " filo del baccala di Castellaro." Aloe fibre was formerly used for thread. — Letter of Sig. C. G. Schiappapietra. It is also styled " filo di pita " in the Venetian sumptuary ordinances (p. 44). 91 The author has to express her grateful thanks to Signore Don Tommaso Toi teroli, librarian to the city of Savona, and author of an interesting pamphlet (" Storiadei Merletti di Genova lavorati in Albissola," Sinigaglia, 1863), for specimens of the ancient laces of Albis- sola, and many other valuable communi- cations. 64 HISTORY OF LACE. schools and convents along the Riviera, derived from the "punto a groppo," and carried to greal perfection at the Albergo de' Poveri at Genoa. It is almost the firsi employment of the fingers which the poor children of either sex loam. This art is principally applied to the ornamenting of towels, termed " macrame," 92 a long fringe of thread being left at each end, for the purpose of being knotted together in geometrical designs (Fig. 3'3). Macrame at the Albergo de' Poveri were formerly made with a plain plaited fringe, till, in L843, the Baroness A. d'Asti brought one from Home, richly ornamented, which she left as a pattern. Marie Picchetti, a young girl, had the patience to unpick the fringe and discover the wav it was made. A variety of designs are now executed, the more experienced inventing fresh patterns as they work. Some are applied to church purposes. Costly specimens of elaborate workmanship were in the Paris Exhibition of 1807. These richly trimmed macrame form an item in the wedding trousseau of a Genoese lady, while the commoner sorts find a ready sale in the country, and are also exported to South America and California. 93 The making of macrame has of late years become a favourite employment. 92 A word of Arabic derivation, used Ingenious and diverting Letters of a for denoting fringe for trimming, whether Lady's Travels into Sfiin, London, 1679. of cotton, thread, or silk. There is a painting of the Last Supper 93 This custom of ornamenting the at Hampton Court Palace, by Sebastian ends of the threads of linen for household Ricci, in which the tablecloth is edged as well as for ecclesiastical purposes was with cutwork ; and in the great picture from the earliest times common, and is in the Louvre, by Paul Veronese, of the still occasionally met with both in the supper at the house of Simon the Ca- North and South of Europe. " At Ba- naanite, the ends of the tablecloth are yonne, they make the finest of linen, likewise fringed and braided like the some of which is made open like net- macrame. work, and the thread is finer than hair." — C 65 ) CHAPTER V. GREECE. We have already spoken of Greece as the cradle of embroidery ; and in those islands which escaped the domination of the Turks the art still lingered on. Cyprus, to whom in after times proud Venice gave a queen, was renowned for its gold, its stuffs, and its needlework. As early as 13 93, in an inventory of the Dukes of Burgundy, we find noted " un petit pourpoint de satin noir et est la gorgerette de maille d'argent de Chippre " — a collar of silver network. 1 In our own country, thirty years later, we have a statute touch- ing the deceitful works of the embroiderers of gold or of silver of Cipre, which shall be forfeited to the king. 2 But the secret of these cunning works became, after a time, known throughout Europe. Of outworks or laces from Cyprus 3 and the islands of the Grecian seas, there is no mention ; but we hear much of a certain point known to the commerce of the seventeenth century as that of Ragusa, which again, after an ephemeral existence, disappears from the scene. Of Ragusa, says Anderson, " her citizens, though a Popish state, are manufacturers to a man." Certain it is that this little republic, closely allied with the Italian branches oi* the house of Austria, served them with its navy, and in return received from them protection. The commerce of Ragusa consisted in bearing the products of the Greek islands and Turkey to Venice, Ancona, and the kingdom of Naples ; 4 hence it might be inferred that those fine productions of the Greek con- vents which, of late years, have been so much brought before the public notice were first introduced into Italy by the merchants of Dalmatia, and received on that account the denomination of " points 1 Laborde, " Glossaire," Paris, 1853. gives " Ciprioto." 2 Statute 2 Hen. VI. c. x. = 1423. 4 " Description de Raguse." Bib. Nat. 3 Taglienti, 1530, among his punti, MSS. F. Fr. 10,772. F 66 HISTORY. OF LACK. de Raguse." When Venice manufactured enough for herself, these outworks and Laces were do Longer in demand ; but the fabric still continued, and found favour in its native isles, chiefly for eccle- siastical purposes, the dress of the islanders, and lor grave- clothes. In our English statutes we have no allusion to point de Raguse; in those of France, 5 it appears twice. Tallemant des Reaux 6 mentions it incidentally, and the " Revolte des Passemens" 7 give it honourable notice. Judging from the lines addressed to it in the last-named jeu d'esprit, point de Raguse was of a more costly character, "faite pour miner les estats," than any of those other points present. If, however, from this period it did still form an article of commerce, we may infer that it appeared under the general appellation of point de Yenisc. Ragusa had affronted Louis Quatorze by her attachment to the Austro-Italian princes ; he kicked out her ambassadors, 8 and if the name of the point was unpleasant, we may feel assured it was no longer permitted to offend the royal ears. Though no manufacture of thread lace is known at Ragusa, yet much gold and silver lace is made for ornamenting the bodices of the peasants. They also still fabricate a kind of lace or gimp of coloured silks in the style of Fig. 31. Its resemblance, with its looped edges, to the pattern given from " Le Pompe," 9 published at Venice in 1557, is very remarkable. The conventionally termed Greek lace is the Italian reticella ; the designs of geometric fashion. The Ionian Islands for many years belonged to Venice. Fig. 35 is from a specimen purchased in the island of Zante. This lace was much in vogue in Naples for curtains, bed-hangings, and coverlets. A room hung with bands of Greek lace, alternated with crimson or amber silk, has a most effective appearance. The church lace of the Ionian Isles was not appreciated by the natives, who were only too glad to dispose of it to the English officers in garrison at Corfu. Much is still found in Cephalonia : 5 Points de Raguse; first mentioned des points qui se font a Venise, Genes, io edict of January 1651, by which the Raguse et autres pays etrangers," recited king raises for his own profit one quarter in the Arret of Oct. 12, 1606. — De of the value of the " passemens, dentelles, Lamare, Traile de la Folice. points coupez de Flandres, pointinars, G "Alois les points de Genes, de Raguse, points de Venise, de Eaguse, de Genes," ni d'Aurillae n'e'taient point connus." &c — Recuil des Lois Francaises. Again, 7 In 1661. the ordinance of August 16C5 establishes 8 In 1667. the points de France " en la maniere '■' See Appendix. GREECE. 67 the natives bring it on board the steamers for sale, black with age, and unpleasant to the senses. This is not to be wondered at when we consider that it is taken from the tombs, where for centuries it has adorned the grave-clothes of some defunct Ionian. This hunt- Fisr. 31. . .A^'W^^'fe'^t^V-^r''^',* ~-'U- ^ " "'•'■?*. "'■' : '"'',%,' £*v Coloured silk pillow guipure, or passementerie. Italy. South Kensington Museum. ing the catacombs has now become a regular trade. It is said that much coarse lace of the same kind is still made in the islands, steeped either in coffee or some drug, and, when thus discoloured, sold as from the tombs. f 2 68 HISTORY OF LACE. The Greek islands now fabricate lace from the Qbre of the aloe, and a black plaited lace similar to the Maltese. In Athens, Fig. 35. Reticella, or Greek lace. From Zante. and other parts of Greece proper, a white silk lace is made, mostly consumed by the Jewish Church. TURKEY. 10 " The Turks wear uo lace or cut stuff," writes Moryson ; winding up with, " neither do the women wear lace or cutwork on their shirts ; " but a hundred and fifty years later, fashions are changed in the East. The Grand Turk now issues sumptuary laws against the wearing of gold lace " on clothes and elsewhere." u A fine white silk guipure is now made in modern Turkey at Smyrna and Rhodes, Oriental in its style : this lace is formed with the needle or tambour hook. Lace or passementerie of similar workmanship, called "oyah," is also executed in colours repre- senting flowers, fruits, and foliage superposed, standing out in high relief from the ground. Numerous specimens were in the French International Exhibition of 1867. 10 1589. " " Edinburgh Advertiser," 1764. MALTA. 09 The point lace manufactured in the harems is little known and costly in price. It is said to be the only silk guipure made with the needle. Specimens were in the International Exhibition of 1874. MALTA. The lace once made in Malta, indigenous to the island, was a coarse kind of Mechlin or Valenciennes of one arabesque pattern. In 1833, Lady Hamilton Chichester induced a woman, named Ciglia, to copy in white the lace of an old Greek coverlet, which she still has in her possession. The Ciglia family, from that time, Fig. 38. Louboux de Verdale. From the cast ot his tomb. Muse'e Rationale, Versailles. commenced the manufacture of the black and white silk plaited guipures, so generally known under the name of Maltese lace. Much Maltese lace is now made at the orphanage in the little adjacent island of Grozo. Malta has certainly the first claim to the invention of these fine guipures, which have since made the fortune of Auvergne, where they have been extensively manu- factured at Le Buy, as well as by our own lace-makers of Bedfordshire and in the Irish schools. The black is made of Barcelona silk, the same as that used in Catalonia for the fabrication of the black blonde mantillas of the Spanish ladies. Fig. 36 represents the trimming round the ecclesiastical robe of Hugues Loubeux de Verdale, cardinal and grand master of the Knights of Malta, who died 1595, and is buried in the church of St. John, where a magnificent tomb is erected to his memory. 70 11ISTOKY OF LACE. Lace-making is the sole manual employment of the women of Ceylon. We mention it in this place because the specimens of thread pillow Lace from Point de G-alle and Candy bear a striking resemblance to the Maltese. (Fig. 37.) A lace of similar charac- ter lias also been successfully made in the missionary schools at Madras. Fig. 37. Pillow lace. Ceylon. ( 71 ) CHAPTER VI. SPAIN. " Of Point d'Espagne a rich cornet, Two night rails and a scarf beset, With a large lace and collaret." Evelyn, Voyage to Marry-land. " Hat laced with gold Point d'Espagne." ' Wardrobe of a Pretty Fellow, Roderick Random. The Count. " Vogliouna punta di Spagna, larga, massiccin, ben lavorata. Del disegno, della ricchezza, ma niente di luccicante." — Goldoni, L'Avaro fastoso. Spanish point, in its day, has been as celebrated as that of Italy. Tradition declares Spain to have learned the art from Italy, whence she communicated it to Flanders, who, in return, taught Spain how to make pillow lace. Be that as it may, Spanish point was highly prized, extensively made, and Spain had no occasion to import the products of Italy. Many reasons exist why Spanish point was less known to Europe in general than that of other nations. The dress of the court, guided not by the impulse of fashion, but by sumptuary laws, gave little encouragement to the manufacture ; while, on the other hand, the numberless images of our Lady and other patron saints, dressed and re -dressed daily in the richest vestments, together with the albs of the priests and the decorations of the altars, caused an immense consumption for ecclesiastical purposes. " Of so great value," says Beckford, " were the laces of these favoured Madonnas that in 1787 the Marchioness of Cogalhudo, wife of the eldest son of the semi- royal race of Medina Coeli, was appointed mistress of the robes to our Lady of La Solidad, at Madrid, a much coveted office." It may be surmised then that the supply scarcely exceeded the demand, and that the rich points of which we have lately heard so much were entirely employed for home consumption. At that early period, too, Spain, on whose empire the sun never set, had 1756. " Point d'Espagne hats." — Connoisseur 72 HISTOKY OF LACK. an abundant outlet for her industry in those gold colonies of South America which have since escaped from her grasp. Point d'Espagne, in the usual sense of the word, signifies that gold or silver lace, sometimes embroidered in colours, so largely consumed in France during the reign of Louis XIV. Dominique de Sera, in his " Livre do Lingerie," published in 1584, especially mentions that many of the patterns of point Fig. 38. 11^ The Work-room. From an engraving of the sixteenth century, after Stradan. coupe and passement given were collected by him during his travels in Spain ; and in this he is probably correct, for as early as 1562, in the Great Wardrobe Account of Queen Elizabeth, we have noted down sixteen yards of black Spanish laquei (lace) for ruffs, price 5s. SPAIN. 73 The early pattern books contain designs to be worked in gold and silver, 2 a manufacture said to have been chiefly carried on by the Jews, 3 as indeed it is in many parts of Europe at the present time ; an idea which strengthens on finding that two years after the expulsion of that persecuted tribe from the country, in 1492, the most Catholic kings found it necessary to pass a law pro- hibiting the importation of gold lace from Lucca and Florence, except such as was necessary for ecclesiastical purposes. We find no mention of lace in the ordinances of Toledo and Sevilla of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, nor in those of Granada of the sixteenth and seventeenth, nor in the laws of Ferdinand and Isabella ; 4 although there is preserved in the cathedral of Granada a lace alb said to have been presented to the church by these sovereigns. The late Cardinal Wiseman stated to the author that he had himself officiated in this vest- ment, which was valued at 10,000 crowns. Our English translation of Don Quixote has led some authors into adducing a passage as an evidence that the art of making- bone lace was already known in Spain in Cervantes' day. " Sanchica," writes Theresa Panca to her husband, the newly appointed Governor of Barataria, " makes bone lace, and gets eight maravedis a day, which she drops into a tin box to help towards household stuff. But now that she is a governor's daughter, you will give her a fortune, and she will not have to work for it." In referring to the original Spanish, we find the words rendered " bone lace " are " puntas de randas," signifying works of lacis or reseuil. 5 We may safely say that the fine church lace of Spain was but little known to the commercial world of Europe until the dissolu- tion of the Spanish monasteries 6 in 1830, when the most splendid 2 "Livre Nouveau de Patrons," and 4 "Ancient Needle Point and Pillow " Fleurs des Patrons," give various Lace," published under the sanction of stitches to be executed " en fil d'or, the Science and Art Department of the d'argent, de soie, et d'autres." Both Committee of Council on Education, printed at Lyons. The first has no date ; edited by Mr. Alan Cole. the second, 1549. " Le Pompe," Vene- 5 " Ouvrage de lacis ou reseuil." — zia, 1559, has " diversi sorti di mostre Oudin, Tre'sor des Deux Langues Fr. et per poter far, d' oro, di sete, di filo," &c. Esp. 1G60. 3 Not many years since, a family at 6 Spain has S932 convents, containing Cadiz, of Jewish extraction, still enjoyed 94,000 nuns and monks. — J. Townsend, the monopoly of manufacturing gold Journey through Spain in the Years 1780 and silver lace. — Letter from Spain, and 1787. 1863. HISTORY OF LACK. specimens of nuns work came suddenly into the market; not only the heavy lace generally designated as "Spanish point," but pieces of the very finesl description, so exquisite as to have Fig. 39. Unfinished work of a Spanish nun. been the work only of those whose " time was not money." and whose devotion to the church and to their favourite saints rendered this work a labour of love, when in plying their needles they called to mind its destination. We have lately received SPAIN. <;> from Home photographs of some curious relics of old Spanish conventual work — parchment patterns with the lace in progress. They were found in the convent of Jesu Bambino, and belonged to some Spanish nuns who, in bygone ages, taught the art to the novices. None of the present inmates can give further in- formation respecting them. The work, like all point, was executed in separate pieces given out to the different nuns, and then joined together by a more skilful hand. In Fig. 39 we see the pattern traced out by two threads fixed in their places by small stitches made at intervals by a needle and aloe 7 thread Fig. 40. Unfinished work of a Spanish nun. working from underneath. The reseau ground is alone worked in. We see the thread as left by Sister Felice Vittoria when last she plied her task. Fig. 40 has the pearled ground, the pattern traced as in the other. Loops of a coarser thread are placed at the corners, either to fasten the parchment to a tight frame, like a schoolboy's slate, or to attach it to a cushion, as in Fig. (1, page 18. In Fig. 41 the pattern is first worked. The ordinance of Philip III. against the wearing of lace, dated 1623, enjoining " simples rabats, sans aucune invention de point The aloe thread is now used in Florence for sewing the straw-plait. re I11STOKY OF LACE. couppe' on passement," for the men, with fraises and inanchettes in Like trim for the ladies, both, too, without starch, 8 was not cal- Fier. 11. Unfinished work of a Spanish nun. culated for the development of a national industry already ruined by the expulsion of the Moors, some years previously. 9 This same 6 This ordinance even extended to ni den telle ni linge amour de sa gorge." foreign courts. We read in the " Mercure 9 Fiom the expulsion of the Moors, Galnnt," 1679, of the Spanish a rabassa- 1G14, manufactures declined throughout dress, " Elle etoit vestue de drap noir Spain. The silk looms of Seville were avec de la dentelle de sove ; elle n'avait reduced from G0,000 to 60. SPAIN. 77 ordinance, which extended to gold and silver lace, was suspended during the matrimonial visitof Prince Charles of England; 10 indeed, the Queen of Spain herself sent him, on his arrival at Madrid, ten trunks of richly laced linen. The prince had travelled incognito, and was supposed to be ill-provided. Whether the surmises of her majesty were correct, we cannot presume to affirm ; we only know that, on the occasion of the Spanish voyage, a charge of two dozen and a half laced shirts, at twelve shillings each, for the prince's eight footmen, appears in the wardrobe accounts. 11 The best account of Spanish manners of the seventeenth century will be found in the already mentioned " Letters of a Lady's Travels in Spain " (1(379). " Under the vertingale of black taffety," she writes, " they wear a dozen or more petticoats, one finer than the other, of rich stuffs trimmed with lace of gold and silver, to the girdle. They wear at all times a white garment called sabenqua ; it is made of the finest English lace, and four ells in compass. I have seen some worth five or six hundred crowns ; ... so great is their vanity, they would rather have one of these lace sabenquas than a dozen coarse ones ; 12 and either lie in bed till it is washed or else dress themselves without any, which they frequently enough do." Describing her visit to the Princess of Monteleon, she says, " Her bed is of gold and green damask, lined with silver brocade and trimmed with point de Spain. 13 Her sheets were laced round with an English lace, half an ell deep. The young princess bade her maids bring in her wedding clothes. They brought in thirty silver baskets, so heavy, four women could only carry one basket; the linen and lace were not inferior to the rest." The writer continues to enumerate the garters, mantles, and even the curtains of the princess's carriage, as trimmed with " fine English thread, black, and bone lace." Spain was early celebrated for its silk, 14 which with its 10 " Mercure Francois." Osorio, in ] 686, reckoned more than three 11 They have also provided — millions of Spaniards who, though well 14 ruffs and 14 pairs of cuffs dressed, wore no shirts. — TownsencVs laced, at 20s. . . . £14 Spain. For lacing 8 hats for the foot- I3 Speaking of the apartment of men with silver parchment Madame d' Aranda, Beckford writes, "Her lace, at 3s. . . , . . 1 4s. bed was of the richest blue velvet, trimmed Extraordinary Expenses of His High- with point lace." ness to Spain, 1 623. P. R. O. H As early as the Great Wardrobe 12 Doctor Moncada, in 1660, and Account of Queen Elizabeth, 1587, .s HISTORY OF LACE. coloured embroidered laces, and its gold and silver points, have always enjoyed a certain reputation. Of the latter, during the seventeenth century, we have constant mention in the wardrobe accounts and books of fashion of the French court. The descrip- tion of the celebrated gold bed at Versailles, the interior Lacings of the carriages, the velvet and brocade coats and dresses, "cha- marres de Point d'Espagne," the laces of gold and coloured silk, would alone till a volume of themselves. 15 Narciso Felin, a writer of the seventeenth century, says there were at that time many women occupied in the making of lace of gold, silver," 1 and thread (Fig. 42), with a perfection equal to that of Spanish Flanders. Campany, another old author, carries the number of lace-makers to 12,000. The Spaniards, nevertheless, are said, in P. R. O., wo have a charge for bobbin lace of Spanish silk, " cum ufi tag," for the mantle, 10s. 8d. In a lettor from Prestwich Eaton to Geo. Willingham, 1G31, the writer 6ends 1000 reals (25/.), and in return desires him to send, together with a mastiff dog, some black satin lace for a Spanish suit. — State Papers, Domestic, Oar. I. P. R. O. 15 1697. Marriage of Mademoiselle aud the King of Spain. The queen, says the " Mercure," wore "une mantede Point d'Espagne d'or, neuf aunes de long." 1G98. Fete at Versailles on the mar- riage of the Dnc de Bonrgogne. " La Duchesse de Bourgogne portoit un petit tablier de Point d'Espagne de mille pistoles." — Galerie de Vancienne Cour,ou Me'm. des Regnes de Louis XIV. et Louis XV. 1788. 1722. Ball at the Tuileries. "Tous les seigneurs etaient en habits de drap d'or ou d'argent garnis de Points d'Es- pagne, avec des nceuds d'epaule, et tout l'ajustement a proportion. Les moindres etaient de velours, avec des Points d'Es- pagne d'or et d'argent." — Journal de Barbier, 1718-62. 1722. ''J'ai vu en meme temps le carosse que le roi fait faire pour entrer dans Reims, il sera aussi d'une grande magnificence. Le dedans est tout garni d'un velours a ramage de Points d'Es- pagne d'or." — Ibid. 1731. Speaking of her wedding-drtss, Wilhelmina of Bayreuth, the witiy sister of Frederick the Great, writes, " Ma robe etoit d'une e'toffe d'or fort riche, avec un Point d'Espagne d'or, et ma queue etoit de douze aunes de long" — Me- moires. 1751. Fete at Versailles on the birth of the Duke of Bourgogne. The coats of the "gens de cour, en etoffes d'or de grand prix ou en velours de toute cou- leurs, brodes or, ou garnis de Point d'Espage d'or." — Journal de Barbier. 16 In the reign of William and Mary, we find, in a laceman's bill of the queen, a charge for forty-seven yards of rich, broad, scalloped, embossed point de Spain ; and her shoes are trimmed with gold and silver lace. B. M. Add. MSS. No. 5751. At the entry of Lord Stair into Paris, 1718, his servants' hats are described as laced with Spanish point, their sleeves laced with picked silver lace, and dented at the edge with lace. " Edinburgh Cou- rant." In 1740, the Countess of Pom fret, speaking of the Princess Mary's wedding clothes, write?, " That for the wedding night is silver tissue, faced at the bottom before with pink-coloured satin, trimmed with silver Point d Espagne." — Letters of the Countess of Hartford to the Countess of Pomfret, 1740. SPAIN. 70 103 1, to have derived a great part of their laces from the Isle de France, while the French, on their part, preferred those of Flanders. 17 That the lace trade was considered worth protecting is evident by the tariff of 1667 ; the import duty of twenty-five reals per pound on lace was augmented to two hundred and fifty. Much point was introduced into Spain at this time, by way of Antwerp to Cadiz, under the name of "puntos de mosquito e de transillas." Madame des Ursins, 1707, in a letter to Madame de Maintenon, ordering the layette of the Queen of Spain from Paris, writes, " If I were not afraid of offending those concerned in the purchase, in Fisr. 42. Old Spanish pillow lace. my avarice for the King of Spain's money, I would beg them to send a low-priced lace for the linen." This gold point d'Espagne was much fabricated for home consumption. The oldest banner of the Inquisition — that of Valladolid — is described as bordered with real point d'Espagne, of a curious Gothic (geometric) design. At the autos-da-fe, the grandees of Spain and officers of the holy office marched attired in cloaks, with black and white crosses, edged with this gold lace. Silver point d'Espagne was also worn on the uniform of the Maestranza, a body of nobility formed into an order of chivalry at Seville, Eonda, Valencia, and Granada. Even the saints were rigged out, especially St. Anthony, at Valencia, whose laced costume, periwig, and ruffles are described as " glorious." 17 Marquis de la GoniLerdiere, 1G34, " Nouveau Reglement general des Finances," &c. 80 HISTORY OF LACE. Point d'Espagne was likewise made iri France, introduced by one Simon ( 'hatelain, a Euguenot, about L596 ; in return for which good services he received more protection than bis advanced opinions wan-anted. Colbert, becoming minister in 1662, gua- ranteed to Simon his safety -a boon already refused to many by the intolerant spirit of the times. lie died in 1(>75, having amassed a Large fortune. 18 Colbert, in 1669, writes, "En dentelles de toutos faeons, la Prance fait grandissime commerce en Espagne et mix hides occidentales." " France," says Anderson, " exports much lace into Spain." Towards the middle of the eighteenth century, tbe Spanish manufactures seem to have been on the decline, judging from the constant seizures of vessels bound from St. Malo to Cadiz, freighted with gold and silver lace. The Eagle, French vessel, taken by Captain Carr, in 1745, bore cases to the value of 150,000Z. 19 In 1789 we also read that the exports of lace from tbe port of Marseilles alone to Cadiz exceeded 500,C0U/. 20 Gold and silver lace are made at Barcelona, Talavera de la Reyna, Valencia, and Seville. In 1808, that of Seville was nourishing. The gold is badly prepared, having a red cast. The manufacture of blonde is almost entirely confined to Cata- lonia, where it is made in many of the villages along the sea-coast, and especially in the city of Barcelona. In 1809, it gave em- ployment to 12,000 persons, a number now augmented to 34,000. There are no large manufactories, the trade is in the hands of women and children, who make it on their own account, and as they please. 21 Swinburne, who visited Spain in 1775, writes : — " The women of the hamlets were busy with their bobbins making black lace, some of which, of the coarser kind, is spun out of the leaf of the aloe. It is curious, but of little use, for it grows mucilaginous with washing." He adds, " at Barcelona, there is a great trade in thread lace." 22 The manufacture of silk lace or blonde in Almagro (La Mancha) occupies from 12,000 to 13,000 18 ''Eighty children and grandchildren attended his funeral, in defiance of the edict of 12 Sept. 1G64, and were heavily fun d." — La France Protestanle, par M. M. Haag. Paris, 1846-59. 10 " Gentleman's Magazine," 1745. 20 Peyron, 1789. 21 " Itineraire de l'Espagne," Comte Alpli. de Laborde, t. v. 22 Peuchet, " Dictionnaire Universel de la Ge'ographie Commercante" (An. VII. — 1799), speaking of Barcelona, says their laces are " facon de France," but inferior in beauty and quality. The fabrication is considerable, employing 20U0 women in the towns and villages east of Barcelona. They are sold in Castile, Andalusia, and principally in the Indies. SPAIN. 81 people. The laces of New Castile were exported to America, to which colonies, in 1723, the sumptuary laws were extended, as more necessary than in Spain, "many families having been ruined," says Ustariz, " by the great quantities of fine lace and gold stuffs they purchased of foreign manufacture, by which means Spanish America is drained of many millions of dollars." 23 A Spanish lace-maker does not earn on an average two reals (pd.) a day. 24 The national mantilla is, of course, the principal piece manu- factured. Of the three kinds which, de rigueur, form the toilette of the Spanish lady, the first is composed of white blonde, a most unbecoming contrast to their sallow, olive complexion : this is only used on state occasions — birthdays, bull-fights, and Easter Mondays. The second is black blonde, trimmed with a deep lace. The third, "mantilla de tiro," for ordinary wear, is made of black silk, trimmed with velvet. A Spanish woman's mantilla is held sacred by law, and cannot be seized for debt. 25 The silk employed for the lace is of a superior quality. Near Barcelona is a silk- spinning manufactory, whose products are specially used for the blondes of the country. Spanish silk laces do not equal in workmanship those of Bayeux and Chantilly, either in the firm- ness of the ground or regularity of the pattern. The annual produce of this industry scarcely amounts to 80,000Z. Specimens of Barcelona white-thread lace have been forwarded to us from Spain, bearing the dates of 1810, 1820, 1830, and 1840. Some have much resemblance to the products of Lille — a clear ground, with the pattern worked in one coarse thread ; others, of a double ground, bear evidence of a Flemish origin. Spain sent to the international exhibitions, together with her black and white mantillas, fanciful laces gaily embroidered in coloured silks and gold thread — an ancient manufacture lately revived, but constantly mentioned in the inventories of the French court of the seventeenth century, and also by the lady whose letters we have already quoted. When describing a visit to Donna Teresa de Toledo, who received her in bed, she writes, " She had several little pillows tied with ribbons and trimmed 23 u Theory of Commerce," from the days of the people amount only to 2G0 in Spanish of Don Ger. de Ustariz. Lond. the course of the year — fifty less than in 1751. a Protestant country. 24 When the holidays of the Roman 25 Ford, " Handbook of Spain." Catholic Church are deducted, the work- B2 HISTORY OF LACE. with broad fine lace, She had 'lasses' all of flowers of point de Spain in silk and gold, which looked very pretty." 28 The finest specimen of Spanish work exhibited in 1862 was a mantilla of white blonde, the ground a light guipure, the pattern wreaths of flowers supported by Cupids. Before concluding our account of Spanish lace, we must allude to the " dentelles de Moresse," supposed by M. Francisque Michel 27 to be of Iberian origin, fabricated by the descendants of the Moors who remained in Spain and embraced Christianity. These points are named in the before-mentioned "Revolte des Passe- mens," where the author thus announces their arrival at the fair oi' Saint-Germain : — " II en vint que, le plus souvent, On disc-it venir du Levant; II en vint des bords de l'lbere, II en vint d'arriver n'agueres Des pays septentrionaux." What these points were, it would be difficult to state: in the inventory of Henry VIII. is marked down, " a purlo of morisco work." One of the pattern books gives on its title-page — " D antique et Roboesque En comprenant aussi Moresque." A second speaks of "Moreschi et arabesche." 28 A third is entitled, " Un livre de moresque ;" 29 a fourth, " Un livre de feuillages entrelatz et ouvrages moresques." 30 All we can say on the subject is — that the making cloths of chequered lace formed for a time the favourite employment of Moorish maidens, and they are still to be purchased, yellow with age, in the African cities of Tangier and Tetuan. They may be distinguished from those worked by Christian fingers by the absence of all animals in the pattern, the representation of living creatures, either in painting, sculpture, or embroidery, being strictly forbidden by the Mahommedan law. 26 1678. " On met de la dentelle brodee Sole etc. pendant le Moyen Age." de couleur de points d'Espagne aux Paris, 1839. jupes." — Mercure Galant. 28 Taglienti, Venice, 1530. 27 " Recherches sur le Commerce, la 20 Paris, 1546. Fabrication et l'Usage des Etoffes de 30 Pelegrin de Florence, Paris, 1530. PORTUGAL. 83 PORTUGAL. " Her hands it was whose patient skill should trace The finest broidery, weave the costliest lace : But most of all — her first and dearest care — The office she would never miss or share, Was every day to weave fresh garlands sweet, To place before the shrine at Mary's feet." The Convent Child, Miss Procter. Point lace was made in Portugal as well as in Spain, and held in high estimation. There was no regular manufacture ; it formed the amusement of the nuns, and of a few women who worked at their own houses. The sumptuary law of 1749 put an end to all luxury among the laity. Even those who exposed such wares as laces in the streets were ordered to quit the town. 31 In 1729, 32 when Barbara, sister of Joseph, King of Portugal, at seventeen years of age, married Ferdinand, Prince of Spain, before quitting Lisbon, she repaired to the church of the Madre de Dios, on the Tagus, and there solemnly offered to the Virgin the jewels and a dress of the richest Portuguese point she had worn on the day of her espousals. This lace is described as most magnificent, and was for near a century exhibited under a glass case to admiring eyes, till at the French occupation of the Peninsula the Duchesse d'Abrantes, or one of the imperial generals, is supposed to have made off with it. When Lisbon arose from her ashes after the terrible earthquake of 1755, the Marquis de Pombal founded large manufactures of lace, which were carried on under his auspices. Wraxall, in his "Memoirs," mentions having visited them. The modern laces of Portugal and Madeira closely resemble those of Spain ; the wider for flounces are of silk ; much narrow is made after the fashion of Mechlin. Forty years ago a con- siderable quantity of white coarse lace, very effective in pattern, was made in Lisbon and the environs : this was chiefly exported, via Cadiz, to South America. Both black and white are ex- tensively made in the peninsula of Peniche, north of Lisbon (Estremadura Province), and employ the whole female population. 31 " Magazin de Londres," 1749. years, and retired to Portugal: whether 32 Mademoiselle Dumont, foundress of she there introduced her art is more than the Point de France Manufactory, in the the author can affirm. Rue Si-Denis, quitted Paris after some G 2 84 II1STOUY OF LACK, Children a1 tour years of age are sent to the lace school, and arc seated at "almofadas" (pillows), proportioned to their height, on which .they soon Learn to manage the bobbins, sometimes sixty dozen or more, with great dexterity. 33 Of the point Lace made in the Spanish Peninsula, we have evidently but scanty information. The Spanish raised point would appear to be identical with that of Venice, but there arc others with different characteristics which are assigned to Spain, such as the class in low relief, wanting the freedom and richness Fier. 43. Madeira lace, pillow-made. of design of the Venetian, and passing in commerce as " flat Spanish point." The fine points in relief of Italy and Spain were the result of such time and labour as to render them too costly for moderate means. Hence they were extensively counterfeited. The princi- pal scroll of the pattern was formed by means of tape on linen cut out and sew 7 n on, and the reliefs were produced by cords fixed and overcast after the w 7 ork was finished, thus substituting linen and cords for parts of the needlework. These counterfeit points were, in France, the occasion, in 1069, of an ordinance. Queen," August 1872. PORTUGAL. 85 The nuns of Oclivales were, till the dissolution of the monas- teries, famed for their lace fabricated of the fibre of the aloe. Pillow lace was made at Madeira some fifty years ago. The coarse kind, a species of dentelle torchon, served for trimming pillow-cases and sheets — " seaming lace," as it was called (Fig. 43). Sometimes the threads of the linen were drawn after the manner of cutwork ; but the manufacture had entirely ceased till within these last fifteen years, when it was re-established by Mrs. Bay- man. There are now seven families employed in the fabrication of Maltese lace, which is made almost entirely by men ; the women occupy themselves in the open-work embroidery of muslin. Brazil makes a coarse narrow pillow lace for home consump- tion (Fig. 44). Fig. 44. Brazilian lace, pillow-made. The republics of Central and South America show indications of lace-making, consisting chiefly of darned netting and drawn work, the general characteristics of the lace of those countries. The lace-bordered handkerchiefs of Brazil, and the productions of Venezuela, with the borders of the linen trousers of the Guachos, and the Creva lace of the blacks- of the province of Minas Geraes, are the finest specimens of drawn work. The lace of Chili is of the old lozenge pattern, and men also appear to be employed there in the work. That from Paraguay is likewise made on the pillow ; all traditions of the European missionaries and traders who first colonised the country. 86 TIISTOKY OF LACK. CHAPTER MIL FLANDERS. " For lace, let Flanders bear away the belle." Sir C. Haribury Williams. "In French embroidery and in Flanders lace I'll spend the income of a treasurer's place." The Man of Taste, Itev. W. Bramstone. Flanders and Italy together dispute the invention of lace. In many towns of the Low Countries are pictures of the fifteenth century, in which are portrayed personages adorned with lace, 1 and Baron Eeiffenberg, a Belgian writer, 2 asserts that lace cornettes, or caps, were worn in that country as early as the fourteenth century. He also brings the evidence of contemporary paintings, to show how early it was made. In a side chapel of the choir of St. Peter's, at Louvain, is an altar-piece by Quentin Matsys, date 1495, in which a girl is represented making lace with bobbins on a pillow with a drawer, similar to that now in use. We have not seen the painting. There exists a series of engravings after Martin de Vos, 1581, giving the occupation of the seven ages of life: in the third, 3 assigned to "age mur," is seen a girl sitting with a pillow on her knees, making lace (Fig. 45) : the occupation must have been then common, or the artist would scarcely have chosen it to characterise the habits of his country. The historian of the Duke of Burgundy 4 declares Charles the Bold to have lost his " dentelles " at the battle of Granson, 1476 ; he does not state his authority : probably they were gold or silver. In 1651, Jacob van Eyck, a Flemish poet, sang the praises of lace-making in Latin verse. " Of many arts, one surpasses all 1 Those in the collegiate church of 2 " Memoires de l'Academie de Brux- St. Peter's, at Louvain, and in the ellee," 1820. church of St. Gomar, at Lierre (Antwerp 3 Engraved by Collaert. Bib. Nat. Grav Province). — Aubry. 4 M. de Barante. FLANDERS. 87 the threads woven by the strange power of the hand, threads which the dropping spider would in vain attempt to imitate and Fig. 45. Lace-making. After Martin de Vos. which Pallas would confess she had never known ; " and a deal more in the same style. 5 5 It goes on : "1?or the maiden, seated at her work, plies her fingers rapidly, and flashes the smooth balls and thou- sand threads into the circle. Often she fastens with her hand the innumerable needles, to bring out the various figures of the pattern ; often, again, she unfastens them ; aud in this her amusement makes as much profit as the man earns by the sweat of his brow ; and no maiden ever complains even at the length of the day. The issue is a fine web, open to the air 88 HISTORY OF LACK. mi lie lace manufacture of the Netherlands, as Baron Reiffenberg writes, has a glorious past. After exciting the jealousy of other European nations, in the sixteenth century, when every industrial art lied from the horrors of religious persecution, the lace fabric alone upheld itself, and by its prosperity saved Flanders from utter ruin. Every country of Northern Europe, France, 6 Germany, and England, has learned the art of lace-making from Flanders. After the establishment of the Points de France by Colbert, Flanders was alarmed at the number of lace-makers who emigrated, and passed an Act, dated Brussels, 2Gth December 1GDS, threatening with punishment any who should suborn her workpeople. Lace-making forms an abundant source of national wealth to Belgium, and enables the people of its superannuated cities to support themselves, as it were, on female industry. 7 One-fortieth of the whole population (150,000 women) are said to be thus emraa'ed. But a small number assemble in the ateliers : the majority work at home. The trade now flourishes as in the most palmy days of the Netherlands. Lace-making forms a part of female education in Belgium. Charles V. commanded it to be taught in the schools and convents. Examples of the products of his period may be seen in the cap worn by him under his crown (Fig. 46), and in the contemporary portrait of his sister, Mary, Queen of Hungary. This cap, long preserved in the treasury of the bishop princes of Basle, has now passed into the Musee de Cluny. It is fine linen ; the imperial arms are embroidered in relief, alternate with designs in lacis of exquisite workmanship. 8 with many an aperture, which feeds the 6 Aleneon excepted, pride of the whole globe; which encircles 7 It destroys, however, the eyesight. with its fine border cloaks and tuckers, " I was told by a gentleman well ac- and shows grandly round the throats and quainted with Flanders," says McPher- handsof kings; and, what is more surpi is- son, "that they are generally almost ing, this web is of the lightness of a fea- blind before thirty years of age."— Es- ther, which in its price is too heavy for our tory of Commerce, 1785. purses. Go, ye men, inflamed with the 8 Together with the cap is preserved a desire of the Golden Fleece, endure so parchment witli this inscription : " Gorro many dangers by land, so many at sea, que perteneccio a Carlos Quinto,emperad. whilst the woman, remaining in her Bra- Guarda lo, hijo mio, es memoria de Juhan b tntine' home, prepares Phrygian fleeces de Garnica." (" Cap which belonged to by peaceful assiduity."— JacoU Eyckii the Emperor Charles V. Keep it, my Antwerpiensis Urbium Belgicarum Cen- son, in remembrance of John de Gar- turia. Antw. 1651. 1 vol. 4to. Bib. nica.") J. de Garnica was treasurer to Eloyale, Brussels. Philip IT. FLANDERS. 80 Queen Mary's cuffs (Fig. 47) are of the geometric pattern of the age, and, we may presume, of Flanders make, as she was Fig. 46. Cap of the Emperor Charles V. Musee de Cluny. Fig. 47. mm fcfll Mary, Queen of Hungary, Governess of the Low Countries. + 1558. From her portrait, Musee Nationale, Versailles. governess of the Low Countries from 1530 till her death. The granddaughter of Charles V., the Infanta Isabella, who brought 90 BISTORT OF LACE. the Low Countries as her dower, 9 appears in her portraits (Fig. 48) most resplendent in lace, and her ruff rivals in size those of our Queen Elizabeth, or Reine Margot. But to return to our subject. Of the lace schools, there are now nearly 900, cither in the convents or founded by private charity. At theage of five, small girls commence their apprentice- ship ; by ten, they earn their maintenance ; and it is a pretty sight, an "ecole dentelliere," the children seated before their pillows, twisting their bobbins with wonderful dexterity (Fig. 49). In a tract of the seventeenth century, entitled "England's Fig. 49. A Belgian lace school. Improvement by Sea and Land, to outdo the Dutch without Fighting," 10 we have an amusing account of one of these establish- ments. " Joining to this spinning school is one for maids weaving bone lace ; and in all towns there are schools according to the bigness and multitude of the children. I will show you how they are governed. First, there is a large room, and in the middle thereof a little box like a pulpit. Second, there are benches built about the room as they are in our playhouses. And in the box in the middle of the room, the grand mistress, with a long white wand 9 Married, 1599, Albert, Archduke of Austria. 10 By Andrew Yarranton, Gent. Lon- don, 1677. A proposal to erect schools for teaching and improving the linen manufacture as they do " in Flanders and Holland, where littte girls from six years old upwards learn to employ their fingers." Hadrianus Junius, a, most leurned writer, in his description of the Netherlands, highly extols the fine needlework and linen called cambric of the Belgian nuns, which in whiteness rivals the snow, in texture satin, and in price the sea-silk — Byssus, or beard of the Pinna. Fi°r. 48. ^W HP Hi llHH Isabella Clara Eugenia, daughter of Philip II., Archduchess of Austria, Governess of the Netherlands. Died 1633. To face page 90. FLANDERS. 91 in her hand. If she observes any of them idle, she reaches them a tap, and if that will not do, she rings a bell, which, by a little cord, is attached to the box. She points out the offender, and she is taken into another room and chastised. And I believe this way of ordering the young women in Germany (Flanders) is one great (The piece of lace from which this woodcut is taken has five or six different designs all joined together; probably patterns sent round for orders.) cause that the German women have so little twit twat, 11 and I am sure it will be as well were it so in England. There the children emulate the father — here they beggar him. Child," he winds up, An old term, still used in Scotland, for gossip, chatter. 92 HISTORY OF LACE. "I charge you tell this to thy wyfe in bed, and it may be that she, understanding the benefit it will bo to her and her children, will turn Dutchwoman, and endeavour to save moneys." Notwith- standing this good advice, in 1768, England received from Flanders lace-work, 250,000/., to her disadvantage, as compared to her ex [torts. The old Flemish laces are of great beauty. Fig. 50 represents a description of lace, called in the country Trolle Kant, a term which has been transferred to our own lace counties, in which lace of a peculiar make is styled Trolly. The guipures of Flanders were always held in high estimation. The thread of which they were made was finer than that of France, and the fine flowing pattern, extending to some length like an architectural border, had a magnificent appearance when laid flat upon the vestment, as was the fashion in the seventeenth century. At one period much lace was smuggled into France from Belgium by means of dogs trained for the purpose. A dog was caressed and petted at home, fed on the fat of the land, then, after a season, sent across the frontier, where he was tied up, half starved, and ill-treated. The skin of a bigger dog was then fitted to his body, and the intervening space filled with lace. The dog was then allowed to escape, and make his way home, where he was kindly welcomed with his contraband charge. These journeys were repeated till the French custom house, getting scent, by degrees put an end to the traffic. Between 1820 and 1836, 40,278 dogs were destroyed, a reward of three francs being given for each. 1 12 BRUSSELS (BRABANT). " More subtile web Arachne cannot spin." Spenser. "From Lisle I came to Brussels, where most of the fine laces are made you see worn in England." — Lord Chesterfield, 1741. At what period the manufacture of Brussels lace commenced, we are ignorant. The ancient churches of Brabant possess, it is /Said, many precious specimens, the gifts of munificent princes, 12 These dogs were of large size, and able to carry from 22 to 26 lbs. They also conveyed tobacco. The Swiss dogs smuggle watches. BRUSSELS. 93 who have at all periods shown a predilection for Brussels lace, and in every way promoted its manufacture. In usage, it is termed " point d'Angleterre," an error explained to us by history. In 1662, the English parliament, alarmed at the sums of money expended on foreign point, and desirous to protect the English bone lace manufacture, passed an act prohibiting the importation of all foreign lace. The English lace merchants, at a loss how to supply the Brussels point required at the court of Charles II., invited Flemish lace-makers to settle in England, and there establish the manufacture. The scheme, however, was unsuccess- ful. England did not produce the necessary flax, and the lace made was of an inferior quality. The merchants therefore adopted a more simple expedient. Possessed of large capital, they bought up the choicest laces of the Brussels market, and then, smuggling them over to England, sold them under the name of point d'Angleterre, 13 or "English point." 14 The account of the seizure made by the Marquis de Nesmond, of a vessel laden with Flanders lace, bound for England, in 1678, 15 will afford some idea of the extent to which this smuggling was carried on. The cargo comprised 744,953 ells of lace, without enumerating handkerchiefs, collars, fichus, aprons, petticoats, fans, gloves, &c, all of the same material. From this period, " point de Bruxelles " became more and more unknown, and was at last effaced by "point d'Angleterre," 16 a name it still retains. 17 On consulting, however, the English royal inventories of the time, we find no mention of " English point." In France, on the other hand, the fashion books of the day 18 commend to the notice of the reader, " Corsets chamarres de point d'Angleterre," with vests, gloves, and cravats trimmed with the same material. Among 13 This fact is curiously enough cor- this period from the Low Countries, roborated in a second memorandum given Among the articles advertised as lost, in by the Venetian ambassador to the English the "Newsman" of the 26th of May court in 1695, already mentioned (p. 45), 1664, is : "A black lute-string gown by an informant in London, who states with a black Flanders lace." that Venetian point is n© longer in 15 " Mercure Galant," 1678. fashion, but " that called English point, 16 " Le corsage et les manches etaient which you know is not made here, but bordes d'une blanche et legere dentelle, in Flanders, and only bears this name of sortie a coup sur des meilleures manufac- English to distinguish it from the others." tures d'Angleterre." " Questo chiamato pun to d'Inghilterra, 17 We have, however, one entry, in the sisappiache non si fa qui, ma in Fiandra, wardrobe accounts of the Due de et porta sulamente questo nome d'Inghil- Penthievre : " 1738. Onze aunes d'An- terra per distintione dagli altri." gleterre de Flandre." 14 Black lace was also imported at 1S " Mercure Galant," 1678. W BISTORY OF LACK. the effects of Madame de Simiane, dated L681, were many articles of English point ; 1!) and Monseigneur the Archbishop of Bourges, who died some few years later, had two cambric toilettes trimmed with the same." 20 The finest Brussels lace can only be made in the city itself. Antwerp, Ghent, and other localities, have in vain tried to compete with the capital. The little town of Binche, long of lace-making celebrity, has been the most successful. Binche, however, now only makes pillow flowers (point plat), and those of an inferior quality. When, in 1756, Mrs. Calderwood visited the Beguinage, at Brussels, she writes to a friend, describing the lace-making : " A part of their work is grounding lace; the manufacture is very curious. One person works the flowers. They are all sold separate, and you will see a very pretty sprig, for which the worker only gets twelve sous. The masters who have all these people employed give them the thread to make them ; this they do according to a pattern, and give them out to be grounded ; after this they give them to a third hand, who * hearts ' all the flowers with the open work. That is what makes this lace so much dearer than the Mechlin, which is wrought all at once." 21 The thread used in Brussels lace is of extraordinary fineness. It is made of flax grown in Brabant, at Hal and Kebecq-Kognon. 22 The finest quality is spun in dark underground rooms, for contact with the dry air causes the thread to break ; so fine is it as almost to escape the sight. The feel of the thread as it passes through the fingers is the surest guide. The thread-spinner closely examines every inch drawn from her distaff, and when any inequality occurs, stops her wheel to repair the mischief. Every artificial help is given to the eye. A background of dark paper 19 " Deux paires de manchettes et une 21 " Mrs. Calderwood's Journey through cravatte de point d'Angleterre." — Invert- Holland and Belgium, 1756." Printed by taire d' 'Anne cV Escoubleau, Baronne de the Maitland Club. Sourdis, veuve de Francois de Simiane. 22 Flax is also cultivated solely for lace Arch. Nat. M. M. 802. and cambric thread at St. Nicholas, 20 " Inv. apres le deces de Mgr. Mich. Tournay, and Courtrai. The process of Philippine de la Vrilliere, Patriarche, steeping (rouissage) principally takes Archeveque de Bourge?," 1694. Bib. Nat. pla;e at Courtrai, the clearness of the MSS. P. Fr. 11,426. waters of the Lys rendering them peculi- " Une toilette et sa touaille avec un arly fitted for the purpose. Savary states peignoir de point d'Angleterre." — Inv. de that fine thread was first spun at deces de Mademoiselle de Charollais, Mechlin. 1758. Arch. Nat. BRUSSELS. 95 is placed to throw out the thread, and the room so arranged as to admit one single ray of light upon the work. The life of a Flemish thread-spinner is unhealthy, and her work requires the greatest skill ; her wages are therefore proportionally high. It is the fineness of the thread which renders the real Brussels ground (vrai reseau) so costly. 23 The difficulty of procuring this fine thread, at any cost, prevented the art being established in other countries. We all know how, during the last fifty years of the bygone century, a mania existed in the United Kingdom for improving all sorts of manufactures. The Anti-Gallican Society gave prizes in London ; Dublin and Edinburgh vied with their sister capital in patriotism. Every man would establish something to keep our native gold from crossing the water. Foreign travellers had their eyes open, and Lord Garden, a Scotch lord of session, who visited Brussels in 1787, thus writes to a countryman on the subject: — "This day I bought you ruffles and some beautiful Brussels lace, the most light and costly of all manufactures. I had entertained, as I now suspect, a vain ambition to attempt the in- troduction of it into my humble parish in Scotland, but on inquiry I was discouraged. The thread is of so exquisite a fineness they cannot make it in this country. It is brought from Cambray and Valenciennes in French Flanders, and five or six different artists are employed to form the nice part of this fabric, so that it is a complicated art which cannot be transplanted without a passion as strong as mine for manufactures, and a purse much stronger. At Brussels, from one pound of flax alone, they can manufacture to the value of 700Z. sterling." Of the two kinds of ground used in Brussels lace, the bride had, a century back, 24 been replaced by the reseau, and was only made to order. Nine ells of "Angleterre a bride" appear in the bills of Madame du Barry. 25 Sometimes 23 It is often sold at 240Z. per lb., and the Brussels 600, the Manchester 700 ; in the report of the French Exhibition whereas in Westphalia and Belgium of 1859 it is mentioned as high as 500?. hand-spun threads as fine as 800 to 1000 (25,000 fr. the kilogramme). No wonder are spun for costly laces. The writer has that so much thread is made by machi- seen specimens, in the Museum at Lille, nery, and that Scotch cotton thread is so equal to 1200 of machinery ; but this generally used, except for the choicest industry is so poorly remunerated that laces. But machine-made thread has the number of skilful hand-spinners is never attained the fineness of that made fast diminishing. by hand. Of those in the Exhibition of 24 " Dictionnaire du Citoyen," 1761. 1862, the finest Lille was 800 leas (a 25 " Comptes de Madame du Barry." technical term for a reel of 300 yarns), Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 8157 and 8. 96 I11STOKY OV LACK. bride 26 and reseau were mixed. 21 In the inventories the description of ground is always minutely specified. 28 The reseau was made in two ways,-' 1 by hand (a l'aiguille), and od thf pillow (au fuseau). The needle ground is worked from one flower to another, as in Coloured Plate IV. The pillow is made in small Btrips of 1 inch in width, and from 7 to 45 inches long, .joined together by a stitch long known to the lace-makers of Brussels and Bayeux only, 30 called " point de raccroc;" in English, " fine joining," and consisting of a fresh stitch formed with a needle between tin 4 two pieces to be united. It requires the greatest nicety to join the segments of shawls and other large pieces. Since machine-made net has come into use, the "vrai reseau" is raivlv made, save for royal trousseaux. There are two kinds of flowers : those made with the needle are called "'point a l'aiguille;" those on the pillow, "point plat." 31 The best flowers are made in Brussels itself, where they have attained a perfection in the relief (point brode) unequalled by those made in the surrounding villages and at Binche, in Barnaul t. 26 Albs of Brussels lace were much worn by the Church. " Trois aubes de batiste garnies de grande deutelle de gros point d'Angle- terre." — Inv. des Meubles etc. de Louis, Due d'Orle'ans, de'eede 4 fe'v. 1752 (son of the regent). Arch. Nat. X. 10,075. "Deux aubes de point d'Angleterre servant a Messieurs les curez. " Une autre -aube a dentelle de gros point servant aussy a M. le cure." — Inventaire et Description de VArgenterie, Vermeil Dore, Ornemens, Linge etc. ap- parienant a VCEuvre et Fabrique de Veglise Saint-Merry a Paris, 1714. Arch. Nat. L. L. 859. 27 " Une coeffure a une piece d'Angle terre bride et reseau." — Comptes de Ma- dame du Barry. " 1 aune et quart d'Angleterre mele." —Ibid. 28 Mrs. Delany writes (" Corr." vol. 2) : " The laces I have pitched on for you are charming, it is grounded Brus- sels." "Deux tours de gorge a raiseau, un tour de camisolle a bride." — Inv. de la Duchesse de Bourbon, 1720. Arch. Nat. X. 10,OG2-4. " Six peignoirs de toille fine gam is par en haut d'une vit ille dentelle d'Angle- terre a raiseau." — Inv. de deces de Mon- sieur Philippe, petit-fils de France, Due d'Orle'ans, Regent du Boyaume, de'ce'de 2 de'eembre 1723. Arch. Nat. X. 10,067. The " fond ecaille " often occurs. '' Une coeffure a une piece de point a l'ecaille ; " Une paire de manchettes de cour de point a raizeau, et deux devants de corps de point a brides a ecailles." — Inv. de la Duchesse de Modene, 1761. Arch. Nat. X. 10,082. " Deux barbes, rayon et fond d'Angle- terre superfin fond ecaille." — Comptes de Madame du Barry. See her Angleterre, Chap. XI. note 27 . 29 To which machinery has added a third, the tulle or Brussels net. 30 The needleground is three times as expensive as the pillow, because the needle is passed four times into each mesh, whereas in the pillow it is not passed at all. 31 it r p ro j s oreillers, l'un de toille blanche picquee garnis autour de chacun d'un point plat." — Inv. de la Duchesse de Modene. BRUSSELS. 97 The last have one great fault. Coming soiled from the hands of the lace-makers, they have a reddish-yellow cast. In order to obviate this evil, the workwoman, previous to sewing the flowers on the ground, places them in a packet of white lead and beats them with the hand, an operation injurious to the health of the lace-cleaner. It also causes the lace to turn black when laid in trunks or wardrobes in contact with flannel or other woollen tissues bleached with sulphur, which discolours the white lead. Bottles containing scent, the sea air, or a heated room, will produce the same disagreeable change, and the colour is with difficulty restored. This custom of powdering yellow lace is of old date. We read in 1782 : 32 " On tolere en rneme temps les dentelles jaunes et fort sales, poudrez-les a blanc pour cacher leur vetuste, dut la fraude paroitre, n'importe, vous avez des den- telles vous etes bien dispense de la proprete mais non du luxe." Mrs. Delany writes in 1734 : " Your head and ruffles are being made up, but Brussels always looks yellow;" and she was right, for flax thread soon returns to its natural hue. Yet, " How curled her hair, how clean her Brussels lace ! " exclaims the poet. 33 Later, the taste for discoloured lace became general. The " Isabelle " or cream-coloured tint was found to be more becoming than a dazzling white, and our coquettish grand- mothers, who prided themselves upon the colour of their point, when not satisfied with the richness of its hue, had their lace dipped in coffee. In the older laces the plat flowers were worked in together with the ground (Figs. 51 and 52). Application lace was unknown to our ancestors. 34 The making of Brussels lace is so complicated that each process is, as before mentioned, assigned to a different hand, who works only at her special department. The first, termed — Drocheleuse (Flemish, drocheles), makes the vrai reseau. 2. Denteliere (kantwerkes), the footing. 3. Pointeuse (needlewerkes), the point a l'aiguille flowers. 4. Platteuse (platwerkes) makes the plat flowers. 32 " Tableau de Paris, par S. Mercier," part answering to the French " toile " Amsterdam, 1782. (see p. 26); "gaze au fuseau," in which 33 " Fashion," J. Warton. small interstices appear, French " grille ;" 34 Brussels lace-makers divide the plat and the "jours," or open work, into three parts, the "mat," the close H MH HISTORY OF LACE. CD BRUSSELS. 99 H 2 100 1IISTOKY OF LACE. 5. Fonneuse (grondwerkes) is charged with the open work (jours) in the plat. 6. Jointeuse, or attacheuse (lashwerkes), unites the different sections of the ground together. 7. Striqueuse, or appliqueuse (strike's), is charged with the sewing (application) of the flowers upon the ground. The pattern is designed by the head of the manufactory, who, haying cut the parchment into pieces, hands it out ready pricked. The worker has no reflections to make, no combinations to study. The whole responsibility rests with the master, who selects the ground, chooses the thread, and alone knows the effect to be produced by the whole. (Coloured Plate Y.) The lace industry of Brussels is now divided into two branches, the making of detached sprigs, either point or pillow, for appli- cation upon the net ground, and the modern " point gaze." The first is the Brussels lace " par excellence," and more of it is pro- duced than of any other kind. Of late years, it has been greatly improved, by mixing point and pillow-made flowers. Point gaze is so called from its gauze-like needle ground, " fond gaze," com- prised of very fine, round meshes, with needle-made flowers, made simultaneously with the ground, by means of the same thread, as in the old Brussels. It is made in small pieces, the joining concealed by small sprigs or leaves, after the manner of the old point, the same lace-worker executing the whole strip from beginning to end. Point gaze is now brought to the highest perfection, and is remarkable for the precision of the work, the variety and richness of the "jours," and the clearness of the ground. In appearance, it somewhat resembles point d'Alengon, but the work is less elaborate and less solid. When flowers both of needle point and pillow lace are introduced upon the "fond gaze," it is erroneously termed " point de Venise." Brussels was a favoured lace at the court of the First Empire. 35 When Napoleon and the Empress Marie Louise made their first public entry into the Belgian capital, they gave large orders for albs of the richest point, destined as a present for the Pope. The 35 The veil presented by the city of upon the ground. The texture of the Brussels to the Empress Josephine was resi.au wa.3 exquisitely fine. In each sold in 1816, by Eugene Beauharnais, to corner was the imperial crown and cypher, Lady Jane Hamilton. It is described to encircled with wreaths of flowers. This Lave been of such ample dimensions chef-d'eeuvre of art passed into the that, when placed on Lady Jane's head, possession of Lady Jane's daughter, the who was upwards of 6 feet high, it trained Duehesse de Coigny. To face page. 100. i'llitr \ Brussels needle point. Circa 1750. To face page 101 MECHLIN. 101 city, on its part, offered to the empress a collection of its finest lace, on vrai reseau ; also a curtain of Brussels point, emblematic of the birth of the King of Rome, with Cupids supporting the drapery of the cradle. After the battle of Waterloo, Monsieur Troyaux, a manufacturer at Brussels, stopped his lace manufactory, and turned it into an hospital for English soldiers. His humane conduct did not go unrewarded : he received a decoration from his sovereign, while his shop was daily crowded with English ladies, who then, and for years after, made a point of purchasing their laces at his establishment. (Coloured Plate VI.) Monsieur Troyaux made a large fortune, and retired from business. 36 MECHLIN. " And if disputes of empire rise between Mechlin, the queen of lace, and Colberteen, 'Tis doubt ! 'tis darkness ! till suspended Fate Assumes her nod to close the grand debate." Young, Love of Fame. 11 Now to another scene give place : Enter the Folks with silk and lace, Fresh matter for a world of chat, Right Indian this, right Macklin that." Swift, Journal of a Modern Lady. '• Mechlin, the finest lace of all ! " Anderson, Origin of Commerce. u Eose. Pray what may this lace be worth a yard ? u Balance. Right Mechlin, by this light ! " Farquhar, The Recruiting Officer. Mechlin is the prettiest of laces, fine, transparent, and effective. It is made in one piece, on the pillow, with various fancy stitches introduced. Its distinguishing feature is the flat thread which forms the flower, and gives to this lace the character of embroidery 36 To afford an idea of the intrinsic value of Brussels lace, we give an estimate of the expense of a fine flounce (volant) of " vrai reseau melange" (point and plat), 12 metres long by 35 centimetres wide (13| yards by 14 inches) : — Francs. Cost of the plat . 1885*75 Needle point 5000 Open work, "jours ' (fonnage) .... 390 Applique' (stricage) 800 Ground (re'seau) 2782 Footing (engrelure) J. "27 Total 1085902 = 431Z. 7s. 6d. Equals 36Z. 3s. dd. the metre, and the selling price would be about 50Z. 16s., which would make the flounces amount to (309Z. 12s. L02 HISTOID OF LACK. — hence it is sometimes called "broderie de Malines." 37 [t was made at Mechlin, Ajitwerp, Lierre, and Turnhout, but the manu- facture has long been on the decline. Lately, however, it appears to have partially revived. Previous to L663, as elsewhere stated, the name was given to all pillow laces of which the pattern was relieved by a Hat thread. It was only this thai distinguished it from Valenciennes. When in the eighteenth century the reseau ground was adopted, Malines still continued tin; bride also, which was generally preferred, especially in France. 38 According to Savarv. the laces of Ypres, Bruges, Dunkirk, and Courtrai, passed at Paris under that name. 39 The statute of Charles II. having placed a bar to the intro- duction of Flanders lace into England, Mechlin neither appears in the advertisements nor inventories of the time. We find mention of this lace in France as early as Anne of Austria, who is described in the memoirs of Marion de l'Orme as wearing a veil " en frizette de Malines." 40 Again, the Marechal de la Motte, who died in 1627, has, noted in his inventory, 41 a pair of Mechlin ruffles. Regnard, who visited Flanders in 1681, writes from Mechlin : " The common people here, as throughout all Flanders, occupy themselves in making the white lace known as Malines, and the Beguinage, the most considerable in the country, is supported by the work of the Beguines, in which they excel greatly." 42 AY hen, in 16i»9, the English prohibition was removed, Mechlin lace became the grand fashion, and continued so during the suc- ceeding century. Queen Mary anticipated the repeal by some years, for, in 1694, she purchased two yards of knotted fringe for her Mechlin ruffles, 43 which leads us to hope she had brought the lace with her from Holland; though, as early as 1699, we have 37 "Unc paire de maucLettes de den- clieties de pareille dentelle." — Inv. de telle de Malines brodee. Front;. I Jitlypeavx Loisel. Bib. Nat. "Quatie 1 on nets de unit garnis de MSS. F, Fr. 11,459. Malines brodee." — Im; dedecende Made- 3y Iw\ de, rfeces de Madame Anne, moselle de Charollais, 1758. Palatine de Baviere, Print-ease de Coitde, ~ 8 Inv. de la l)uthe**e de Ittwbon, 1723. Arch. Nat. X. 10,0o"5. 1720. I0 in the accounts of Madame dn ''1704 Denx ficluis garnis d«* dentelle Buny, we Lave "Malines batasde a de Malines a bride on rez< an, bordure." ' Dne eravs.tte avec 1< s manchi ttes de 41 See p. 25. I oint de Malines a bride n " Voyage e;i Flandre," 1(!81. "Deux aulies cravattes de dente'le de ,:! 13. M. Add. MSS. No. .'751. Malines a rezenu et trua paires de man- MECHLIN. Li 3 advertised in the " London Gazette," August 17th to 21st : — " Lost from Barker's coach, a d^ al box containing," among other articles, " a waistcoat and Holland shirt, both laced with Mecklin lace." Queen Anne purchased it largely; at least she paid in 17-13 u 2 17Z. 6s. 9d. for eighty-three yards, either to one Margaret Jolly or one Francis Dobson, " Millenario Eegali " — the Eoyal Milliner, as he styles himself. George I. indulges in a " Macklin " cravat. 45 " It is impossible," says Savary, about this time, " to imagine how much Mechlin lace is annually purchased by France and Holland, and in England it has always held the highest favour." Fis. 53. Mechlin. End of eighteenth century. Of the beau of 17-.7, it is said — " Riglit Macklin must twist roun 1 his bosom and wrists ; " while Captain Figgins, of the 67th, a dandy of the first water, is described, like the naval puppy of Smollett in "Roderick Random," " his hair powdered with marechal, a cambric shirt, his Malines lace dyed with coffee-grounds." Towards 1755 the fashion seems to have been on the decline in England. " All the town," writes Mr. Calderwood, "is full of convents; Mechlin lace is all made there ; I saw a great deal, and very pretty and cheap. They talk of giving up the trade, as the English, upon whom they depended, have taken to the wearing of French blondes. The lace merchants 44 Gr. Ward. Ace P. R. 0. Ibid. 10 1 HISTORY OF LACE. employ the workers ami all the town with Lace. Though they gain but two-pence halfpenny daily, it is a good worker who will finish a Flemish yard (28 Lnohes) in a fortnight." Mechlin is essentially a summer laee, not becoming in itself, but charming when worn over colour (Fig. 53). It found great favour at the court of the Regent, as the inventories of the period attest. Much of this Lace, judging from these accounts, was made in the stylo of the modern insertion, with an edging on both sides, Fig. 51. Mechlin. Formerly belonging to Queen Charlotte. End of eighteenth century. " canipane, ' and, being light in texture, was well adapted for the gathered trimmings, later termed " quilles," 46 now better known as "plisses a la vieille." 47 Mechlin can never have been used as a <' dentelle de grande toilette;" it served for coiffures de nuit, garnitures de corset, ruffles, and cravats. 48 40 " On chamarrc les jupes en quilles de dentelles plissees." — Mercure Galant, 1678. '' Un volant dentelle d'Angleterre plissee.' — Extraordinaire du Mercure, Quart: er d'Esfe, 1678. 47 "1741. Une coiffure de nuit de Ma- lines a raizeau eampanee de deux pieces. "Une paire de manches de Maliues brode'e a raizeau eampanee, un tour de gorge, et une garniture de corset." — Inv. de Mademoiselle de Clermont. " 1761. Une paire de manches de Malines brides non eampanee, tour de gorge, et garniture de corset." — Ino, de la Duchesse de Modem. ifi " 1720. Une garniture de teste a trois pieces de dentelle de Malines a bride. ANTWERP. 105 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, describing an admirer, writes— " With eager beat his Mechlin cravat moves — He loves, I whisper to myself, he loves ! " It was the favourite lace of her late Majesty Queen Charlotte ( Fig. 54) and of the Princess Amelia. . Napoleon I. was also a great admirer of this fabric, and when he first saw the light Gothic tracery of the cathedral spire of Antwerp, he exclaimed, " C'est comme de la dentelle de Malines." ANTWERP. u At Antwerp, bought some ruffles of our agreeable landlady, and set out at 2 o'clock for Brussels."— Tour, by G. L. 1767. Before finishing our account of the laces of Brabant, we must touch upon the produce of Antwerp, which, though little differing from that of the adjoining towns, seems at one time to have been known in the commercial world. 49 In the year 1560 we have no mention of lace among the fabrics of Antwerp, at that period already flourishing, unless it be classed under the head of " mercery, fine and rare." 50 The cap, however, of an Antwerp lady 5l of that period is decorated with fine lace of geometric pattern (Fig. 55). As early as 1698, the "Flying Postman" advertises as follows: " Yesterday, was dropped between the Mitre Tavern and the corner " Deux peignoirs de toile d'Hollande " 1792. 24 fichus de batiste garnis de gn-rris de dentelle, l'une d'Angleterre a Maline. bride et l'autre de Maline a raiseau." — " 2 taye d'orilier garnis de Maline." — Inv. de la Duchesse de Bourbon. Benouvellement de M. le Due de Norman- " 1750. Une dormeuse de Malines." — die. Ibid. Inv. de Mademoiselle de Charollais. 49 An arret, dated 14 Aug. 1688, " 1770. 5J grande hauteur de Malines requires that " toutes les dentelles de fil pour une paire de manchettes, 264 franco. d'Anvers, Bruxelles, Malines et autres " 1 au. jabot pour le tour de gorge, lieux de la Flandre Espagnolle," shall 16. enter only by Kousselars and Conde, and " 5 au. i Maline3 pour garnir 3 pay a duty of 40 livres per lb. Arch, chemises au negre a 12 fr." (the wretch Nat. Coll. Eondoneau. Zamor who denounced her). — Comptes 5 ° In the list of foreign Protestants de Madame du Barry. resident in England, 1618 to 1688, we " 1788. 6 tayes d'oreilkr garnies de find in London, Aldersgate Ward, Jacob Malines."— Etat de ce qui a ete fourni Johnson, born at Antwerp, lace-maker, pour lerenouvellementdeMqr.le Dauphin. and Antony du Veal, lace-weaver, born Arch. Nat. K. 505, No. 20. in Tnrny (Tournay). " 1792. 2 tayes d'oreillier garnis de 51 This portrait has been engraved by maline." — Notes du linge du ci-decant Verbruggen, who gives it as that of Boi. Ibid. No. 8. Catherine of Aragon. L06 HISTOID OF LACK. of Princes-street, live yards and better of Antwerp luce, pinner breadth. ( )ne guinea reward." According to Savary, much Lace without ground, a dentelle -an<; fond," a guipure of Large flowers touching each other, was made in all the towns of Brabant for especial exportation to the Spanish Indies, whore the " Gothic" taste continued in favour up to a very late period. These envoys were expedited first to Cadiz, ami there disposed of. In 1696, we find in a seizure made by Monsieur de la Belliere, on the high seas, "2181 pieces de dentelles grossieres a L'Espagnole assort ies." ,V2 Fig. ;>:>. A Lady of Antwerp, ob. 1598. After Crispin de Passe. Since the cessation of this Spanish market, Antwerp lace would have disappeared from the scene had it not been for the attachment evinced by the old people for one pattern, which has been worn on their caps from generation to generation, generally known by the name of "pot lace " (potten kant). It is made in the 15eguinages of three qualities, mostly " fond double." The pattern has always a vase (Fig. 56), varied according to fancy. 53 Antwerp now makes Brussels lace. 52 "Mercuie Galant," 1696. clined, the angel disapp: ared, and the 53 The flower-pot was a symbol of the lily pot became a vase of flowers; sub- Annunciation. In the early representa- tions of the appearance of the Angel (iabriel to the Virgin Mary, lilies are placed either in his hand or set as an a ere sory in a vase. As Roinani.-m de- sequently, the Virgin was omitted, and there remained only the vase of flowers. The " Potten" design is not peculiar to Antwerp lace. ANTWERP J 07 ZD tub 108 niSTOUY OF LACK One of the earliest pattern books, that printed by Vorster- man" the title in English- was published at Antwerp. There is no date affixed to the title-page, but it only contains patterns for Spanish stitch and other embroidery — no lace. Turnhout, Antwerp, and Mechlin seem to have largely manufactured lace up to the present century; as we find in 1803, out of forty lace manufactories in the province, there were thirteen at Antwerp, twelve at Turnhout, and nine at Malines. 55 Turnhout now produces Mechlin. FLANDERS (WEST). The most important branch of the pillow lace trade in Belgium is the manufacture of Valenciennes, which, having expired in its native city, has now spread over East and West Flanders. The art was originally imported into Flanders from French Hainault in the seventeenth century. As early as 1656, Ypres began to make Valenciennes lace. When, in 16S4, a census was made by order of Louis XL V., there were only three forewomen and sixty-three lace-makers. In 1850, there were from 20,000 to 22,000 in Ypres and its environs alone. The productions of Ypres are of the finest quality and most elaborate in their workmanship. On a piece not 2 inches wide, from 200 to 300 bobbins are employed, and for the larger widths as many as 800 or more are used on the same pillow. 56 The ground is in large clear squares, which admirably throws up the even tissue of the patterns. 57 In these there was little variety until 1833, w r hen a manufacturer 58 adopted a clear wire ground with bold flowing designs (Fig. 57), instead of the thick "treille" 59 and scanty flowers of the old laces. The change was accepted by fashion, and the Valenciennes lace of Ypres 54 See Appendix. would take her twelve years to complete 55 '' Tableau statistique du Dep. des a length of six or seven metres ; her Deux-Nethes, par le Citoyen Herbou- daily earnings averaging two to three ville. AnX." = 1802. francs. Ypres makes the widest Valen- 56 In the International Exhibition of ciennes of any manufacture except Cour- 1874, there were no less than 8000 trai, whence was exhibited a half-shawl bobbins on a Courtrai pillow used for (pointe) of Valenciennes. making a parasol cover. 58 M. Duhayon Brunfaut, of Ypres. 57 Ypres Valenciennes was exhibited, in 59 " Treille" is the general term for the 1867, at 80Z. (the metre). The lace-maker, ground (reseau) throughout Belgium and working twelve hours a day, could scarcely the Dep. du Nord. produce one-third of an inch a week. It FLANDERS (WEST). 109 has now attained a high decree of perfection. Courtrai has made great advances towards rivalling Ypres in cheapness and quality. Not a hundred years since, when the laces of Valenciennes prospered, those of Belgium were designated as " fausses Valen- ciennes." Belgium has now the monopoly to a commercial value of more than 800,000Z. 60 The other principal centres of the manu- facture are Bruges, Courtrai, and Menin, in West, Ghent and Alost, in East, Flanders. When Peuchet wrote in the last century, he cites " les dentelles a l'instar de Valenciennes " of Courtrai as being in favour, and generally sought after both in England and Fig. 57. Valenciennes lace of Ypres. France, while those of Bruges are merely alluded to as " passing for Mechlin." From this it may be inferred the tide had not then flowed so far north. The Valenciennes of Bruges, from its round ground, has never enjoyed a high reputation. Jn forming the ground, the bobbins are only twisted twice, while in those of Ypres and Alost the operation is performed four and five times. 61 The oftener the bobbins are twisted the clearer and more esteemed is the Valenciennes. The " guipure de Bruges," or "point dnchesse," made at Bruges, 60 France alone buys of Belgium more Valenciennes than all the other countries united; upwards of 12 millions of francs (480,000/.). Aubry. 61 At Ghent two turns and a half, and at Courtrai three and a half. Each town has its own peculiar stitch. no HISTORY OF LACE. is one of the prettiest laces imaginable. It isof a brilliant white, composed of pillow-made flowers united l>v " barrettes," or "brides a picot." It may be termed the Belgian Eloniton, which lace it exactly resembles in workmanship. The patterns are larger, less delicate, and less firm, than those of the Devonshire product, but it LS less costly. West Flanders has now a hundred and eighty manufactories and four hundred lace schools. Of these, l. r >7 are the property of religious communities, and number upwards of 30,000 apprentices. 63 FLANDERS (EAST). No traveller has passed through the city of Ghent, for the last hundred years, without describing the Beguinage and its lace school. " The women," writes the author of the " Grand Tour," 1756, "number nigh 5000, go where they please, and employ their time in weaving lace." Savary cites the (i fausses Valenciennes," which he declares to equal the real in beauty. They are, continues he, " moins serrees, nn peu moins solides, et un pen moins cheres." The best account, however, we have of the Ghent manufactures is contained in a letter addressed to Sir John Sinclair by Mr. Hey Schoulthem, in 1815. "The making of lace," he writes, " at the time the French entered the Low Countries, employed a con- siderable number of people of both sexes, and great activity prevailed in Ghent. The lace was chiefly for daily use ; it was sold in Holland, France, and England. A large quantity of * sorted ' laces of a peculiar quality were exported to Spain and the colonies. It is to be feared that, after an interruption of twenty years, this lucrative branch of commerce will be at an end : the changes of fashion have even reached the West Indian colonists, whose favourite ornaments once consisted of Flemish laces and fringes. 63 These laces were mostly manufactured in the charitable institutions for poor girls, and by old women whose eyes did not permit them to execute a finer work. As for the young- girls, the quality of these Spanish laces, and the facility of their 62 "L'lndu.-tiie dtntrelliere beige, par sends "some Flanders lace of a good B. v. (1. Dussen. Bruxelh s, 18C0." value," as a pre.ent to the wife and 63 Robinson Crusoe, when at Lisbon, daughter of his partner in the Brazils. HAINAULT. Ill execution, permitted the least skilful to work them with success, and proved a means of rendering them afterwards excellent work- women. At present, the best market for our laces is in France ; a few also are sent to England." He continues to state that, since the interruption of the commerce with Spain, to which Ghent formerly belonged, the art has been replaced by a trade in cotton ; but that cotton-weaving spoils the hand of the 1 ce-makers, and, if continued, would end by annihilating the lace manufacture. 64 Grammont and Enghien, ten years back, only manufactured cheap white thread lace, now entirely replaced by laces of black silk. The lace of Grammont of late years has greatly developed, but the lace has not the beauty of the French, the bobbins are more often twisted in making the ground, which deprives it of its elasticity, and the silk is weakened by the quantity of dye, which gives it a dull appearance. The quality of the silk is good, and the price much less than that of the Normandy manufacture. Grammont makes no small pieces, but shawls, dresses, &c, principally for the American market. The lace industry of East Flanders is now most flourishing ; it boasts '200 manufactories directed by the laity, and 450 schools under the superintendence of the nuns. HAINAULT. The laces of Mons and those once known as " les figures de Chimay," both in the early part of the eighteenth century, enjoyed a considerable reputation. The author, on visiting Chimav last year, could find no traces of the manufacture, beyond an aged lace-maker, an inmate of the hospice, who made black lace, " point de Paris;" and she said that, until within these last few years, Brussels lace has been also made at Chimay. Binche was, as early as 16Si\ the subject of a royal edict, leading one to infer that the laces it produced were of some importance. In the said edict, the roads of Verviers, Gueuse, and Le Catelet, to those persons coming from Binche, are pro- nounced " faux passages." 65 Savary esteems the products of this 61 " Answer lo Sir John Sim lair," by Mr. H. Sehoulthem, concerning the manu- factures of Ghe:it. 1815. 6 "' Arch. Nat. Coll Romloaeau. 112 HISTORY OF LACE. Little village. The saint 1 laces, he adds, arc made in all the " monasteres" of the province, who arc partly maintained by the gains. The lace is good; equal to, it" not surpassing, those of Brabant and Flanders. It appears to have been "point d'Angleterre," of which they had the reputation of making liner pieces than Brussels or Bruges. Dentelle de Binche was much in vogue in the last century. It is mentioned in the inventory of the Duchesse de Modene, 66 daughter of the regent, 17()1 ; and in that of Mademoiselle de Charollais, 1758, who has a "couvrepied, mantelet, garniture de robe, j upon," &c, all of the same lace. In the "Miserables" of Victor Hugo, the old grandfather routs out from a cupboard " une ancienne garniture de guipure de Binche," for Collette's wedding dress. M. Victor Hugo told the author he had, in his younger days, seen Binche guipure of great beauty. The Binche application flowers have been already noticed. 07 We have now named the great localities for lace-making throughout the Low Countries. Some few yet remain unmen- tionecl. Liege, in her days of ecclesiastical grandeur, carried on the trade like the rest. We read, in 1 620, of " English Jesuitesses at Liege, who seem to care as much for politics as for lace-making." 68 An early pattern book, that of Jean de Glen, a transcript of Vinciolo, was published in that city in 1597. It bears the mark of his printing press — three acorns with the motto, " Cuique sua prsemia," and is dedicated to Madame Loyse de Perez. He concludes a complimentary dedication to the lady with the lines : — " Madame, don t_l'e sprit modestement subtil, Vigoureux, se delecte en toutes choses belles, Preuez de bonne part ces nouvelles modelles Que vous offre la main de ce maistre gentil." He states that he has travelled, and brought back from Italy some patterns, without alluding to Vinciolo. 66 " Une paire de manchettes de cour de dentelle de Binche ; Trois paires de manchettes a trois rangs de dentelle de Binche; Deux fichus de mousseline bordees de dentelle de Binche ; Deux devants de corps de dentelle de Binche." — Arch. Nat. X. 10,082. 67 See page 94. 68 Letter of Sir Henry Wotton to Lord Zouch. " State Papers, Domestic," Jas. I. P. R. O. HA1NAULT. 113 "Dentelles de Liege, fines et grosses de toutes sortes," are mentioned with those of Lorraine and Du Comte (Franche-Comte) in the tariff fixed by a French edict of 18th September 1664. 69 Mrs. Calderwood, who visited Liege in 1756, admires the point edging to the surplices of the canons, which, she remarks, " have a very genteel appearance." The manufacture had declined at Liege, in 1802, when it is classed by the French Commissioners among the " fabriques moins considerables." Some years since an establishment of " dentelle torchon " was established at Stavelot, near Spa. Upwards of a hundred children were then employed, and the manufacture flourished sufficiently to cause much irritation to the Belgian custom-house officers. The lace products of St. Trond, in the province of Limburg, appear, by the report of the French commission of 1803, to have been of some importance. Lace, they say, is made at St. Trond, where from 800 to 900 are so employed, either at their own homes or in the workshops of the lace manufacturers. The laces resemble those of Brussels and Mechlin, and although they have a less reputation in commerce, several descriptions are made, and about 8000 metres are produced of laces of first quality, fetching from 12 to 14 francs the metre. These laces are chiefly made for exportation, and are sold mostly in Holland and at the Frankfort fairs. 70 Within the last few years the immense development of the Belgian lace trade has overthrown the characteristic lace of each respective city. Lace, white and black, point and pillow, may at the present time be met with in every province of the now flourishing kingdom of Belgium. 69 Arch. Nat. Coll. Bondoneau. 70 " Statistique du Dep. de la Meuse-Inf., par le Citoyen Cavenne. An X." 1M HISTORY OF LAC CHAFFER VIII. FRANCE TO LOUIS XIV. " II est une decsse inconstantc, incommode, Bizarre dans ses gouts, folic en scs ornements, Qui parait, fuit, rcvient, et renait, en tout temps: 1 'rotee etait son pere, et sou nom est la Mode." Voltaire. "To day the French All clinquant, all in gold." Shakespeare. To the Italian influence of the sixteenth century France owes the fashion for points coupes and lace. 1 It was under the Valois and the Medicis that the luxury of embroidery, laces of gold, silver, and thread, attained its greatest height, and point coupe was as much worn at that epoch as were subsequently the laces of Italy and Flanders. The ruff, or fraise, as it was termed, from its fancied resem- blance to the caul 2 or frill of the calf, first adopted by Henry II. 3 to conceal a scar, continued in favour with his sons. The queen mother herself wore mourning from the day of the king's death ; no decoration, therefore, appears upon her wire-mounted ruff; 4 but the f raises of her family and the " escadron volante " are profusely 1 Italian fashions appeared early in firentleur premiere entree dans le costume Fiance. Isabeau de Baviere, wearer of des hommes vers 1540." — Quicherat, Eis- the Oriental " hennin," and Valentine de toire du Costume en France. Milan, first introduced the rich tissues 4 The queen was accused by her of Italy. Louis XL sent for workmen enemies of having, by the aid of Maitre from Milan, Venice, and Pistoia, to whom Kene, " empoisonneur en titre," termi- he granted various privileges, which nated the life of Queen Jeanne de Navarre, Charles VIII. confirmed. in 1571, by a perfumed ruff (not gloves) 2 In Ulpian Ful well's " Interlude," (" Description de la Vie de Catherine de 1568, Nichol Newfangle says — Medicis") ; and her favourite son, the "I learn to make gowns with long Duke d'Alencon, was said, circa 1575, to sleeves and wings, have tried to suborn a valet to take away I learn to make ruffs like calves' the life of his brother Henry, by scratch- chitterlings." ing him in the back of his neck with a 3 " Collerettes et manchettes fraises poisoned pin, when fastening his fraise. FRANCE TO LOUIS XIV. 115 trimmed with the geometric work of the period, and the making of lacis and point coupe, as before mentioned, was the favourite employment of her court. Catherine encouraged dress and ex- travagance, and sought by brilliant fetes to turn people's minds from politics. In this she was little seconded either by her husband or gloomy son King Charles; but Henry III. and his "mignons frise's et fraises" were tricked out in garments of the brightest colours, toques and toquets, pearls, earrings, and jewels. The ruff was the especial object of royal interest. With his own hand he used the poking-sticks and adjusted the plaits. " Gaudronneur des collets de sa femme " was the soubriquet bestowed on him by the satirists of the day. 5 By 1579 the ruffs of the French court had attained such an outrageous size, " un tiers d'aulne " 6 in depth, that the wearers could scarcely turn their heads. 7 So absurd w r as the effect, the journalist of Henry III. 8 declares, " they looked like the head of John the Baptist in a charger." Nor could they eat so encumbered. It is told how Beine Margot one day, when seated at dinner, was compelled to send for a spoon with a handle 2 feet in length wherewith to eat her soup. 9 These monstrosities, " so stiffened they cracked like paper," 10 found little favour beyond the precincts of the Louvre. They were caricatured by the writers of the day; and in 1579 a band of students decked themselves out in large paper ruffs after the royal cut, and paraded the fair of St.-Germain, shout- ing, "A la fraise on connoit le veau." The king arrived un- expectedly, and sent them to prison for their impertinence. 11 Suddenly, in 1575, the fraise gave way to the "rabat," or turn-down collar, but both were worn alternately for some time. In vain 5 " Satyre Menippee," Paris, 1593. fraizes, il sembloit que ce fut le chef de 6 " Chronologie novenaire," Vict. P. Saint-Jean dans un plat." — Journal de Cayet. Henri III., Pierre de VEstoille. 7 "S'ils se tournoient, chacun se 9 " Perroniana," Cologne, 1691. reculuit crainte de gater leurs fraizes." — 10 "Goudronnees en tuyaux d'orgue, Satyre Menippee. fraise'es en choux crepus, et grandes comme des meules de moulin." — Blaise " Le col ne se tourne a leur aise de Viginiere. Dans le long reply de leur fraise." " La fraize veaudelisee a six etages." Vertus et Proprie'te's des Mignons, 1576. La Mode qui Court, Paris, N. D. 11 " Appelez par les Espagnols ' lechu- 8 " Ces beaux mignons portoient . . . guillas,' ou petites laitues, a cause du leurs fraizes de chemise de toute d'atonr rapport de ces gaudrons repliees avec les empesez et longues dun demi-pied, de fraisures de la laitue." — Histoire de la facon qu'a voir leurs testes dtssus leurs Ville de Paris, D. Mich. Feiibien. i 2 L16 HISTORY OF LACE. were sumptuary edicts issued against luxury. 1 ' 2 The court set a bad example; and in lf>77, at the meeting of the states of Blois, Henry were on his own dress four thousand yards of pure gold lace. His successor, Henry IV., issued several fresh ordinances 13 against " clinquants u et dorures." Touching the last, Regnier, the satirist, writers : — " A propos, on m'a (lit Que contrc les clinquants le roy f'aict un edict." u> Better still, the king tried the effect of example : he wore a coat of grey cloth with a doublet of taffety, without either trimming or lace— a piece of economy little appreciated by the public. His dress, says an author, " sentait des miseres de la Ligue." iSully, anxious to emulate the simplicity of Louis XI., laughed at those " qui portoient leurs moulins et leurs bois de haute futaie sur leurs dos." 1G " It is necessary," said he, " to rid ourselves of our neighbours' goods, which deluge the country." So he prohibited, under pain of corporal punishment, any more dealings with the Flemish merchants. But edicts failed to put down point coupe; Keine Margot, Madame Gabrielle, and Bassompierre were too strong for the minister. The wardrobe accounts of Henry's first queen are filled with entries of point coupe and " passements a Faiguille ; " 17 and though 12 No less than ten were sent forth by fidelle Serciteur (Du Haitian), Bordeaux, the Valois kings, from 1549 to 1583. 1586. 13 These were dated 1594, 1600, 1601, 17 " 1579. Pour avoir remonste trois and 1606. fraises a poinct couppe, 15 sols. 14 Copper used insttad of gold thread " Pour avoir raonte cinq fiaizes a poinct for embroidery or lace. The term was couppe sur linomple, les avoir ourllcs et equally applied to false silver thread. couzeus a la petite cordelliere et au poinct " 1582. Dix escus pour dix aulnes de noue a raiaon de 30 sols pour chacune. gaze blanche raye'e d'argeut clinquant " Pour la fa^n de sept rabatzourlles a pour faire ung voille a la Boullonnoise." — double arrierepoinct etcouzu le passement Comptes de la Heine de Navarre. Arch. au dessus. Nat. K. K. 170. "1580. Pour avoir faictd'ung mouchoir 15 Regnier, Math., "SesSatyres," 1642. ouvre deux rabatz, 20 sols. 16 The observation was not new. A " Pour deux pieces de poinct couppe Remonstrance to Catherine de Medicis, pour servir a ladicte dame, vi livres. 1586, complains that " leurs moulins, " Pour dix huict aulnes de passement leurs terres, leurs prez, leurs bois et leurs blanc pour mestre a des fraizes a trois revenuz, se coulent en broderies, pour- escus l'aulne." Mures, passemens, franges, tortis, cane- 1582. The account for this year con- tilles, recameurs, chenettes, picqueurs, tains entries for " passement faict a les- arrierepoins etc. qu'im invente de jour a guille,"— " grand passement," — " passe- autre." — Discours sur V extreme cherte' etc., meiit faict au mestier," &c. — Comptes de presents a la Mere du Roi, par un sien la Heine de Navarre. Arch. Nat. FRANCE TO LOUIS XIV. 117 Henry usually wore the silk-wrought shirts of the day, 18 we find in the inventory of his wife one entered as trimmed with outwork. 19 Wraxall declares to have seen exhibited, at a booth on the Boulevart de Bondy, the shirt worn by Henry when assassinated. " It is ornamented," he writes, " with a broad lace round the collar and breast. The two wounds inflicted by the assassin's knife are plainly visible." 20 In the inventory 21 made at the death of Madame Gabrielle, the fair Duchesse de Beaufort, we find entered sleeves and towels of point coupe, with fine handkerchiefs, gifts of the king to be worn at court, of such an extraordinary value that Henry requires them to be straightway restored to him. In the same list appears the duchess's bed of ivory, 22 with hangings for the room of re'seuil. 23 is "Vingt tro;s chemizes de toile fine a ouvrage de fil d'or et soye de plusieurs coulleurs, aux manchettes coulet et coutures. " Ung chemize a ouvrage de soye noire. " Quatre chemizes les trois a ouvrage d'or et d' argent et soye bleu." — Inv. des meubles qui out este's porte's a Paris, 1602. Arch. Nat. 19 « 1577. a Jehan Dupre', linger, demeurant a Paris, la somme de soixante douze livres tournois a luy ordonnee pour son payement de quatre layz d'ouvraige a poinct couppe pour faire une garniture de chemise pour servir a mon diet segneur, a raison de 18 liv. chacune." — Comptes de la Heine de Navarre. Arch, Nat. K. K. 162, fol. 655. 20 "This shirt," he adds, "is well attested. It became the perquisite of the king's first valet de chambre. At the extinction of his descendants, it was ex- posed to sale." — Memoirs. A rival shirt has lately turned up at Madame Tussaud's, with " the real blood " still visible. Monsieur Curtius, uncle of Madame Tussaud, purchased it at an auction of effects once the property of Cardinal Mazarin. Charles X. offered 200 guineas for it. 21 " Item, cinq mouchoirs d'ouvrages d'or, d'argent et soye, prisez ensemble cent escuz. " Item, deux tauayelles aussi ouvrage d'or, d'argent et soye, prise'es cent escuz. " Item, trois tauayelles blanches de rezeuil, prisees ensemble trente escuz. " Item, une paire de manches de point coupe' et enrichies d'argent, prisez vingt escuz. " Item, deux mouchoirs blancz de point coupe, prisez ensemble vingt escuz. " Toutes lesquelles tauayelles et mou- choirs cy dessus trouvez dansun coffre de bahu que la dicte defunte dame faisoit ordinairement porter avec elle a la court sont demeurez entre les mains du S r de Beringhen, suivant le commandement qu'il en avoit de sa majeste' pour les re- presenter a icelle, ce qu'il a prornis de faire." — Inventaire apres le deces de Gabrielle d'Estr&s, 1509. Arch. Nat. K. K. 157, fol. 17. 22 " Item, un lit d'yvoire a filletz noirs de Padoue, gamy de son estuy de cuir rouge." — Ibid. 23 " Item, une autre tenture de cabinet de carre de rezeau broduree et montans recouvert de feuillages de fil avec des carrez de thoile plaine, prise et estime la somme de cent escus Soleil. " Item, dix sept carrez de thoile de Hollande en broderie d'or et d'argent fait a deux endroictz, prisez et estimez a 85 escus. "Item, un autre pavilion tout de rezeil avec le chapiteau de fleurs et feuil- lages "Item, un autre en neuf fait par carrez de point coupe'." — Ibid. fols. 46 and 47. 118 HISTORY OF LACE. The Chancellor Herault, 24 who died at the same period, was equally extravagant in his habits, while the shirts of the combatants in the duel between M. de Orequy and Don Philippe de Savoie (1598) are specially vaunted as "toutes garnies du pins fin et du plus riche point coupe* qu'on eust pu trouver dans ce temps la, auquel le point de Gennes et de Flandres n'estoient pas en usage. The enormous wire-mounted collerette, rising behind her head like a fan, of Mary de Medicis, with its edgings of fine lace, are well known to the admirers of Rubens : — " Cinq colets de dentcllc haute de demy-pie L'un siu' l'autre montez, qni ne vout qu'a moitie De celuy de dessus, car elle n'est jms lestc, Si lc premier ne passe unc paulme la teste." 2(i On the accession of Louis XIII. (1010) luxury knew no bounds. The queen regent was magnificent by nature, while Richelieu, anxious to hasten the ruin of the nobles, artfully encouraged their prodigality. But Mary was compelled to repress this taste for dress. The courtiers importuned her to increase their pensions, no longer sufficient for the exigencies of the day. The queen, at her wits' end, published in 1613 a "Reglement pour les superfluites des habits," prohibiting all lace and embroidery. 27 France had early sent out books of patterns for cutwork and embroidery. That of Francisque Pelegrin was published at Paris in the reign of Francis I. Six w T ere printed at Lyons alone. The four earlier have no date, 28 the two others bear those of 1549 29 and 1585. 30 It was to these first that Vinciolo so contemptuously alludes in his dedication " Aux Benevolles Lecteurs," saying, " Si les premiers ouvrages que vous avez vus ont engendre quelque fruit et utilite je m'assure que les miens en produiront davantage." Various editions of 24 " Manchettes et collets enrichys de 28 "Livre nouveau diet Patrons de point couppe." — Inventaire apres le deces Lingerie," &c. de Messire Philippe Herault, Comte de " Patrons de diverses Manieres," &c. Cheverny, Ckancelier de France, 1599. (Title in rhyme.) Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 11,424. '• S'ensuyvent les Patrons de Mesire 25 Vulson de la Colombiere, " Vray Antoine Belin." Theatre d'Honneur et de Chevalerie," " Ce Livre est plaisant et utile." 1647. (Title in rhyme.) 26 " Satyrique de la Cour," 1613. 2D " La Fleur des Patrons de Lin- 27 " Histoire de la Mere et du Fils," gerie." from 1616-19. Amsterdam, 1729. 30 " Tresor des Patrons," J. Ostons. FRANCE TO LOUIS XIV, 119 Vinciolo were printed at Paris from 1587 to 1623; the earlier dedicated to Queen Louise de Lorraine ; a second to Catherine de Bourbon, sister of Henry IV. ; the last to Anne of Austria. The " Pratique de Leguille de Milour M. Mignerak" was published by the same printer, 1605 ; and we have another work, termed "Bele Prerie," also printed at Paris, bearing date 1601. 31 Fig. 58. Cinq-Mars. After his portrait by Lenain. Musee Nationale, Versailles. The points of Italy and Flanders now first appear at court, and the church soon adopted the prevailing taste for the decora- tion of her altars and her prelates. 32 The ruff, now discarded, is replaced by the " col rabattu," or " rabat," with its deep-scalloped border of point. The " manchettes 31 " Le Livre de Moresques" (1546), " Livre de Lingerie," Dom. de Sera (1584), and "Patrons pour Brodeurs," (no date), were also printed at Paris. The last book on this kind of work printed at Paris is styled, "Methodepour faire des Desseins avec des Carreaux," &c, by Pere Dominique Donat, religieux carme. 1722. 32 A point de Venice alb, said to be of this period, point rose, is preserved in the Musee de Cluny. L20 HISTORY OF LACE. a revers" are trimmed in the same manner, and the fashion even extends to the tops of the boots. Of these lace-trimmed boots, the favourite, Cinq-Mars, left three hundred pairs at his death (1642). From his portrait, after Lenain, which hangs in the National (oil lory of Versailles, we give one o( these boots (Fig. 58), and his rich collerette or falling collar of Italian point (Fig. 59). The garters, now worn like a scarf round the knee, have the ends adorned with point. Fig 59. Cinq-Mars. After his portrait by Lenain. Musee Nationale, Versailles. A large rosette of lace completes the costume of the epoch (Fig. 60). Gold lace shared the favour of the thread fabric on gloves, 3 ' garters, and shoes. 34 33 33 " Quelqucs autrcs do frangez Bordent leur riche cuir, qui vient des lieux estranges." Le Gan, de Jean Godard, Par/'sien, 1588. 34 " 1619. Deux paires de rozes a soulliers garnies de den telle d'or." — Inv. de Madame Seeur du Itoi (Henrietta Maria). Arch. Nat. FRANCE TO LOUIS XIV. 121 " De large taftas la jartiero pareo Aux bouts de demy-pied do dontelle doree." 35 The cuffs, collars of the ladies either falling back or rising behind their shoulders in double tier, caps, aprons descending to their feet (Fig. fil), are also richly decorated with lace. Fig. GO. Laco rose and garter. After Abraham Bosse. Fig. 61. Young lady's apron, time of Henry J II. Alter Gaignieres. Bib. Nat. Grav. The contemporary engravings of Abraham Bosse and Callot faithfully portray the fashions of this reign. Satyriqr.e de la Court." 122 HISTORY OF LACE. In the " Prodigal Son," of Abraham Ilosse, the mother, waiting his return, holds out to her repentant boy a collar trimmed with the richest point. The " Foolish Virgins " weep in Lace-trimmed hand- kerchiefs, and the table-cloth of the rich man, as well as his dinner napkins, are similarly adorned. Again, the "Accouchee" recovers in a cap of Italian point under a coverlet of the same. At the •* Kctonr de Bapteme," point adorns the christening dress of the child and the surplice of the priest. When, in 16 IT), Louis XIII. married, Anne of Austria discarded the collerettes of the mother queen — the reign of Italy was at an end — all was now a l'espagnole and the court of Castile. The prodigality of the nobles 36 having called down royal ordinances on their heads, 37 these new edicts bring forth fresh satires, in which the author deplores the prohibitian of cut work and lace : — " Ces points couppez, passemens et dentelles, Las ! qui venaicnt do l'lslc et do Bruxelles, Sont maintenant descriez, avilis, Et sans favour gisent ensevelis ; " 38 but " Pour vivre heuroux et a la mode II faut que cliacun accommode Ses habits aux editz du roi." Edict now follows on edict. 39 One known as the Code 36 The inventory of the unfortunate 38 " Consolation des Dames sur la Mare'chal de Marillac, beheaded 1632, Reformation des passemens," 1620. has " broderye et poinctz d'Espagnes 39 Again, 1633, Nov. 18, "Declaration" d'or, argent et soye ; rabats et collets de restricts the prohibition ; permits " passe- point couppe ; taffetas nacarat garnye de ments manufacture's dans le royaume qui dantelle d'argent ; pourpoinct passemente' n'excederont 9 11. l'aune." Arch. Nat. de dantelle de canetille de Flandre," &c. G. G. G. Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 11,426. 1634. May 30. " Lettres patentes pour 37 1620. Feb. 8. " Declaration portant la reformation du luxe des habits" deffenses de porter des clinquants, passe- prohibits " dentelles, passements et bro- ments, broderies," &c. Arch. Nat. G. deries " on boots, carriages, &c. British G. G. Museum. 1623. March 20. " Declaration qui 1636. April 3. " Declaration contre defend l'usage des etoffes d'or," &c. — le Luxe." Again prohibits both foreign Recueil des anciennes Lois Frangaises, and home-made points coupes, &c, under tome xvi. 107. pain of banishment for five years, confis- 1625. Sept. 30. " Declaration" prohibits cation, and a fine of 6000 francs. De la the wearing " tant en collets, fraizes, Mare, '• Traite de la Police." manchettes, et autres linges des passe- 1039. Nov. 2*. Fiesh prohibition, ments, Point coupez et Dantelles, comme points de Genes specially mentioned, aussi des Broderies et Decoupures sur- Not to wear on the collar, cuffs, or boots, quintin ou autre toille." Bib. Nat. " autres choses que de la toile simple sans L. i. 8. aucune facon." Arch. Nat. G. G. G. FRANCE TO LOUIS XIV. 123 Michaud, entering into the most minute regulations for the toilet, especially excited the risibility of the people. It was never carried out. The caricatures of this period are admirable : one represents a young cavalier fresh rigged in his plain-bordered linen, according to the ordinance, eyeing with a look of despair a box of discarded laces : — 40 " II me semble pourtant a mes yeux Qu'aveo de Tor et la dantelle Je m'ajuste encore bien mieux." Alluding to the plain-bordered collars, now ordered by the prohibition of lti39, the " Satyrique de la Court " sings : — " Nagueres Ton n'osoit hanter les damoiselles Que Ton n'eust le colet bien garni de dentelles ; Maintenant on se rit et se moque de ceux la Qui desirent encore paroistre avec cela. Les fraises et colets a bord sont en usage, Sans faire mention de tous en dentellag^." France at this time paying large sums to Italy and Flanders for lace, the wearing of it is altogether prohibited, under pain of confiscation and a fine of 6000 livres. 41 The queen mother, regardless of edicts, has over passements d'or and all sorts of forbidden articles, " pour servir a la layette que sa majeste a envoye en Angleterre." 42 Within scarce one year of each other passed away Marie de Medicis, Eichelieu, and Louis XIII. The king's effigy was exposed on its "lit de parade vetue d'une chemise de toile de Hollande avec de tres belles dantelles de point de Gennes au collet et aux manches." 43 So say the chroniclers. 40 "Le Courtisan Keforme, suivant 42 1631. " Tresorerie de la Heine Marie l'Edit de l'annee 1633 ;" and again, "Le de Me'dicis." Arch. Nat. K. K. 191. Jardin de la Noblesse Francoise dans 43 Vulson de la Colombiere, " Pompes lequel ce peut cueillir leur maniere de qu'on pratique aux obseques des Rois Vettement," 1629. de France." 41 April 1636. 124 HISTORY OV LACE. CHAPTER IX. LOUIS XIV. The courtiers of the regency under Anne of Austria vied with the Frondeurs in extravagance. The latter, however, had the best of it. " La Fronde," writes Joly, " devint tellement a la mode qu'il n'y avoit rien de bien fait qu'on ne dist etre de la Fronde. Les etoffes, les dentelles etc., jusqu'au pain, — rien n'estoit ni bon, ni bien si n'estoit a la Fronde." 1 Nor was the queen regent herself less profuse in her indul- gence in lace. She is represented in her portraits with a berth e of rich point, her beautiful hand encircled by a double-scalloped cuff (Fig. 62). The boot-tops had now reached an extravagant size. One writer compares them to the farthingales of the ladies, another to an inverted torch. The lords of the regent's court filled up the apertures with two or three rows of Genoa point (Fig. 63). In 1653, we find Mazarin, while engaged in the siege of a city, holding a grave correspondence with his secretary Colbert con- cerning the purchase of some points from Flanders, Venice, and Genoa. He considers it advisable to advance thirty or forty thousand livres " a ces achapts," adding that by making the purchases in time he will derive great advantage in the price, but as he hopes the siege will soon be at an end, they may wait his arrival at Paris for his final decision. 2 Colbert again writes, November 25, pressing his eminence on account of the " quan- tite de manages qui se feront l'hyver." A passage in Tallemant des Keaux would lead one to suppose these laces were destined as patterns for the improvement of 1 '• Memoirs do Guy Joly," from given in full by Comte de Laborde 1648-S5. " Le Palais Mazarin," Paris, 1845. 2 Dated PJ Nov. 1653. The letter is LOUIS XIV. 125 French manufactures, " per mostra di fame in Francia," as the cardinal expressed himself. Fig. 62. Anne of Austria. Musee Nationale, Versailles. Fig. 63. ■MM A courtier of the regency. After Abraham Bobse. Certainly in the inventory of Mazarin 3 there is no mention 3 "Inv. fait apres la mort du Cardinal Mazarin," 1661. Bibl. Nat. MSS. Suite de Mortmart, 37. I'-V. HISTOBI OF LACE. oi' Italian points, no laoe coverlets to Ins " Licit d'ange moire tabizee, couleur de rose, chamarree de dentelles (Tor et d'argent." We may almost imagine thai the minister and his secretary combined wore already meditating the establishment of Points de Prance. In this reign, fresh sumptuary ordinances are issued. That of 27th November L660 is the most important of all; 1 and is highly commended by Sganarelle in the "Ecole des Maris" of Moliere, which appeared the following year: — " Oh ! fcrois et quatro fois soit beni cct edit, Par qui des vfitemens lc luxe est interdit; l.cs peines ties maris ne seront pas si grandes, Et les femmes auront un frein a leurs deniaiules. Oh ! que je sais au roi bon gre' de ses decrots ; Et que, pour le repos de ces mcmes maris, Je voudrais bien qu'on fit de la coquetterie Comme de la guipure et de la broderie." This ordinance, after prohibiting all foreign " jmssemcns, den- telles, points de Genes, points coupes," &c, or any French laces or passements exceeding an inch in width, allows the use of the " collerettes " and " manchettes " persons already possess for the space of one year, after which period they are only to be trimmed with a lace made in the kingdom, not exceeding an inch in width. The ordinance then goes on to attack the " canons," 5 which, it states, have been introduced into the kingdom with " un exces de depense insupportable, par la quantite de passemens, points de Venise et Genes," with which they are loaded. The use of them is now entirely prohibited, unless made of plain linen or of the same stuff as the coat, without lace or any ornament. The lace-trimmed canons of Louis XIV., as represented in the picture of his interview with Philip IV., in the Island of 4 It is to be found at the Archives depuis l'an 420 jusqu'a la Revolution de Nat. or in the Library of the Cour 1789," par MM. Isambert, Ducrusy et de Cassation. In the Archives Nat. Tai Handier. Paris, 1829. The ordi- is a small collection of ordinances dances bear two dates, that of their issue relative to lace collected by M. Eondo- and of their registry, neau, extending from 1666 to 1773. It 5 The "bas a bottes," afterwards called is very difficult to get at all the ordi- ''canon," was a circle of linen or other stuff nances. Many are printed in De la fastened below the knee, widening at Mare (" Traite de la Police"); but the the bottom so as to fill the enlargement most complete work is the "Eecueil of the boot, and, when trimmed with general des anciennes Lois franchises, lace, having the appearance of a ruffle. Fi«r. 04. Louis XIV. Musee Nationale, Versailles. To J ace, page 127. LOUIS XIV. 127 Pheasants, previous to his marriage, 1660 (Fig. 64), give a good idea of these extravagant appendages. These " Canons a trois e'tages A leurs jambes faisoient d'ombrages ; " 6 and, what was worse, they would cost 7000 livres a pair. " At the court of France," writes Saviniere, " people think nothing of buying rabats, manchettes, or canons, to the value of 13,000 crowns." 7 These canons with their accompanying rheingraves, 8 which after the prohibition of Venice point were adorned with the new productions of France, suddenly disappeared. In 1682, the " Mercure " announces, " Les canons and les rheingraves devien- nent tout a fait hors de mode." At the marriage of the young king with the infanta, 1660, black lace, 9 probably in compliment to the Spanish court, 10 came into favour, the nobles of the king's suite wearing doublets of gold and silver brocade, " ornes," says the " Chronique," n " de dentelles noires d'un point recherche." 12 The same writer, describing the noviciate of La Yalliere at the Carmelites, writes, " Les dames portoient des robes de brocard d'or, d'argent ou d'azur, par dessus 6 I ' Dictionnaire des Precieuses," 1660. many considerable trades, such as black Moliere likewise ridicules them : and white lace." — England's Great Hap- " Et de ces grands canons, ou, comme piness, &c. Dialogue between Content des entraves, and Complaint. 1677. On met tous les matins les deux jambes " Item, un autre habit de grosse moire esclaves." ^ garny de dantelle d'Angleterre noire." L 'Ecole des Maris. Inv. de Madame de Simiane, 1691. And again, in L Ecole des Femmes : Arch. Nat. M. M. 802. "lis ontde grands canons, force rubans 10 Of this custom a relic may still be et plumes." found at the court of Turin, where ladies 7 "Les Delices de la France, par wear lappets of black lace. Not many M. Saviniere d'Alquie," 1670. years since, the wife of a Kussian 8 The petticoat-shaped garment, fast- minister, persisting to appear in a suit ened round the knee with a drawing of Brussels point, was courteously re- string, as worn in the time of Charles II. quested by the grand chamberlain to 9 The fashion of wearing black lace retire. was introduced into England in the » " Chroniques de l'CEil-de-Bceuf." reign of Charles II. "Anon the house 12 Madame de Motteville is not corn- grew full, and the candles lit, and it was plimentary to the ladies of the Spanish a glorious sight to see our Mistress court: " Elles avoient peu de linge," she Stewart in black and white lace, and her writes, " et leurs dentelles nous parurent head and shoulders dressed with dia- laidcs."— Memoires pour servir a Vhistoire monds."— Pepys Diary. d'Anne d'Autriche. " The French have increased among us 128 HISTORY OF LACE. lesquelles elles avoient jet^es d'autre robes et dentelles noires transparentes." l3 Under Louis XIV., the gold and silver points of Spain and Aurillac rivalled in fashion the thread manufactures of Flanders and Italy, but towards the close of the century, 14 wv are informed, they have fallen into the "domainedu vulgaire." The ordinance of 1660 had but little effect, lor various others are issued in the following years, with the oft repeated prohibitions of the points of Genoa and Venice. 15 But edicts were of Little avail. No royal command could compel people to substitute the laces of France 16 for the artistic productions of her sister countries. Colbert, therefore, wisely adopted another expedient. He de- termined to develop the lace manufacture in France, and to produce fabrics which should rival the coveted points of Italy and Flanders, so that if fortunes were lavished upon these luxuries, the money, at all events, should not be sent out of the kingdom to procure them. By his order were suborned from Venice and the Low Countries a number of the most skilful workwomen, whom he distributed among the manufactories already existing, and in towns where he established new ones. A declaration of the 5th August 1665 orders the establish- ment in the towns of Du Quesnoy, Arras, Kheims, Sedan, Chateau- Thierry, Loudun, Alencon, Aurillac, and others in the kingdom, of the manufacture of all sorts of works of thread, as well of the needle as on the pillow, in the manner of the points which are made at Venice, Genoa, Kagusa, and in other foreign countries, which shall be called "points de France." 17 An exclusive privilege is given for ten years, and a grant of 36,000 francs. A company was 13 Madame de Se'vigne mentions these articles on lace by Roland and Savary dresses : " Avez-vous ou'i parler des have been copied by all succeeding transparens ? . . . de robes noires trans- writers on the subject. parentis ou des belles dentelles d' Angle- 17 We have in vain sought for this terre?" — Lettres. Transparents were light ordinance in the Library of the Cour de tissues upon which were applied flowers Cassation, where it is stated to be by the and foliage painted by hand. authors of the " Recueil des Lois fran- 14 lt)90. " Chron. de l'CEil-de-Bceuf." caises," but fortunately it is recited in 15 1661, May 27; 1662, Jan. 1; 1664, a subsequent arret, dated 12 October May 31, Sept. 18, and Dec. 12. 1666 (Arch. Nat. Coll. Rondoneau), by 16 "On fabriquait precedement ces which it appears that the declaration especes de dentelles guipures, dont nous ordered the establishment, in " les villes voyont encore quelques restes, et dont on du Quesnoy, Arras, Reims, Sedan, ornait les aubes des pretres, les rochets Chateau-Thierry, Loudun, Alencon, Au- des eveques et les jupons des femmes de rillac, et autres du royaume, de la manu- qualite'." — Roland de la Platiere. The facture de toutes sortes d'ouvrages de fill, LOUIS XIV. 129 formed, 18 its members rapidly increased, and in 1668 the capital amounted to 22,000 livres. Eight directors were appointed, at salaries of 12,000 livres a year, to conduct the manufacture, and the company held its sittings in the Hotel de Beaufort at Paris. The first distribution of profits took place in October 1669, amounting to 50 per cent, upon each share. In 1670, a fresh distribution took place, and 120,000 livres were divided among the shareholders. That of 1673 was still more considerable. In 1675, the ten years' privilege ceased, the money was returned, and the rest of the profits divided. Colbert likewise set up a manufactory at the Chateau de Madrid, built by Francis I., in the Bois de Boulogne. Such was the origin of point lace in France. The difficulties met by Colbert in establishing his manu- factories can only be estimated by reading his correspondence ; in which there are not less than fifty letters 19 on the subject. The apathy of the town authorities and the constant rebellions of the lace-workers, who preferred their old stitch, were incessant sources of trouble to him, but eventually Colbert's plan was crowned with success. He established a lucrative manufacture, which brought large sums of money into the kingdom, 20 instead tant a l'eguille qu'au coussin, en la maniere des points qui se font a Venise, Gennes, Raguse et autres pays estran- gers, qui seroient appelles points de France." In a subsequent arret (15 Oct. 1666) it is set forth that the entrepre- neurs have caused to be brought in great numbers the best workers from Venice and other foreign cities, and have distri- buted them over the above-mentioned towns, and "qu'au moyen de l'applica- tion que Ion y a portee, il se fasse en France des ouvrages de HI si exquis, qu'ils esgellent, mesme surpassent en beaute les estrangers."' Bibl. de la Cour de Cassation. 18 Talon, " secre'tidre du cabinet," was one of the first members. We find by an arret, 15 Feb. 1667, that this patent had already been in- fringed. On the petition of Jean Pluy- mers,Paul, and Catherine de Marcq, " en- trepreneurs de la Manufacture Royalle de toutes sortes de points de fil," that not- withstanding the prohibition of previous arrets, the merchants continue to sell and many to wear, "par une license qui ne peut etre permise," other points, old or new, than those made in the royal manu- factory, the king renews the prohibi- tion. Arch. Nat. Coll. Rondoneau. — Nov. 17 of the same year appears a fresh prohibition of wearing or selling the passements, Ijace, and other works in thread of Venice, Genoa, and other foreign countries (British Museum), and, 17 March 1668, " rte'ratives" prohibitions to wear these, either new or " commence d'user," as injurious to a manufacture of point which gives subsistence to a number of persons in the kingdom. Ibid.— Again, 19 Aug. 1669, a fresh arret in consequence of complaints that the workers are suborned and work con- cealed in Paris, &c. Arch. Nat. Coll. Rondoneau. 19 See '• Correspondance administrative de Colbert," published by Depping, 20 Colbert said to Louis XIV. : " There will always be found fools enough to purchase the manufactures of Frauce, though P'rance should be prohibited K L30 IIISTOKY OF LACE. of sending it out. Well might he say that "Fashion was t<> France what the mines of Peru were to Spain."' 21 Boileau alludes to the success of the minister in his "Epistle to Louis XIV.":— " Et nos voisins frustrls <1* % cea tributs serviles Que payait a leur art le Luxe . Le Grand Bebe. Musee Nationale, Versailles. To face page 131. ( 131 ) CHAPTER X. LOUIS XIV. (continued). " Tout change : la raison change aussi de methode ; Merits, habillemens, systemes : tout est mode/' Racine fils, Epitre a Rousseau. The point de France continued to be worn in the greatest profusion during the reign of Louis XIV. The king affected his new-born fabric much as monarchs of the present day do their tapestries and their porcelains. It decorated the church and her ministers. Ladies offered " tours de chaire a l'eglise de la paroisse." l Albs, " garnies d'un grand point de France brode antique ; " 2 altar-cloths, trimmed with Argentan, 3 appear in the church registers. 4 In a painting at Versailles, by old Watteau, representing the presentation of the grand dauphin to his royal father, 1668, the infant is enveloped in a mantle of the richest point (Fig. 65); and point de France was selected by royal command to trim the sheets of holland used at the ceremony of his "nomination." 5 At the marriages both of the Prince de Conti and of Mademoiselle de Blois the toilette 6 presented by the king was " garnie de point de France si haut qu'on ne voyait 1 "Deux tours de chaire de point de Denis, wiih a laced hat and embroidered France donnez depuis quelques anneVs coat and sash, like a captain of the par deux dames de la paroisse." — Inv. de guards." — Six Weeks of France, 1691. l'eglise de Saint- Merry, a Paris. Arch. 5 " Toille de Hollande, avec des grands Nat. L. L. 859. points de France." — Le Ceremonial de la 2 " Inv. de Madame Anne Palatine de Nomination de Monseigneur le Dauphin, Baviere, Princesse de Conde." Ibid. X, 166S. Arch. Nat. K. K. 1431. 10,065. G "Le Mercure Garant," Juillet 1688. 3 " Inv. de l'eglise de Saint-Gervais, a This periodical, which we shall have Paris." Ibid. L. L. 854. occasion so frequently to quote, was be- 4 The saints, too, came in for their gun in 1672, and continued to July 1716. share of the booty. It comprises, with the " Extraordinaires," "There was St. Winifred," writes a 571 vols, in 12mo. traveller of the day, " in a point commode " Le Mercure de France," from 1717 with a large scarf on and a loup in hand, to 1792, consists of 777 vols. Brunet, as tho' she were going to mass. St. " Manuel du Libraire." K 2 L32 IIISTOIIY OF LACK. point de toile." 7 The valance, too, and coverlet of the bed were of tlw same material - wedding presents to his daughter and her cousins from their royal father. 8 In this luxury, however, England followed her sister kingdom; for we read inthe"!Royal Magazine "of 1763 that on the baptism o( the young prince, afterwards Duke of York, the company went to the council chamber at St. James's, where a splendid bed was set up for the queen to sit on, the counterpane of which is described as of inimitable workmanship, the lace alone costing ',u>31. sterling. 9 " What princes do themselves, they engage others to do," says Quintilian, and the words of the critic were, in this case, fully verified : jupes, 10 corsets, mantles, aprons with their bibs, 11 shoes, 12 gloves, 13 even the fans were now trimmed with point de France. 14 At the audience given by the dauphine to the Siamese ambas- sadors, " a ses relevailles," she received them in a bed " presque tout couvert d'un tres beau Point de France, sur lesquels on avoit mis des riches carreaux." 15 On the occasion of their visit to Versailles, Louis, proud of his fabric, presented the ambassadors 7 " Le Mercure Galant." 8 It was the custom, at the birth of a dauphin, for the papal nuncio to go to the palace and present to the new-born child "les langes benites, ' or consecrated layette, on behalf of his holiness the Pope. The shirts, handkerchiefs, and other linen, were by half-dozens, and trimmed with the richest point. This cubtom dates as early as the birth of Louis XIII. Mercier describes the cere- mony of carrying the layette to Versailles in the time of Louis XV. " Vie du Dau- phin, pere de Louis XVI." Paris, 1858. 9 In the Lancaster state bedroom, at Fonthill, was sold in 1823: "A state bed quilt of Brussels point, for 100 guineas, and a Brussels toilet cover, for 30 guineas." — Fonthill Sale Catalogue. " 1694. Une toilette de satin violet picquee garny dun point d'Espagne d'or a deux carreaux de mesme satin et aussi pique.'' — Inv. de Mgr. cle la Vrill/'ere, Patriarche, Archeveque de Bourges. Bib. Nat. " 1743. Une toilette et son bonhomme garnie d'une vieille dentelle d'Angle- terre." — Inv. de la Duchesse de Bourbon. " 2758. Une toilette avec sa touaille de point fort vieux d'Alencon." — Inv. de Mademoiselle de Vharollais. " 1770. Une tres belle toilette de point d'Argentan, et son surtout de 9000 livres. " Une tres belle toilette d'Angleterre, et son surtout de 9000." — Cptes. de Ma- dame du Barry. 10 " On voit toujours des jupes de point de France."— Mercure Galant, 1686. " Corsettes chamarres de point de France." — Ibid. 1 ' Madame de Se'vigne describes Made- moiselle de Blois as " belle comme un ange," with " un tablier et une bavette de point de France." — Lettres. Paris 27 Jan. 1674. 12 " Garnis de point de France formant une maniere de rose antique." — Mercure Gala„t, 1677. 13 In the " Extraordinaire du Mercure" for 1678, we have, in "habit d'este," gloves of " point d'Angleterre. 14 "Mercure Galant," 1672. 15 Ibid. 1686. LOUIS XIV. 133 with cravats and ruffles of the finest point. 16 These cravats were either worn of point, in one piece, or partly of muslin tied, with falling lace ends 17 (Fig. 66). In 1679, the king gave a fete at Marly to the elite of his brilliant court : when, at sunset, the ladies retired to repair their toilettes, previous to the ball, each found in her dressing-room a robe fresh and elegant, trimmed with point of the most exquisite texture, a present from that gallant monarch not yet termed " l'inamusable." Nor was the Yeuve Scarron behind the rest. When, in 1674, she purchased the estate from which she afterwards derived her Louvois. 1691. From his statue by Girardon. Musee Rationale, Versailles. title of Maintenon, anxious to render it productive, she enticed Flemish workers from the frontier to establish a lace manufacture upon her newly acquired marquisate. How the fabric succeeded, history does not relate, but the costly laces depicted in her por- traits (Fig. 67) have not the appearance of home manufacture. Point lace -making became a favourite employment among ladies. We have many engravings of this reign : one, 1691, of a " fille de qualite " thus occupied, with the motto, " Apres diner vous travaillez au point." Another, 18 from an engraving of Le 16 "Mercure Galaut," Fev. 1685. 17 Ibid. 1678. 18 At the Mazarin Library there are four folio volumes of engravings, after Bonnard and others, of t!.e costumes of the time of Louis XIV. ; and at the Archives Nat. is a large series preserved in cartons numbered M. 815 to 823, &c, labelled " Gravures de Modes." L34 HISTORY OF LACE. Paultre, dated L676, is entitled " Dame en deshabille de chambre" | Fig. 68). 'La France es1 la tete du monde" (as regards fashion), says Victor E ugo, " cyclope dont Paris est L'oeil;"and writers of all ages, whether prose or poet, seem to have been of the same opinion. It ^as about the year L680 that the •• Mode feconde en mille inventions, Monstre, prodige strange et difforme," was suddenly exemplified in France. Fig. 67. Madame de Alaiuteiion. From her portrait. Musee Nationale, Versailles. All readers of this great reign will recall to mind the story of the " Fontanges." How in the hurry of the chase the locks of the royal favourite becoming dishevelled by the wind, the fair huntress hurriedly tying the lace kerchief, with a ribbon that bound them, round her head, produced, in one moment, a coiffure so light, so artistic, that Louis XIV., enchanted, prayed her to retain it for that night at court. The lady obeyed the royal command. The ribbon mixed with lace, now worn for the first time, caused a sensation, and the next day all the ladies of the court appeared " coiffees a la Fontange." (See Madame de Lude, Fig. 70.) But this head-dress, with its tiers of point mounted on wires, 19 La Fontange altiere/' — Boileau. LOUIS XIV. 135 soon ceased to be artistic; for thirty years it grew higher and higher. Poets and satirists attacked the fashion, much as they did the high head-dresses of the Roman matrons more than a Fisr. 68. A lady in morning deshabille. From an engraving by Le Paultre. 1676. thousand years ago. 20 Of the extinction of this mode we have various accounts ; some asserting it to have been preached down 20 The wife of Trajan wore this coiffure, and her sister Marcina Faustina, wife of Antoninus, much regretted the fashion when it went out. Speaking of this head-dress, says a writer in the ' k Biblio- theque Universelle " of 1693, " On regarde quelque fois des certaines choses coinme tout a fait nouvelles, qui ne sont que des vieilles modes renouvelle'es. L'auteur en appelle un exemple dans les coiffures elevees que portent les femmes aujour- d'hui, croyant ajouter par la quelque chose a leur taille. Les dames Romaines avaient la meme ambition et mettaient des ajustemens de tete tout semblables aux Commodes et aux Fontages de ce temps. Juvenal en parle expresse'ment dans sa Satire VI." 130 HISTORY OF LACK. by the clergy, as were the " hennins," in the time of Charles VI. ; but the most probable story is that which relates how in October 1(>99 Louis XIV. simply observed, " Cette coiffure lui paroissoit desagreable." The ladies worked all night, and next evening, at the Duchess of Burgundy's reception, 21 appeared for the first time in a low head-dress. Fashion, 22 which the author of the before quoted " Consolation " would call " pompeux," was " aujourd'hui en reforme." Louis XIV. never appreciated the sacrifice; to the day of his death he persisted in saying, " J'ai eu beau crier contre les coiffures trop hautes." No one showed the slightest desire to lower them till one day there arrived " une inconnue, une guenille d'Angleterre " (Lady Sandwich, the English ambassadress ! !), " avec une petite coiffure basse — tout d'un coup, toutes les princesses vont d'une extremite a l'autre." 23 Be the accusation true or not, the "Mercure" of November 1G99 announces that " la hauteur des anciennes coiffures commence a paroitre ridicule." In these days lace was not confined to Versailles and the court. 24 " Le gentilhomme," writes Capefigue, " allait au feu en man- chettes poudre a la marechale, les eaux de senteur sur son mouchoir en point d'Angleterre, l'elegance n'a jamais fait tort au courage, et la politesse s'allie noblement a la bravoure." And Capefigue is right ; for who rallied more nobly round the throne than did the French gallants of that luxurious century ? But war brings destruction to laces as well as finances, and, in 1690, the loyal and noble army was found, alas ! in rags. Then writes Dangeau : " M. de Castanaga, a qui M. de Maine et M. de Luxembourg avoient demande un passeport pour faire venir des dentelles a l'armee, a refuse le passeport, mais il a envoye des marchands qui ont porte pour dix mille ecus de dentelles, et apres qu'on les eut achete'es, les marchands s'en retournerent sans vouloir prendre d'argent, disant qu'ils avoient cet ordre de M. de Castanaga." "J'avois une Steinekerque de Malines," writes the Abbe de Choisy, who always dressed in female attire. We hear a great 21 " Galerie de l'ancienne Cour." 23 " Corr. de la Duchesse d'Orleans, 22 " 1699. Oct. Le Vendredi 25, il y Princesse Palatine, mere du Kegent." eut grande toilette chez Madame la 24 Speaking of the Iron Mask, Voltaire Duchesse de Bourgogne ou les dames writes : — " His greatest passion was for parurent, pour la premiere fois, en linen of great fineness and for lace." — coiffures d'une forme nouvelle, e'est a dire Steele de Louis XIV. beaucoup plus basses." — Mercure Gala.nt. LOUIS XIV. 137 deal about these Steinkirks at the end of the seventeenth century. It was a twisted lace necktie, and owed its origin to the battle of that name in 1692, 25 when the young French princes of the blood were suddenly ordered into action. Hastily tying their lace cravats — in peaceful times a most elaborate proceeding — they rushed to the charge, and gained the day. In honour of this event, both ladies and cavaliers wore their handkerchiefs knotted or twisted in this careless fashion. " Je trouve qu'en ete le Steinkerque est commode, J'aime le falbala, 26 quoiqu'il soit critique," says somebody. Steinkirks became the rage, and held good for many years, worn alike in England 27 and France by the women and the men. Fig. 69 represents the grand dauphin in his " longue Steinkerque a replis tortueux ;" 28 Fig. 70, the Duchesse du Lude 29 in similar costume and high fontange, both copied from prints of the time. We must now allude to the prettiest fashion of the reign, a lace ruffle to the ladies' sleeves, concerning the wearing of which " a deux rangs," or " a trois rangs," there was much etiquette. We find constant mention of these in the fashion-books and inventories of the time. " Les manches plates se font de deux tiers de tour, avec une dentelle de fil de point fort fin et fort haut. On nomme ces manches Engageantes." 30 25 Fought by Marshal Luxembourg — honour to the Duchess of Burgundy, vieux tapissier de Notre-Dame — against She died 1726. William of Orange. 30 " Mercure Galant," 1683. 26 Falbala, — a deep single flounce of Again, in 1688, he says : " Les points point or gold lace. The " Mercure de Malines sont fort en regne pour les Galant," 1698, describing the Duchess of manches qu'on nomme eugageantes. On Burgundy " a la promenade," states : y met des points tres-hauts, fort plisses, " Elle avoit un habit gris de lin en avec des pieds." falbala, tout garny de dentelles d'argent." They appear to have been soon intro- " Femme de qualite en Steinkerke et duced into England, for Evelyn, in his Falbala,:*— Engraving of 1693. " Mundus Muliebris," 1690, says : " About 27 See " England. — William III." her sleeves are eugageants ;" and the 28 Eegnard. " Ladies' Dictionary " of nearly the same 29 Dame du palais to Queen Marie date gives : " iEngageants, double ruffles Therese, and afterwards first lady of that fall over the wrist." In the lace bills of Queen Mary II., we find — £. s. d. " 1694. If yd. Point for a broad pair of Engageants, at £5 108. 9 12 6 3^ for a double pair of ditto, at £5 10s. 19 5 1 pair of Point Engageants . 30 (B. M. Add. MSS. No. 5751.) [" 1720 L38 IIISTOUY OF DACE. P LOUIS XIV. 139 This fashion, though introduced in 1688, continued in vogue till the French Eevolution. We see them in the portrait of Madame Palatine, mother of the regent (Fig. 71), and in that of Madame Sophie de France, daughter of Louis XV., taken in 1782 by Drouais. Before finishing with point de France, we must allude to the "equipage de bain," in which this favoured fabric formed a great item. As early as 1088, Madame de Maintenon presents Madame Fi£. 71. Madame Palatine (Elis. Charlotte de Baviere), Duchesse d'Urletins. By Kiguud. Mus. .Nat. Versailles. de Chevreuse with an " equipage de bain de point de France " of great magnificence. It consisted not only of a peignoir, but a broad flounce, which formed a valance round the bath itself. You see them in old engravings of the day. Then there were the towels and the " descente," all equally costly. 31 To English " 1720. Six paires d'engageantes, dont quatre a un rang de dentelle, et les autres paires a double rang, Tune de dentelle d'Angleterrea raiseau et l'autre do dentelle a bride." — Tnv. dela Duchesse de Bourbon. Arch. Nat. " 1723. Line paire d'engageantes a deux rangs de point plat a raiseau." — Inv. d' 'Anne de Bavitre, Princesse de Conde. 1/70. "Six rangs d'engageantes de point a l'aiguille," with the same of point d'Argeutan and Angleterre, appear in the Lice-bills of Madame du Barry. 31 " 172f). Deux manteaux de bain et deux chemises, aus a i de bain, garnis aux no IllSTOHY OF LACK. notions this luxury may seem out of place; but French ladies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries admitted their habitues, not only to the honour of the ruelle, 33 but also to the bath-room. 33 In the latter case the bath was "an lait," i.e. clouded by the mixture of some essence. " Anx autres temps, autres moeurs." The " fameuse poupee" of the reign of Louis XIV. must not be forgotten. The custom of dressing up these groat dolls originated in the salons of the Hotel Rambouillet, where one termed "la grande Pandore," at each change of fashion, was exhibited "en grande tenue;" a second, the little Pandore, in morning deshabille. These dolls were sent to Vienna and Italy, charged with the finest laces France could produce. As late as 1704, we read in the " Espion Chinois," " II a debarque a Douvres un grand nombre de poupees de hauteur naturelle habillees a la mode de Paris, afin que les dames de qualite puissent regler leurs gouts sur ces modeles." 34 Even when English ports were closed in war time, a special permission was given for the entry of a large alabaster doll, 4 feet high, the " Grand Courrier de la Mode." 35 manches sufficed for the jabot. 9 There were " manchettes de jour," " manchettes tournantes," 10 and " manchettes de nuit ": these last named were mostly of Valenciennes. 11 The point d'Alencon ruffles of BufYon, which he always wore, even when writing, were 4 See p. 54, and note 65 . 5 " M. de Vendonie, at his marriage, was quite astonished at putting on his clean shirt a-day, and fearfully- em- barrassed at having some point lace on the one given him to put on at night. Indeed," continues she, "you would hardly recognise the taste of the French. The men are worse than the women. They wish their wives to take snuff, play, and pay no more attention to their dress." The exquisite cleanliness of Anne of Austria's court was at an end. 6 In an account, quoted in the "Reli- quary," July 1865, is the charge, on February 16, of "six shillings for a cravat for hur Vallentine." 7 In the old Scotch song of Gilderoy, the famous highwayman, we have an instance :— "For Gilderoy, that hive of mine, Gude faith, I freely bought A wedding sark of Holland tine, Wi' silken flowers wrought." 8 " Inv. apres le deces de Mgr. C. de Saint-Albin, Archevesque de Cambray" (son of the regent), 1764. Arch. Nat. M. M. 718. Louis XVI. had 59 pairs the year before his death: 28 of point, 21 of Valenciennes, and 10 of Angleterre. "Etat des Effets subsistant et formant le fond de la garderobe du Eoi au l er Janvier 1792." Arch. Nat. K. 506, No. 30. 9 " Etat d'un Trousseau," « Description des Arts et Metiers." Paris, 1777. 10 "Deux aunes tiois quarts d' Angle- terre a bride pour deux paires de man- chettes tournantes, a 45 livres Faune." — Garderobe de S. A. S. Mgr. le Due de Penthievre, 1738. Arch. Nat. K. K. 330. 11 Ibid. The laces for ruffles were of various kinds : point brode, point a bi ide, point a raiseau, point a bride a ecaille, point superfm, point brillant, Angleterre a bride a raiseau, and one pair of point d'Argentan; "Valenciennes pour man- chettes de nuit a 42 livres Faune." [The Mi HISTORY OF LACE. exhibited in 18(54 at Falaise, being carefully preserved in the family to whom they have descended. Kwn, it'a contemporary writer may be credited, "Monsieur de Taris," the executioner, mounted the scaffold in a velvet suit, powdered, with point lace jabot and ruffles. " Les rubans, les miroirs, les dentelles sont trois choscs sans lesquelles les Francois ne peuvent vivre. Lc luxe demesure a confondu le maitre avec lc valet," 1 ' 2 says an unknown writer, quoted by Dulaure. 13 The servants of the last century had on their state liveries lace equal in richness to those worn by their masters. 14 Speaking of a Prussian gentleman, we read, "His valets, who according to the reigning taste were the prettiest in the world, wore nothing but the most costly lace." 15 This custom was not confined, however, to France or the continent. " Our very footmen," writes the angry " World," " are adorned with gold and silver bags and lace ruffles. The valet is only dis- tinguished from his master by being better dressed ;" while the " Connoisseur" complains of " roast beef being banished from even The duke's wardrobe accounts afford a good specimen of the extravagance in the decoration of night attire at this period : — 4 au. de point pour collet et manchettes de la chemise de nuit et garnir la coeffe, a 130 11. 250 11. 3 au. | dito pour jabot et fourchettes denuit et garnir le devant de la camisole, a 66 11. . 24711.10s. Sept douze de point pour plaquer sur les manches de camisolle, a 55 11. 32 11.1s. Then for his nightcaps : — 3 au. Toile fine pour Coeffes de Nuit ..... 4 au. Dentelles de Malines pour les tours de Coeffes, a 20 11. . 5 au. \ Valenciennes, a 46 11. 52 au. dito petit point, pour garnis les Tours, a 5 11. 5s, . Pour avoir monte un bonnet de nuit de point .... 7 au. de campanne de point pour chamarrer la camisolle et le bonnet de nuit, a 10 11. 10s. ...... The Marquise de Crequy speaks of a night-cap, " a grandes dentelles," offered, with "la robe de chambre," to the dauphin, son of Louis XV., by the people of the Duke de Grammont, on his having lost his way hunting, and wandered to the duke's chateau. 12 " Le Parisien qui n'a pas dix mille ton prend le nom de son maitre, quand il livres de rente n'a ordinairement ni draps, est avec d'autres laquais, il prend aussi ni lit, ni serviettes, ni chemises; mais il ses moours, ses gestes, ses manieres. . . . a une montre a repetition, des glaces, des Le laquais d'un seigneur porte la montre bas de soie, des dentelles." — Tableau de d'or cisele'e, des dentelles, des boucles a Paris. brillants," &c. — Tableau de Paris. 13 " Histoire de Paris." 15 " Amusemens des Eaux de Spa," 14 " Ordinairement un laquais de bon Amsterdam, 1751. 27 11. 80 11. 253 11. 273 11. 1 1. 5s. 73 11. 10s. LOUIS XV. 145 ' down stairs/ because the powdered footmen will not touch it for fear of daubing their lace ruffles." 16 But the time, of all others, for a grand display of lace was at a visit to a Parisian lady on her " relevailles," or " uprising," as it was called, in the days of our third Edward. Reclining on a chaise longue, she is described as awaiting her visitors. Nothing- is to be seen but the finest laces, arranged in artistic folds, and long bows of ribbon. An attendant stationed at the door asks of each new arrival, "Have you any perfumes?" She replies not, and passes on — an atmosphere of fragrance. The lady must not be spoken to, but, the usual compliments over, the visitors proceed to admire her lace. " Beautiful, exquisite ! " — but, " Hist ! speak low," and she who gave the caution is the first, in true French style, to speak the loudest. 17 Lace " garnitures de lit " were general among great people as early as 1696. The " Mercure" speaks of "drap garnis d'une grande dentelle de point d'Angleterre." In 1738, the Due de Luynes writes, 18 "Aujourd'hui Madame de Luynes s'est fait apporter les fournitures qu'elle avoit choisies pour la Reine, et qui regardent les dames d'honneur. Elles consistent en couvrepieds 19 garnis de dentelle pour le grand lit et pour les petits, en taies d'oreiller 20 16 "Les manches qu'a table on voit d'une grande dentelle d'Angleterre et du tater la sauce." — Ecole des Maris. quatrieme d'un moyen dentelle d'Angle- The state liveries of H. M. Queen Vic- terre a bords. toria are most richly embroidered in gold. " Un autre, garni d'une grande et They were made in the early part of moyenne dentelle de point d'Alencon. George II.'s reign, since which time they " Un autre, garni d'un grand point de have been in use. In the year 1848, the demieaunede hauteur, brode',gamie d'une servants appeared at the royal balls in campane en bas. gold and ruffles of the richest point of "Un autre, 'point a bride,'" and many Ihe same epoch as their dresses. In others. — Inv. de la Duchesse de Bourbon. 1849 the lace no longer appeared — pro- 20 "1704. Deux taies d'oreiller garnies bably suppressed by order. Queen Anne, de dentelle, l'une a raiseau, et l'autre a who was a great martinet in trifles, had bride." — Inv. de F. P. Loisel. Bib. Nat. her servants marshalled before her every MSS. F. Fr. 11,459. day, that she might see if their ruffles " 1723. Quatre taies d'oreiller, dont were clean, and their periwigs dressed. trois garnies de diffe'rentes dentelles, et 17 " Tableau de Paris." l'autre de Point." — Inv. d'Aitne de 18 " Memoires." Baviere, Princesse de Conde". 19 "1723. Un couvrepied de toile "1755. Deux taies d'oreiller garnies do blanche, picqure de Marseille, garni point d'Alencon." — Inv. de Mademoiselle autour d'un point en campane de demie de CharoUais. aune de hauteur." — Inv. d'A. de Baviere, " 1761. Trois taies d'oreiller de dentelle Princesse de Conde'. de point a brides." — Inv, de la Duchesse "1743. Un couvrepied de toile picquee, de Modene. brode'e or et soye, borde de trois cote's [" 1770, L [ te HIST0B7. OF LACK. garnies du meme point d'Angleterre etc. (Vtte fonrniture couto environ 20,000 livres, quoiqne Madame de Luynes n'ait pas fait renouveler les beaux couvrepieds de la Reine." These garnitures were renewed every year, and Madame de Lnynes inherited the old ones. Madame de Cr^quy, describing her visit to the Duchesse Douairiere de I>a l^erte, says, when that lady received lier, she was lying in a state bed, under a coverlet made of point de Venise Fie. 73. Madame Sophie de France, daughter of Louis XV. By Drouais. 17&2. Mus. Nat. Versailles. in one piece. " I am persuaded," she adds, " that the trimming of her sheets, which were of point d'Argentan, were worth at least 40,000 crowns. 21 To such a pitch had the taste for lace- trimmed linen attained that, when, in 1739, Madame, eldest " 1770. 7 au. 1/8 vraie Valenciennes telle." — Ibid. pour garnir une taie d'oreiller, a 60 11. " 6 trousses a peigne garnies de 427 10." — Comptes de Madame du Barry. dentelle." — Foumi pour Mgr. le Dauphin. " 1707. 7 au. tournante d'Angleterre Arch. Nat. pour garnir des plottes" (pincushions), " .1792. 6 Pelottcs garnies de dentelle." " a 50 11. 350 00." — Ibid. — Linge du $i-devant Roi. Ibid. "1788. 12 Pelottes garnies de den" 21 " Souvenirs." LOUIS XV. 117 daughter of Louis XV., espoused the Prince of Spain, the bill for these articles alone amounted to 25,000/. ; and when Cardinal Fleury, a most economical prelate, saw the trousseau, he observed, " Qu'il croyait que c'etait pour marier toutes les sept Mesdames." 22 (Figs. 73, 74.) Again, Swinburne writes from Paris: 23 — "The Fig. 74. Madame Adelaide de France, daughter of Louis XV. Mus. Nat. Versailles. trousseau of Mademoiselle de Matignon will cost 100,000 crowns (25,000Z.). The expense here of rigging 24 out a bride is equal 22 " Me'moires du Due de Luynes." 23 1786. ' ; Courts of Europe." 24 It may be amusing to the reader to learn the laces necessary for " 1'etat d'un trousseau," in 1777, as given in the "Description des Arts et Metiers :" — "Une toilette de ville en dentelle; 2 jupons garnis du meme. Une coiffure avectour de gorge, et le fichu plisse de point d'Alenc.on. Un idem de point d'Angle- terre. 1 id. de vraie Valenciennes. Une coiffure dite ' Battant d'oeil ' de Malines brode'e, pour le neglige. 6 fichus simples en mousseline a mille fleurs garnis de dentelle pour le neglige'. 12 grauds bonnets garnis d'une petite dentelle pour la nuit. 12 a deux rangs, plus beaux, pour le jour, en cas d'inclisposition. 12 serres-tete garnis d'une petite dentelle pour la nuit. 2 taies d'oreiller garnies en dentelle. 12 pieces d'estomach garnies d'une petite dentelle. 6 garnitures de corset. 12 tours de gorge. 12 paires de manchettes en dentelle. Une toilette ; les volants, au nombre de deux, sont en dentelle ; ils out 5 amies de tour. Dessus de pelotte, en toile garnie de dentelle etc. La Layette : 6 paires de manches L 2 US HISTORY OF LACE. to a handsome portion in England, Five thousand pounds' worth of lace, linen, &c, is a common thing among them." The masks worn by the ladies at this period were of black blonde lace 25 of the most exquisite fineness and design.' 20 They were trimmed round the eyes, like those described by Scarron : — " Dirai-je comme res fantasques Qui portent dentelle a leurs masques, En chamarrent les trous des yeux, Oroyant que le masque en est mieux." In the reign of Louis XV., point de France was rivalled by Fig 75. Marie The'rese Ant. Raph., Infanta of Spain, first wife of Louis Dauphin, son of Louis XV. By Tocque'. Dated 1748. Musee Nationale, Versailles. Augleterre 27 and Malines. Argentan and Alencon (Fig. 75) were declared by fashion to be " dentelles d'hiver " : each lace now pour la mere, garnies de dentelle. 24 bonnets ronds de 3 ages en dentelle. 12 bavoirs de deux ages, garnis en dentelle." The layette was furnished together with the trousseau. 25 "1787. Pour achat de 11 au. blonde noire, a 6 10, 71 livres 10 sous." — Comptes de Monsieur Hergosse. Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 11,447. 26 When the Empress Josephine was at Frankfort on the Main, a masked ball was given on the occasion. The ladies, says Mademoiselle Avrillion, wore short dominoes with their faces covered with a mask, " le tour des yeux garni d'une petite dentelle noir." — Mem. de Made- moiselle Avrillion, premiere femme de chambre de V Impe'ratrice. Paris, 1 833. 27 A few extracts from Madame du Barry's lace accounts will furnish an idea of her consumption of point d' Angle- terre : — LOUIS XV. 149 had its appointed season. 28 " On porte le point en hiver," says the Dictionary of the Academy. There was much etiquette, too, in the court of France, as regards lace, which was never worn in mourning. Dangeau chronicles, on the death of the Princess of Baden, " Le roi qui avoit repris les dentelles et les rubans d'or et d'argent, reprend demain le linge uni et les rubans unis aussi." 29 " Madame " thus describes the " petit deuil " of the Margrave of Anspach : " Avec des dentelles blanches sur le noir, du beau ruban bleu, a dentelle blanches et noires. C etoit une parure magnifique." 30 " Une toilette d'Angleterre complette de 8823 livres. " Une parure composee de deux barbes, rayon et fond, 6 rangs de manchettes, 11/2 au. de ruban fait expres, 1/3 jabot pour le devant de tour. Le tout d'Angleterre superfm de . . . . 7000 „ "Un ajustement d'Angleterre complet de 3216 „ " Une garniture de peignoir d'Angleterre de 2342 „ " Une garniture de fichu d'Angleterre 388 „ " 8 au. d'Angleterre pour tayes d'oreiller .... 240 livres. " 9 1/2 au. dito pour la tete 76 „ " 14 au. pied dito pour la tete 140 „ 456 livres." 28 "Les dentelles les plus precieuses 29 1689. " Memoires." pour chaque saison." — Duchesse d'Abran- 30 " Mem. de la Princesse Palatine, tes. veuve de Monsieur." 150 IIISTOUY OF LACK. CHAPTEE XII. LOUIS XVI. TO THE EMPIRE. " Proud Versailles ! thy glory falls." Pope. In the reign of Louis XVI. society, tired out with ceremony and the stately manners of the old court, at last began to emancipate itself. Marie- Antoinette (Fig. 76) first gave the signal. Rid Fie. 7G. Marie-Antoinette. From a picture by Madame Le Brun. Mas. Nat. Versailles. herself of the preachings of " Madame Etiquette " she could not on state occasions, so she did her best to amuse herself in private. The finest Indian muslin l now supplanted the heavy points of 1 Madame du Barry, in her Memoirs, mentions the purchase of Indian muslin so fine that the piece did not weigh 15 oz., although sufficient to make four dresses. LOUIS XVI. TO THE EMPIRE. 151 the old court. " The ladies looked," indignantly observed the Marechale de Luxembourg, " in their muslin aprons and handker- chiefs, like cooks and convent porters." 2 To signify her disapproval of this new-fangled custom, the Marechale sent her granddaughter, the Duchesse de Lauzun, an apron of sailcloth, trimmed with fine point, and six fichus of the same material similarly decorated. The arrangement of the lace lappets was still prescribed by rule. " Lappets to be pinned up " — lappets to be let down on grand occasions. 3 Later, Madame de Stael, like a true bas-bleu — without speaking of her curtsey to Marie-Antoinette, which was all wrong — on her first visit of ceremony to Madame de Polignac, in defiance of all etiquette, left her lace lappets in the carriage. The democratic spirit of the age now first creeps out in the fashions. Among the rich parures of du Barry, 4 we find " barbes a la paysanne," — everything now becomes "a coquille," "a papillon." Even the queen's hairdresser, Leonard, " qui " Portait jusques au ciel l'audace de ses coiffures," did not venture to introduce much lace. The affected phraseology of the day quite puts one out of all patience. We read of the toilette of Mademoiselle Duthe in which she appeared at the opera. She wore a robe " soupirs etouffes," trimmed with " regrets superflus ;" a point of " candeur parfaite, garnie en plaintes indiscretes ;" ribbons " en attentions marquees;" shoes " cheveux de la reine," 5 embroidered with diamonds " en 2 " Cuisinieres et Tourieres." The " Une blonde grande hauteur a joke formed the subject of some clever bouquets detaches et a bordure riche. verses from the Chevalier de Boufflers. " 6 au. de blonde de grande hauteur 3 The barbe or lappet, of whatever form f aeon d'Alencon a coquilles a mille poix, it be, has always in all ages and all coun- a 18. tries been a subject of etiquette. At the " Une paire de sabots de comtesse de interment of Queen Mary Tudor, 1558, deux rangs de tulle blonde a festons, fond Dec. 14, it is told how the ladies in the d'Alencon." — Comptes de la Comtesse first and second chariots were clad in du Barry. Bib. Nat. F. Fr. 8157. mourning apparel, according to their Madame du Barry went to the greatest estates, " their barbes above their chynes." extravagance in lace ajustements, barbes, " The 4 ladies on horseback in like collerettes, volants, quilles, coeffes, &c, manner had their barbes on their chynes." of Argentan, Angleterre, and point a In the third chariot, "the ladies had l'aiguille. their barbes under their chynes."— State 5 The great fashion. The shoes were Papers, Domestic, Eliz. vol. xxxii. embroidered in diamonds, which were 4 Only in her last lace bill, 1773 : scarcely worn on other parts of the dress. " Une paire de barbes plattes longues The back seam, trimmed with emeralds, de 3/4 en blonde fine a fleurs fond was called " ventz-y-voir." d'Alencon, 36. L52 IIISTOKY OF LACE. coups perfides " and " venez-y-voir " in emeralds. Her hair "en sentiments st >ut ^n us," with a cap of "conquete assuree," trimmed with ribbons oi' "ceil abattu ;" a " chat 6 sur le col," the colour of " gueux nouvellement arrive," and upon her shoulders a, Medicis "en bienseance," and her muff of " agitation momentanee." In the accounts o( Mademoiselle liertin, the queen's milliner, known tor her Baying, " II n'y a rien (le nouveau dans ce monde que ce qui est oublie," we have little mention of lace. 7 " Blond a fond d'Alencon seme a poix, a mouches," now usurps the place of the old points. Even one of the " grandes dames de la vieille cour," Madame Adelaide de France herself, is represented in her picture by Madame Guiard with a spotted handkerchief, probably of blonde (Fig. 77). The church alone protects the ancient fabrics. The lace of the Rohan family, almost hereditary prince-archbishops of Strasburg, was of inestimable value. " We met," writes the Baroness de Oberkirck, " the cardinal coming out of his chapel dressed in a si >utane of scarlet moire and rochet of English lace of inestimable value. When on great occasions he officiates at Versailles, he wears an alb of old lace 'en point a l'aiguille,' of such beauty that his assistants w^ere almost afraid to touch it. His arms and device are worked in a medallion above the large flowers. This alb is estimated at 100,000 livres. On the day of which I speak he wore the rochet of English lace, one of his least beautiful, as his secretary, the Abbe Georget, told me." 8 On his elevation to the see of Bourges, 1859, Monseigneur de La Tour d'Auvergne celebrated mass at Rome arrayed with all the sacerdotal ornaments of point d'Alengon of the finest workman- ship. This lace descended to him from his uncle, Cardinal de La Tour d'Auvergne, who had inherited them from his mother, Madame d'Aumale, so well known as the friend of Madame Maintenon. Under the first empire a complete suit of lace was offered to the 6 "Souvenirs du Marquis de Valfons, des atours." We find — " grands habits, 1710-1786. A " chat," tippet or robes sur le grand panier, robes sur le palatine ; so named after the mother of petit panier," with a pattern of the mate- the regent. rial affixed to each entry, and the name 7 In the National Archives, formerly of the " couturiere" who made the dress, preserved with the " Livre Rouge," in One " Le'vite " alone appears trimmed the Armoire de Fer, is the "Gazette with blonde. There is ako the Gazette pour l'anne 1782," of Marie-Antoinette, of Madame Elizabeth, for 1792. consisting of a list of the dresses furnished 8 "Memoires sur la Cour de Louis for the queen during the year, drawn up XVI.'' by the Comtesse d'Ossune, her "dame LOUIS XVI. TO THE EMPIRE. 153 prelate for sale which had belonged to Marie-Antoinette. This lace is described as formed of squares of old point d'Angleterre or de Flandre, each representing a different subject. The beauty of the object and its derivation decided his eminence to speak of it to his colleague, Cardinal de Bonald, these two prelates united their resources, bought the lace, and divided it, thus con- secrating to a pious use this relic, which had decorated the queen at the happy period of her life. 9 Fisr. 77. Madame Adelaide de France. Alter a picture by Madaine Guiard, daled 1787. Mus. Nat. Versailles. But this extravagance and luxury were now soon to end. The years of '92 and '93 were approaching. The great nobility of France, who patronised the rich manufactures of the kingdom at the expense of a peasantry starving on estates they seldom, if ever, visited, were ere long outcasts in foreign climes, eking out a living as best they could, almost envying in their poverty the fate of those who, like their virtuous king and much maligned queen, had perished on the scaffold. The French Revolution was fatal to the lace trade. For twelve years the manufacture almost ceased, and more than thirty different manufactories entirely 9 Note of the Comtesse de Clermont- Tonnene, to the French translation of this work. l.M IIISTOKY OF LACE. disappeared. 10 In merits were, however, recognised by the Etats- Generaux in ITS!), who, when previous to mooting' they settled the costume of the throe estates, decreed to the noblesse a lace cravat. It was not till 1801, when Napoleon wished to " faire revenir le Luxe," that we again find it chronicled in the annals of the day: " How charming Caroline Murat looked in her white mantelet of 'point de Bruxelles et sa robe garnie des memes dentelles,' " &c. The old laces were the work of years, and trans- mit toil as heirlooms 11 from generation to generation. They were often heavy and overloaded with ornament. The ancient style was now discarded, and a lighter description introduced. By an improvement in the point de raccroc several sections of lace were joined together so as to form one large piece; thus ten workers could now produce in a month what had formerly been the work of years. Napoleon especially patronised the fabrics of Alencon, Brussels, and Chantilly. He endeavoured, too, without success, to raise that of Valenciennes. After the example of Louis XIV., he made the wearing of his two favourite points obligatory at the court of the Tuileries, and it is to his protection these towns owe the preservation of their manufactures. The lace-makers still speak of the rich orders received from the imperial court as the most remarkable epoch in their industrial career. Never was the beauty and costliness of the laces made for the marriage of Marie- Louise yet surpassed. To reproduce them now would, estimates M. Aubry, cost above a million of francs. Napoleon was a great lover of lace : he admired it as a work of art, and was proud of the proficiency of his subjects. Mademoiselle d'Avrillion relates the following anecdote. The Princess Pauline had given orders to the Empress Josephine's lace-maker for a dress and various objects to the value of 30,000 francs. When the order was com- pleted, and the lace brought home, the princess changed her mind, and refused to take them. Madame Lesoeur, in despair, 10 Among these were Sedan , Oh arleville, ll 1649. Anne Gohory leaves all her Me'zieres, Dieppe, Havre, Pont-1'Eveque, personals to Madame de Sevigne, except Honfleur, Eu, and more than ten neigh- her "plus beau mouchoir, le col de point bouring villages. The points of Aurillac, fin de Flandres, et une juppe de satin a Bourgogne, and Murat disappeared ; and fleurs fond vert, garnye de point fin d'or worst of all was the loss of the manu- et de soie." facture of Valenciennes. Laces were also 1764. Genevieve Laval bequeaths to made in Champagne, at Troyes and Dom- her sister "une garniture de dentelle chery, &c. de raiseau a grandes dents, valant au LOUIS XVI. TO THE EMPIRE. 155 appealed to the empress. She thinking the price not unreason- able, considering the beauty of the points, showed them to Napoleon, and told him the circumstance. " I was in the room at the time," writes the authoress of the "Memoires." The emperor examined minutely each carton, exclaiming at intervals, " Comme on travaille bien en France, jedois encourager un pareil commerce. Pauline a grand tort." He ended by paying the bill and dis- tributing the laces among the ladies of the court. 12 Indeed, it may be said that never was lace more in vogue than during the early days of the empire. The morning costume of a French duchess of that court is described in the following terms : — * Elle portait un peignoir brode en mousseline garni dune Angleterre tres-belle, une fraise en point d' Angleterre. Sur sa tete la duchesse avait jete en se levant une sorte de ' baigneuse,' comme nos meres l'auraient appelee, en point d' Angleterre, garnie de rubans de satin rose pale." 13 The fair sister of Napoleon, the Princess Pauline Bor- ghese, " s'est passionnee," as the term ran, " pour les dentelles." 14 That Napoleon's example was quickly followed by the " ele- gantes" of the Directory, the following account, given to the brother of the author by an elderly lady who visited Paris during that very short period 15 when the English flocked to the con- tinent, of a ball at Madame Recamier's, to which she had an invitation, will testify. The First Consul was expected, and the elite of Paris early thronged the salons of the charming hostess — but where was Madame Recamier? " SoufTrante," the murmur ran, retained to her bed by a sudden indisposition. She would, however, receive her guests " couchee." The company passed to the bedroom of the lady, which, as still the custom in France, opened on one of the principal salons. There, in a gilded bed, lay Madame Recamier, the most beautiful woman in France. The bed-curtains were of the finest Brussels lace, bordered with garlands of honeysuckle, and lined with satin moms quinze livres l'aune." Arch. Nat. garderobe . . . . y compris les den- Y. 58. telles." 1764. Anne Challus leaves her " belle 12 "Mem. de Mademoisello d'Avril- garniture de dentelle en plein, manchettes lion." tour de gorge, palatine et fond." Ibid. 13 "Me'moires sur ]a Restauration. 1764. Madame de Pompadour, in her Par Madame la Duchesse d'Abrantes." will, says, '' Jedonne a mes deux femmes M Ibid. t. v. p. 48. de chambre tout ce qui eoncerne ma I5 After the Peace of Amiens, ISO! . 150 HISTORY OF. LACE. of the palest rose. The couvrepied was of the same material; front the pillow oi' embroidered cambric fell "dcs Hots de Valenciennes." The lady herself wore a peignoir trimmed with the most exquisite English point. Never had she looked more lovely — never had she done the honours of her hotel more gracefully. And so she received Napoleon — so she received the budding heroes of that great empire. All admired her " fortitude," her " devourment," in thus sacrificing herself to society ; and on the following day " tout Paris s'est fait inscrire chez elle." Never had such anxiety been expressed — never had woman gained such a triumph. The Duchesse d'Abrantes, who married in the year 1800, describing her trousseau, 16 says she had " des mouchoirs, des jupons, des canezous du matin, des peignoirs de mousseline de l'lnde, des camisoles de nuit, des bonnets de nuit, des bonnets de matin, cle toutes les couleurs, de toutes les formes, et tout cela brode, garni de Valenciennes ou de Malines, ou de point d'Angle- terre." In the " corbeille de mariage," with the cachemires were " les voiles de point d'Angleterre, les garnitures de robes en point a l'aiguille, et en point de Bruxelles, ainsi qu'en blonde pour l'ete. II y avait aussi des robes de blonde blanche et de dentelle noire," &c. When they go to the mairie, she describes her costume : " J'avais une robe de mousseline de l'lnde brodee au plumetis et en points a jour, comme e'etait alors la mode. Cette robe etait a queue, montante et avec de longues manches, le le de devant entierement brode ainsi que le tour du corsage, le bout des manches, qu'on appelait alors amadis. La fraise etait en magniflque point a l'aiguille, sur ma tete j'avais un bonnet en point de Brux- elles. . . . Au sommet du bonnet etait attachee une petite couronne de fleurs d'oranger, d'ou partait un long voile en point d'Angleterre qui tombait a mes pieds et dont je pouvais presque m'envelopper." Madame Junot winds up by saying that " Cette profusion de riches dentelles, si fines, si deliees ne semblaient etre qu'un reseau nuageux autour de mon visage, oil elles se jouaient dans les boucles de mes cheveux." Hamlet always used to appear on the stage in lace cravat and ruffles, and Talma, the eminent French tragedian, was very proud of the beauty of his wardrobe of lace. Dr. Doran relates of him that lfl "Memoires de Madame la Duchesse d'Abrantes. LOUIS XVI. TO THE EMPIRE. 157 on one occasion, when stopped by the Belgian custom-house officers at the frontier, an official, turning over his wardrobe, his stage costumes, &c, contemptuously styled them " habits de Polichi- nelle." Talma, in a rage, exclaimed, " Habits de Polichinelle ! Why, the lace of my jabot and ruffles alone is worth fifty louis a yard, and I wear it on my private costume." " And must pay for it accordingly," added the official. " Punch's clothes might pass untaxed, but Monsieur Talma's lace owes duty to our king." Talma was forced to submit. The French lace manufacture felt the political events of 1813 to 1817, but experienced a more severe crisis in 1818, when bobbin- net was first made in France. Fashion at once adopted the new material, and pillow lace was for a time discarded. For fifteen years lace encountered a fearful competition. The manufacturers were forced to lower their prices and diminish the produce. The marts of Europe were inundated with tulle ; but happily a new channel for exportation was opened in the United States of North America. In time a reaction took place, and in 1834, with the exception of Alencon, all the other fabrics were once more in full activity. 17 But a cheaper class of lace had been introduced. In 1832-33, cotton thread first began to be substituted for flax. 18 The lace-makers readily adopted the change ; they found cotton more elastic and less expensive. It gives, too, a brilliant appear- ance, and breaks less easily in the working. All manufacturers now use the Scottish cotton, with the exception of Alenfon, some choice pieces of Brussels, and the finer qualities of Mechlin and Valenciennes. The difference is not to be detected by the eye ; both materials wash equally well. We now turn to the various lace manufactures of France, taking each in its order. 17 The revival first appeared in the towns which made the cheaper laces: Caen, Bayeux, Mirecourt, Le Puy, Arras, &c. 18 Fil de mulquinerie. 153 HISTORY OF LACK CHAPTER XIII. THE LACE MANUFACTURES OF FEANCE. France is a lace-making, as well as a lace-wearing, country. Of the half-million of lace-makers in Europe, nearly a quarter of a million are estimated as belonging to France. Under the impulse of fashion and luxury, lace receives the stamp of the special style of each country. Italy furnished its points of Venice and Genoa ; the Netherlands, its Brussels, Mechlin, and Valenciennes ; Spain, its silk blondes ; England, its Honiton ; France, its sumptuous point dAlencon, and its black lace of Bayeux. Now, each style is copied by every nation ; and though France cannot compete with Belgium in the points of Brussels, or the Valenciennes of Ypres, she has no rival in her points of Alencon, or her black silk laces. To begin with Alenfon, the only French lace not made on the pillow. ALENQON (Dep. de l'Orne), NORMANDY. " Alenchon est sous Sartlie assis, II luic divise le pays." Bomant de liou. The account given by the historian of Alencon of the esta- blishment of the points de France in that town differs widely from that we have related (p. 128), but as it was the generally received version until the publication of the "Colbert Corre- spondence," we give it here. In 1665, at the recommendation of the Sieur Buel, Colbert selected Madame Gilbert, a native of Alen2on, already acquainted with the manner of making Venice point, and making her an advance of 50,000 crowns, established her at his chateau of Lonray (Fig. 78), near Alenyon, with thirty forewomen whom he had, at great expense, caused to be brought over from Venice. In a short time, Madame Gilbert arrived at Paris with the ALENgON. 159 first specimens of her fabric : the king, inspired by Colbert with a desire to see the work, during supper at Versailles, announced to his courtiers he had just established a manufacture of point more beautiful than that of Venice, and appointed a day when he would inspect the specimens. The laces were artistically arranged over the walls of a room hung with crimson damask and shown to the best advantage. The king expressed himself delighted. He ordered a large sum to be given to Madame Gilbert, and desired that no other lace should appear at court except the new fabric, upon which he bestowed the name of " point de France." 1 Fig. 78. Chateau of Lonray, Dep. de l'Orne. Scarcely had Louis retired than the courtiers eagerly stripped the room of its contents. The approval of the monarch was the fortune of Alencon ; point de France adopted by court etiquette, the wearing of it became compulsory. All who had the privilege of the " casaque bleue," — all who were received at Versailles, or were attached to the royal household, could only appear, the ladies in trimmings and head-dresses, the gentlemen in cravat and ruffles, of the roval manufacture. 1 " Me'moiress historiques sur la ville d'Alen<;on." M. Odilluii Desnos. Alen<;on, 1787. 160 HISTORY OF LACE. It is difficult to reconcile this with the previous statement; still, in the "Colberl Correspondence" and in the ordinances, there is do mention of Dame Gilbert and the chateau of Lonray; 2 and, in a letter from Catherine de Marcq, one of the "entre- preneurs," August 26, 1665, she asks leave to present to him the person she desires to send to Aleneon, and her name is Marie Fillesac. The "entrepreneurs" had found the lace industry flourishing at the time of the establishment of the point de France. Point d'Alencon is mentioned in the "Revolte des Passemens," 1661, evidently as an advanced manufacture, but the monopoly of the privileged workmen — the new comers — displeased the old workwomen, and Colbert was too despotic in his orders prohibit- ing to make any kind of point except that of the royal manu- factory, 3 and made the people so indignant that they revolted. The intendant, Dubourlay Favier, writes to Colbert, August 1065, that one named Le Prevost, of this town, having given suspicion to the people that he was about to form an establishment of " ouvrages de fil," the women to the number of above 1000 assembled and pursued him so that if he had not managed to escape their fury, he would assuredly have suffered from their violence. " He took refuge with me," he continues, " and I with difficulty appeased the multitude by assuring them that they would not be deprived of the liberty of working. It is a fact that for many years the town of Alencen subsists only by means of these small works of lace. That the same people make and sell, and in years of scarcity they subsist only by this little industry, and that wishing to take away their liberty, they were so incensed I had great difficulty in pacifying them." The act, it appears, had come from the parliament of Paris, but as Alen£on is in Normandy, it is necessary to have the assent of the parliament of Kouen. " Point coupe," he adds, " has been long made here, which has a sale during its time, but a woman named Laperriere, skilled in these w r orks, found some years since the means of imitating point de Yenise in such perfection that she sold each collar she made at 1500 to 2000 francs. She has taught several girls this point because the work was very tedious, and she could not execute it 2 Lonray belonged to Colbert's son, the Marquis de Seignelay, by his marriage (1671 , with Mademoiselle Matignon. 3 See p. 128. ALENQON. 161 alone. All these little girls are become mistresses, and finding that Laperriere gained a great deal, they determined to work for themselves and to their own profit, so that in their turn they employed others ; this industry has thus by degrees so increased that above 8000 persons work in Alencon, Falaise, Seez, Argentan, and all the surrounding parishes of the Pays de Maine, at Fresnoy, Beaumont, and Menars. It is a real blessing of heaven sent into the country, by means of which little children of even seven years of age find the means of gaining a livelihood, and others of sup- porting their parents and their whole family. The old men work and find it answer. As soon as the work is finished, they are able to sell it, and are paid. It is this which makes them so miser- able, because all sorts of persons are not fitted to work at the fine point they wish to make, and the children will be frustrated and sent away, because they cannot be sufficiently skilful to work at the fine point ; and all those who gained their subsistence cannot succeed, being accustomed to a point of which they have now the sale. " This it is which causes the resistance, thinking their trade is being taken away from them and the means of paying their taxes. The little shepherdesses of the fields even work. This is what in conscience I am obliged to represent to you, and to make you know all that they wished to do to a country favoured by heaven with this industry, which gives life and maintenance to so many thousand souls. This is the truth of the matter." The remonstrance of the worthy intendant met with the at- tention it deserved. On September 14 following, after a meeting headed by Prevost and the Marquis de Easnes, intendant of the city, it was settled that after the king had found 200 girls, the rest were at liberty to work as they pleased ; none had permission to make the fine point of the royal pattern except those who worked for the manu- factory ; and all girls must show to the authorities the patterns they intended working, " so that the king shall be satisfied and the people gain a livelihood." The "maitresse dentelliere," Catherine du Marcq, writes to Colbert, November 30, 1665, complaining of the obstinacy of the people, who prefer the old work. " Out of 8000 women, we have got but 700, and I can only count on 250 who at least will have learnt to perfection the Venetian point, the remainder merely working a month and then leaving the establishment." M 162 II1ST0KY OF LACE. The product ions of the infanl manufacture are duly chronicled in the " Mercure." 4 In 1677 it announces: — "They make now many points de France without grounds, and ' picots en cam-* pannes' to all the fine handkerchiefs. We have soon some with little Bowers over the Large, which might be styled 'flying [lowers,' being only attached in the centre." In L678, it says : "The last points de France have no brides, the llenrons are closer together. The Mowers, which are in higher relief in the centre, and lower at the edges, are united by small stalks and flowers, which keep them in their places, instead of brides. The manner of disposing the branches, called ' ordon- Fig. 70. Venetian point in relief. " Pcntelle volivnte." nances,' is of two kinds : the one is a twirling stalk, which throws out flowers; the other is regular — a central flower, throwing out regular branches on each side." In October of the same year, the " Mercure " says, " There has been no change in the patterns," and it does not allude to them again. What can these be but Venice patterns ? The flower upon flower — like " fleurs volantes " —exactly answers to the point in high relief. (Fig. 79.) The Venetian point in relief, introduced by Colbert, was eminently successful, and he attained his object of making France independent of Venice, though the constant smuggling of Vene- 4 In 1673, July, we read in the "Mev- avecdes brides claires sans pirot.s ; (tl'on oure; " — ' On fait aussi des dentelles a fait aux nouveaux points de France des ^randes brides, c< mme aux points de fil brid s qui en sont remplies d'an nombre suns raiseau, et des dentelles d'Espagne inlini. ALENCON. 163 tian points into France formed a continual subject of corre- spondence between him and the French ambassador at Venice. " The French," says Savary, " no longer purchase these articles, having established themselves manufactures which rival those of the Adriatic." And that the French exported largely their products would appear from the same writer : " Russia and Poland were its great marts." In 1680, in " Britannia Languens," a dis- course upon trade, 5 it states that " the laces commonly called points de Venice now come mostly from France, and amount to a vast sum yearly." Fig. 80 Colbert. From his portrait, Musee Rationale, Versailles. January 6, 1673, Colbert writes to the Comte d'Avaux, ambassador at Venice, thanking him for the "collet de point rebrode que vous m'avez envoye que j'ai trouve fort beau. Je le confronterai avec ceux qui se font dans nos manufactures, mais je dois vous dire a l'avance que Ton en a fait dans le royaume d'aussi beaux." If the French manufacture attained such per- fection, we may fairly infer that many of the fine points now attributed to Venice are of French manufacture, Colbert's jabot (Fig. 80), for instance, and probably Coloured Plate III., p. 44. A memoir drawn up in 1698 by M. de Pommereu 6 is the next 5 "Tracts on Trade of the Seven- teenth Century," published hy Mac- Culloch, at the expense of Lord Montagu, 1856'. 6 " Mt'moire ooncernant la Generalite' d'Alencon, dresse par M. de Pommereu." 1698. Bib. Nat. MSS. Fonds Morte- mait, No. S3. M 2 L6J HISTORY OF LACE. mention we find of the lace of Alencon. "The manufacture of the points of France is also," he says, "one of the most consider- able of the country. This fabric began at Alencon, where most of the women and girls work at it, to the number of more than eight to nine hundred, without counting those in the country, which are in considerable numbers. It- is a commerce of about 500,000 Livres per annum. This point is called ' vilain ' 7 in the country; the principal sale was in Paris during the war, but the demand increases very much since the peace, in consequence of its exportation to foreign countries." The number of lace-workers given by M. Pommereu appears small, but the Alencon manu- facture was then on the decline. The death of its protector Colbert (1683), the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1085), which reduced the population of Alencon one-third, the industrial families retiring to other countries, the disastrous, long wars of Louis XIV., and finally his death (1715), all contributed to diminish the prosperity of this magnificent manufacture. 8 In the eighteenth century, the reseau ground was introduced, and soon became universally adopted. After carefully examining the engravings of the time, the collection of historic portraits at Versailles and other galleries, we find no traces of point d' Alencon with, the reseau or network ground in the time of Louis XIV. The laces are all of the Venetian character, " a bride ; " while, on the other hand, the daughters of Louis XV. (Mesdames de France), and the "Filles du Kegent," all wear rich points of Alencon and Argentan, " a reseau." The earlier patterns of the eighteenth century are flowery and undulating (Coloured Plate VIL), scarcely begun, never ending, into which are introduced haphazard patterns of a finer ground, much as the medallions of Boucher or Vanloo were inserted in the gilded panellings of a room. Twined among them appear a variety of "jours," filled up with patterns of endless variety, the whole wreathed and garlanded like the decoration of a theatre. Such was the taste of the day. " Apres moi le deluge ; " and the 7 " Vilain," " velin," " vellum," from it was " Cehri qui fait le velin ? " the parchment or vellum upon which it 8 In 1788 Arthur Young states the is made. The expression is still used. number of lace-makers at and about When the Author inquired at Alencon Alencon to be from 8000 to 9000. the way to the house of M. R., a lace " Travels in France." manufacturer, she was asked in return if - ALENUON. 163 precept of the favourite was carried out in the style of design : an insouciance and laisser-aller typical of a people regardless of the morrow. Towards the latter end of the reign, a change came over the national taste. It appears in the architecture and domestic decoration. As the cabriole legs of the chairs are replaced by the " pieds de claim," so the running patterns of the lace give place to compact and more stiff designs. The flowers are rigid and angular, of the style called " bizarre," or rococo, of almost conven- tional form. With Louis XVI. began the ground seme with com- pact little bouquets, all intermixed with small patterns (Fig. 81), spots (pois), neurons, rosettes, and tears (larmes), which towards 166 IllNTOKY OV LACK. the end of the cent ury entirely expel the bouquets from the ground. Fig. 82, inadvertently placed here, is Brussels. 9 Point d'Alencou is made entirely by hand, with a fine needle, upon a parchment pattern, in small pieces, afterwards united by invisible seams. Each part is executed by a special work woman. Formerly it required eighteen 10 different hands to complete a '■' Before the Revolution, Roland esti- mates the annual value of t'e manufac- ture at 11,000,000 to 12,000,000 livres. Savary deducts 150,000 livres for the raw material, the Lille thread, which was used at prices ranging from 800 to 900 livres for good fine point ; but Lille at that time fabricated thread as high as 1800 livres per lb. 10 These were the " piqueuse," " tra- ALENCON. 1(17 piece of lace ; the number, we believe, is now reduced to twelve. The design, engraved upon a copper plate, is printed off in divi- sions upon pieces of parchment 10 inches long, each numbered according to their order. Green parchment is now used, the worker being better able to detect any faults in her work than on white. The pattern is next pricked upon the parchment, which is stitched to a piece of very coarse linen folded double. The outline of the pattern is then formed by two flat threads, which are guided along the edge by the thumb of the left hand, ami fixed by minute stitches, passed with another thread and needle, through the holes of the parchment. When the outline is finished, the work is given over to the " reseleuse " to make the ground, which is of two kinds, bride and rese.au. The delicate reseau is worked backwards and forwards from the footing to the picot — of the bride, more hereafter. For the flowers the worker supplies herself with a long needle and a fine thread ; with these she works the " point noue " (button-hole stitch) from left to right, and when arrived at the end of the flower, the thread is thrown back from the point of departure, and she works again from left to right over the thread. This gives a closeness and evenness to the work unequalled in any other point. Then follow the " modes," and other different operations, which completed, the threads which unite lace, parchment, and linen together are cut with a sharp razor passed between the two folds of linen, any little defects repaired, and then remains the great work of uniting all these segments imperceptibly together. This task devolves upon the head of the establishment, and is one requiring the greatest nicety. An ordinary pair of men's ruffles would be divided into ten pieces ; but when the order must be executed quickly, the sub-divisions are even greater. The stitch by which these sections are worked is termed " assemblage," and differs from the " point de raccroc," where the segments are united by a fresh row of stitches. At Alencon, they are joined by a seam, following as much as possible the outlines of the pattern. When finished, a steel instrument, called " aficot," is passed into each flower, to polish it, and remove any inequalities in its surface. The more primitive lobster's claw was used until late years for the same purpose. ceuse," " reseleuse," " remplisseuse," " toucheuse," " brideuse," " boucleuse," " fondeuse," " modeuse," '• brodeuse," " gazeuse," '• mignonneuse," " pico- "e'bouleuse," "regaleuse," " assembleuse," teuse," " altineuse," " aflfrqueuse." L68 I11ST0KY OF LACE. Point d'Alenpou is of a solidity which defies time and washing, and has been justly called the Queen of Lace. It is the only lace in which horsehair is introduced along the edge, to give firmness and consistency to the cordonnet, rendered perhaps necessary to make the point stand up when exposed to wind, mounted on the towering fabrics then worn by the ladies. The objection to horse- hair is that it shrinks in washing, and draws up the flower from the ground. In L761, a writer, describing the point de France, says that it does not arrive at the taste and delicacy of Brussels, its chief defect consisting in the thickness of the cordonnet, which thickens when put into water. The horsehair edge also draws up the ground, and makes the lace rigid and heavy. He likewise finds fault with the " modes," or fancy stitches of Alencon, and states that much point is sent from there to Brussels to have the modes added, thereby giving it a borrowed beauty, but connois- seurs, he adds, easily detect the difference. 11 When the points of Alencon and Argentan dropped the general designation of " points de France " is difficult to say. Probably at the expiration of the privilege, each manufacture began to adopt its own name. The last inventory in which we have found mention of " point de France" is one of 1723, 12 while point d' Argentan is noted in 1738, 13 and point d' Alencon in 1741, where it is specified to be " a reseau." 14 In the accounts of Madame du Barry, no point d' Alencon is mentioned — always point a l'aiguille — and " needle point " is the name by which point d' Alencon was alone known in England during the last century. The purchases of needle point of Madame du Barry were most extensive. Sleeves (engageantes) and lappets for 8400 livres; court ruffles at 1100; a mantelet at 2400; a veste at 0500 ; a grande coeffe, 1400 ; a garniture, 6010, &c. 15 Coloured Plate VIII. represents a beautiful lappet which, in her former edition, the Author has placed under Genoa, as it was sent 11 " Dictionnaire du Citoyen," Paris, 15 Among the objects of religious art 1761. exhibited in 1 864, at the General Assem- 12 " Tnv. de Madame Anne Palatine, bly of the Catholics of Belgium, at Princesse de Conde?' See p. 131. Malines, was a "voile de benediction," 13 In the inventory of the Due de Pen- the handkerchief used to cover the thievre, 1738. See p. 143. ciborium, of point d' Alencon, with figures 14 " Une coiffure de point d' Alencon a of the Virgin, St. Catherine, St. Ursula, raiseau." — Inv. de deces de Mademoiselle and St. Barbara. It belonged to the de Clermont, 1741. Again, 1743, Inv. de church of St. Christopher at Charleroi. la. Duchesse < ! Bourbon. Bib. Nat. -Argentella, or Point d'Alencon i reseau rosace. To face pac, ALENCON. 109 to her as having been made there, where it is styled " argentella," but M. Dupont-Auberville claims it as the product of Alencon, on evidence, he states, that cannot be refuted. The lovely diapered ground, resembling the mayflower,or " ceil de perdrix," of porcelain, he has discovered in a piece of lace undoubtedly of Alencon make, and has Hye other specimens which have been transmitted for generations in a family of Normandy. M. Dupont-Auberville styles it " fond rosace, " a term we shall adopt, with the name " argentella," which it has always borne. In the " Description of the Department of the Orne," drawn up in 1801, it is stated, " Fifteen years back there were from 7000 to 8000 lace-workers at Alencon and its environs : the manufacture of Argentan, whose productions are finer and more costly, had about 2000." Almost all these lace-makers passed into England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the courts of the North, especially to Russia. The two establishments produced to the annual value of at least 1,800,000 francs, and when they had extraordinary orders, such as " parures " for beds and other large works, it increased to 2,000,000 francs (80,000?.). But this commerce, subject to the variable empire of fashion, had declined one-half even before the Revolution. " It supported three cities and their territory, for that of Seez 16 bore its part. Some black laces are still made at Seez, but they are of little importance. P.S. — These laces have obtained a little favour at the last Leipsic fair." 17 The manufacture of Alencon was nearly extinct when the patronage of Napoleon caused it to return almost to its former prosperity. Among the orders executed for the emperor on his marriage with the Empress Marie Louise was a bed furniture of great richness; tester, curtains, coverlet, pillow-cases. The principal subject represented the arms of the empire surrounded by bees. 18 From its elaborate construction, point d' Alencon is seldom met with in pieces of large size ; the amount of labour therefore expended on this bed must have been marvellous. The Author, when at Alencon, was so fortunate as to meet with a piece of the ground powdered with bees, bought from the ancient manufacture of Mercier, at Lonray, when the stock many years 1(i Seez has now no lecords of its manu- Fiuterieur." facture. 18 " Illustrated News,'' March 22, 17 "Descr. du Dep. de L'Orne. An 1853. IX. Publiee par ordre du ministie de L70 HISTOHY OF LACK back was sold off' (Fig. 83), It is pillow-made, the reseau overcast. Tart of the '* equipage " of the King of Rome excited the admira- tion oi all beholders at the exhibition of I 855. Alencon again Pel] with the firsl empire. No now workers were trained, the old ones died oil, and as it requires SO many hands to execute even the most simple lace, the manufacture again nearly died out. In vain the Duehesse d'AngOuleme endeavoured to revive the fabric, and gave Large orders herself; Fier. 83. Bed made for Napoleon I. but point lace had been replaced by blonde, and the consumption was so small, it was resumed on a very confined scale. So low had it fallen in 1830 that there were only between two and three hundred lace-workers, whose products did not exceed the value of 1200 francs (48/.). Again, in 1836, Baron Mercier, thinking by producing it at a lower price to procure a more favourable sale, set up a lace school, and caused the girls to work the patterns on bobbin-net, as bearing some resemblance to the ALENCON. 171 old point de bride, but fashion did not favour point de bride, so the plan failed. ]n 1840 fresh attempts were made to revive the manufacture. Two hundred aged women — all the lace-makers remaining of this once flourishing industry — -were collected and again set to work. A new class of patterns was introduced, and the manufacture once more returned to favour and prosperity. But the difficulties were great. The old point was made by an hereditary set of workers, trained from their earliest infancy to the one special work they were to follow for life. Now new workers had to be procured from other lace districts, already taught the ground peculiar to their fabrics. The consequence was, their fingers never could acquire the art of making the pure Alencon reseau. They made a good ground, certainly, but it was mixed with their own early traditions : as the Alencon workers say, " Elles batardisent les fonds." In the exhibition of 1851 were many fine specimens of the revived manufacture. One flounce, which was valued at 22,000 francs, and had taken thirty-six women eighteen months to complete, afterwards appeared in the " corbeille de mariage " of the Empress Eugenie. In 1856 most magnificent orders were given for the imperial layette, a description of which is duly chronicled. 19 The young prince was " voue au blanc;" white, therefore, was the prevailing- colour in the layette. The curtains of the imperial infant's cradle were of needle point, with Alencon coverlet lined with satin. The christening robe, mantle, and head-dress were all of Alencon ; and the three corbeilles, bearing the imperial arms and cipher, were also covered with the same point. Twelve dozen embroidered frocks, each in itself a work of art, were all profusely trimmed with Alencon, as were also the aprons of the imperial nurses. A magnificent work of Alencon point appeared in the exhibition of 18 )5 ; a dress, purchased by the emperor for 70,000 francs ('2800Z.), and presented by him to the empress. Costly orders for trousseaux are given not only in France, but from Russia and other countries. We saw one in progress which was to amount to 150,000 francs (6000Z.) ; flounce, lappets and trimmings for the body, pockethandkerchief, fan, parasol, all en suite ; and, moreover, there were a certain number of metres of "Illustrated News," March 22, 1856. L72 BISTORT OF LACE. " aunage," or border lace, for the layette. The making of point d'Aleneon being bo slow, it was impossible ever to execute it "to order " for this occasion. Great as is the beauty of the workmanship of Alencon, it was never able to compote with Brussels in one respect: its designs were seldom copied from nature, while the fabric of Brabant sent forth roses and honeysuckles of a correctness worthy of a Dutch painter. Alencon point is now successfully made at Bayeux, where the manufacture was introduced, in 1855, by M. Auguste Lefebure, a manufacturer of that town. Departing from the old custom of assigning to each lace-maker a special branch of the work, the lace is here executed through all its stages by the same worker. Perhaps the finest example of point d' Alencon, exhibited in 1 867, was the produce of Bayeux; a dress consisting of two flounces, the pattern, flowers, and foliage of most artistic and harmonious design, relieved by the new introduction of shaded tints, giving to the lace the relief of a picture. 20 The ground (reseau) was worked with the greatest smoothness and regularity, one of the great technical difficulties when such small pieces have to be joined together. The price of the dress was 85,000 francs, 3400Z. It took forty women seven years to complete. 20 This effect is produced in the pillow- open part of the pattern; in the needle lace by varying the application of the two point by threads of different coarseness, stitches used in making the flowers (see The system has been adopted in France, p. 26), the "toile','' which forms the Belgium, and England, but with most close tissue, and the "grille'," the more success in France. ( 173 ) CHAPTER XIV. ARGENTAN (De>. de l'Orne). " Vous qui voulez d'Argentan faire conte, A sa grandeur arreter ne faut ; Petite elle est, mais en beaute' surmonte Maintes cites, car rien ne lui defaut ; Elle est assise en lieu plaisant et haut, De tout cote a prairie, a campaigne, Un fleuve aussi, ou maint poisson se baigne, Des bois epais, suffisans pour nourrir Biches et cerfs qui sont prompts a courir; Plus y trouvez, tant elle est bien garnie, Plus au besoin nature secourir Bon air, bon vin, et bonne compagnie ! " Des Maisom, 1517. The name of the little town of Argentan, whose points long rivalled those of Alencon, is familiar to English ears as connected with our Norman kings. Argentan is mentioned by old Robert Wace as sending its sons to the conquest of England. 1 It was here the mother of Henry II. retired in 1130 ; and the imperial eagle borne as the arms of the town is said to be a memorial of her long sojourn. Here the first Plantagenet held the "cour pleniere," in which the invasion of Ireland was arranged ; and it was here he uttered those rash words which prompted his servile adherents to leave Argentan to assassinate Thomas a Becket. 2 But, apart from historic recollections, Argentan is celebrated for its point lace, which, though generally confounded in commerce with that of Alencon, essentially differs from it in character. No history of the establishment of this manufacture remains. The geographers and local historians of Argentan do not even allude to its existence, but it is mentioned in one of the letters of the " Li boen citean de Boem, E la Jovante de Caem, * Henr y foimded * chapel at Argentan E de Falaise e d'Argentoen." to St Th °mas of Canterbury. Romant de Ttou. 174 HISTOrVX OF LACK. " Colbert Correspondence," showing it to bo coeval with Alenpon. J here still exists at Argentan an humble inn with "Le Point de France" as its sign. The two manufactures, appear to have been distinct, though some Lace-makers near Ligneros-la-Douoollo worked for both establishments. Alencon made the finest resoau Argentan Bpecially excelled in the bride. The bride, or we would rather call it the "grande bride," ground, to whieh we have before alluded in the notice on Alencon, belonged almost exclusively to Argentan. It was of very elaborate construction, and consists of a large six-sided mesh, worked over with the button-hole stitch. It was always printed on the parchment pattern, and the upper angle of the hexagon is pricked. After the hexagon is formed by passing the needle and thread round the pins in a way too complicated to be worth explaining, the six sides are worked over with seven or eight button-hole stitches in each side. The grande bride ground was consequently very strong. It was much affected in France; the reseau was more preferred abroad. 3 The flowers of Argentan were bolder and larger in pattern, in higher relief, heavier and coarser than those of Alencon. (Coloured Plate IX., and Fig. 84.) The toile was flatter, and more compact. The workmanship differed in character. On the clear grande bride ground this lace was more effective than the minuter workmanship of Alencon. In 1708 the manufacture had almost fallen to decay, when it was raised by one Sieur Mathieu Guyard, merchant mercer at Paris, who states that " his ancestors and himself had for more than 120 years been occupied in fabricating black silk and white thread lace in the environs of Paris." He applies to the council of the king for permission to re-establish the fabric of Argentan, and to employ workwomen to the number of above 600. He asks for exemption from lodging soldiers, begs to have the royal arms placed over his door, and stipulates that Montulay, his draughts- man and engraver, shall be exempted from all taxes except the capitation. The arret obtained by Guyard is dated 24th July 1708. Guyard's children continued the establishment. Montulay 3 Indeed so little is the beautiful work- flowers of Argentan relentlessly cut out, manship of this ground known or under- and transferred to bobbin-net, " to get rid stood that the author has seen priceless of the ugly, coarse ground." y. To ../ace f af/c 174. IT'! HISTOID OF LACE. went over to another manufacturer, and was replaced by the Sieur .lames, who, in his turn, was succeeded by his daughter, and she took as her partner one Sieur De La Lou. Other manufactories were set up in competition with Guyard's; among others that of Madame Wyriot, whose factor, Du Ponchel, was in open warfare with the rival house. The marriage of the dauphin, in 1744, was a signal for open hostilities. Du Ponchel asserted that Mademoiselle James enticed away his workwomen, and claimed protection, on the ground that he worked for the king and the court. But, on the other side, "It is I," writes Do La Leu to the intendant, on behalf of Mademoiselle James, "that supply the ' Chambre du Roi' for this year, by order of the Duke de Richelieu. I too have the honour of furnishing the ' Garderobe du Koi,' by order of the grand master, the Duke de La Rochefoucault. Besides which, I furnish the King and Queen of Spain, and at this present moment am supplying lace for the marriage of the dauphin." 4 Du Ponchel rejoins "that he had to execute two 'toilettes et leurs suites, nombre de Bourgognes 5 et leurs suites,' for the queen, and also a cravat, all to be worn on the same occasion." Du Ponchel appears to have had the better interest with the controller-general ; for the quarrel ended in a prohibition to the other manufacturers to molest the women working for Du Ponchel, though the Maison Guyard asked for reciprocity, and maintained that their opponents had suborned and carried off more than a hundred of their hands. 6 The number of lace-makers in the town of Argentan and its environs at this period amounted to nearly 1200. In a list of 111 who worked for the Maison Guyard, appear the names of many of the good bourgeois families of the county of Alenqon, and even some of noble birth, leading one to infer that making point lace was an occupation not disdained by ladies of poor but noble houses. De La Leu, who, by virtue of an ordinance, had set up a 4 Letter of the 19th of September air," 1700, Parley, when asked wbat he 1744. had been about, answers, " Sir, I was 5 " Burgoigne, the first part of the coming to Mademoiselle Furbelow, the dress for the head next the hair." — French milliner, for a new Burgundy for Mundus Muliebris, 1690. "Burgoigin, my lady's head." the part of the head-dress that covers up 6 The offenders, manufacturers and the head." — Ladies' Dictionary, 1694. In workwomen, incurred considerable fines. Farquhar's comedy of " Sir Harry Wild- ARGENTAN. 177 manufactory on his own account, applies, in 1745, to have 200 workwomen at Argentan, and 200 at Carrouges, delivered over to his factor, in order that he may execute works ordered for the king and the dauphin for the approaching fetes of Christmas. This time the magistrate resists. " I have been forced to admit," he writes to the intendant, "that the workwomen cannot be transferred by force. We had an example when the layette of the dauphin was being made. You then gave me the order to furnish a certain number of women who worked at these points to the late Sieur de Montulay. A detachment of women and girls came to my house, with a female captain (capitaine femelle) at their head, and all with one accord declared that if forced to work they would make nothing but cobbling (bousillage). Partly by threats, and partly by entreaty, I succeeded in compelling about a dozen to go, but the Sieur de Montulay was obliged to discharge them the next day. 7 I am therefore of opinion that the only way is for M. De La Leu to endeavour to get some of the workwomen to suborn others to work for him under the promise of higher wages than they can earn elsewhere. M. De La Leu agrees with me there is no other course to pursue ; and I have promised him that, in case any appeal is made to me, I shall answer that things must be so, as the work is doing for the king." From this period we have scarcely any notices concerning the fabric of Argentan. In 1763 the widow Lou vain endeavoured to establish at Mortagne (Orne) a manufacture of lace like that of Alencon and Argentan, and proposed to send workers from these two towns to teach the art gratuitously to the girls of Mortagne. We do not know what became of her project; but at the same period the Epoux Malbiche de Boislaunay applied for permission to establish an office at Argentan, with the ordinary exemptions, under the title of Royal Manufacture. The title and exemptions were refused. There were then (1763) at Argentan three manufactories of point de France, without counting the general hospital of St. Louis, in which it was made for the profit of the institution, and evidently with success ; for in 1764, a widow Roger was in treaty with the hospital to teach her two daughters the fabrication of point d' Argentan. They were to be boarded, and to give six years of their time. The fine on non-performance was 80 livres. In 1781, the Sieur Gravelle Desvallees made a fruitless application to 12 Nov 1745. N ITS HISTORY OF LACE. establish a manufactory at Argentan; nor could even the children of tho widow Wyriof obtain a renewal of the privilege granted to their mother. 8 Gravelle was ruined by the Revolution, and died in L830. Arthur Young, in 1 7SS, estimates the annual value of Argentan point at 500,000 livres. Taking these data, we may lix the reigns of Louis XY. and Louis XV 1. as the periodwhen point d'Argentan was at its highest prosperity. It appears in the inventories of the personages of that time; most largely in the accounts of Madame du Barry (from 1701) to 1773), who patronised Argentan equally with point d'Angleterre and point a l'aiguille. In 1772, she pays 5740 francs for a complete garniture. Lappets, flounces, engageantes, collo- rettes, aunages, fichus, are all supplied to her of this costly fabric. 9 One specialite in the Argentan point is the " bride picotee," a remnant, perhaps, of the early Venetian teaching. It consists of the six-sided button-hole bride, fringed with a little row of three or four picots or pearls on each side. It was also called " bride epinglee," because pins were pricked in the parchment pattern, to form these picots or boucles 10 (loops); hence it wns sometimes styled " bride bouclee." n The " ecaille de poisson " reseau was also much used at Alencon and Argentan. The manner of making " bride picotee " was entirely lost. The old workwomen had died without leaving pupils, but through 8 In 1765, under the name of Duponchel. 9 " 1772. TJn ajustement de point d'Argentan — " Les 6 rangs manchettes. " 1/3 pour devant de gorge. " 4 au. 1/3 festonne des deux costes, le fichu et une gar- niture de fichu de nuit 2500 livres. " 1 au. 3/4 ruban de point d'Argentan, a 100 . . . 175 ,, " Une collcrette de point d'Argentan 360 „ (Comptes de Madame du Barry.) "1781. Une nappe d'autel garnie de Duras. Bib. Nat. MSS.F. Fr. 11,410. d'unetres-belledentellede Point d'Argen- ,0 " Une coiffure bride a picot corn- tan." — Inv. de V&jlise de St. Gervais. plete." — Inv. de deccs de Mademoiselle de Arch. Nat. L. 654. Clermont, 1741. See aho p. 132, note 9 , and p. 146. " These details on the manufacture " 1789. Item, un parement de robe of Argentan have been furnished from consistaut en garniture, deux paires de the archives of Alencon, through the manchettes, et fichu, le tout de point kindness of M. Le'on de la Sicotiere, the d'Argentan. (Dans la garderobe de learned archseologist of the Department Madame.)" — Inv. dedeces deMgr. le Due of the Orne. ARGENT AN. 17 the persevering exertions of M. Ernest Lefebure it is about to be reorganised in the original seat of its industry. In January 1874, with the assistance of the mayor, he made a search in the greniers of the Hotel Dieu, and discovered three specimens of point d'Ar- gentan, in progress on the parchment patterns. One was of bold pattern, with the " grande bride " ground, evidently a man's ruffle ; the other had the barette or bride ground of point de France ; the third bride picotee, showing that the three descriptions of lace were made contemporaneously at Argentan. M. Lefebure has set up in the convent of St. James, in the city, a workshop for making point de Argentan, the pupils under the direction of the most skilful lace-workers of Paris. Some years since the nuns of the hospice offered to exchange a quantity of point d' Argentan and old guipure for a small sewing- machine, which proposal was rejected. The author of a little pamphlet on point d' Argentan 12 re- members having seen in his youth in the Holy Week, in the churches of St. Martin and St. Germain, the statues of the apostles covered over from head to foot with this priceless point Point d' Argentan disappeared at the Revolution, though a few specimens were produced at the Exhibition of Industry in 1808. Embroidery has replaced this far-famed fabric among the workers of the town, and the hand-spinning of hemp among those of the country. 12 " Legende du Point d' Argentan," M. Eugene de Lonlny. N 2 L80 HISTORY OF LACK. CHAPTER XV. FSLE DE PRANCE.— PAINS (l)C-.p. Seine). "Quelle heure est-il? Passe midi. Qui vous l'adit? Unc petite souris. Que fait-elle ? De la dentelle. Pour qui ? La reine de Paris." Old Nursery Song. Early in the seventeenth century, lace was extensively made in the environs of Paris, at Louvres, Gisors, Villiers-le-Bel, Mont- morency, and other localities. Of this we have confirmation in a work 1 published 1634, in which, after commenting upon the sums of money spent in Flanders for " ouvrages et passemens, 2 tant de point couppe que d'autres," which the king had put a stop to by the sumptuary law of 1633, the author says : — " Pour empescher icelle despence, il y a toute l'lsle de France et autres lieux qui sont remplis de plus de dix mille families dans lesquels les enfans de l'un et l'autre sexe, des l'age de dix ans ne sont instruits qua la manufacture desdits ouvrages, dont il s'en trouve d'aussi beaux et biens faits que ceux des etrangers ; les Espagnols, qui le scavent, ne s'en fournissent ailleurs." Who first founded the lace-making of the Isle de France, it is difficult to say ; a great part of it was in the hands of the Huguenots, leading us to suppose it formed one of the numerous ' %i industries" introduced or encouraged by Henry IV. and Sully. 1 " Nouveau Ee'glemeut Ge'neral sur " passemens de fil," very fine and deli- outres sortes de Marchandises et Manu- cately worked. Laffemas, in his" Re'gle- factures qui sont utiles et necegsaires ment General pour dresser les Manu- dans ce Royaume etc., par M. lc factures du Royaume, 1597," estimates Marquis de la Gomberdiere." Paris, 1631. the annual cost of these " passemens " of In 8vo. every sort, silk stockings, &c, at 800,000 2 M. Fournier says that France was crowns; Montchrestien, at above a mil- at this time tributary to Flanders fur lion. s &s< To face \xxyt 181. ISLE DE FHANCE.— PAUIS. 181 Point cle Paris (Fig. 85), mignonette, bisette, and other narrow cheap laces were made, and common guipures were also fabricated at Saint-Denis, Ecouen, and Groslay. From 1665 to the French Revolution, the exigencies of fashion requiring a superior class of lace, the workwomen arrived gradually at making point of remarkable fineness and superior execution. A branch manufactory of points de France had been established, as already mentioned, by Colbert at the Chateau de Madrid (p. 129), where they made, as well as at Aurillac, the Fig. 85. Point de Paris (reduced). (By an error of the engraver, the point de Paris ground is not rendered.) finest pillow lace in the style of the point d'Angleterre. Some rich specimens of this period are occasionally met with, among which may be placed Coloured Plate X., in which is the crown of France, supporting medallion portraits of Louis XIV. and Maria Theresa. The richness and elegance of this manufacture was sustained for many years, encouraged by the king and his court ; and with distinguished artists at its disposal, the productions of the Chateau de Madrid were among the choicest of the points de France. 3 3 "Une chemisette detoile d'Hollande garnye de point de Paris." — Inv. cV 'Anne (VEscoubleau, Baronne de Sourdis, veuve de Francois de Simianc, 1G81, Nat, M. M. 802. Arch. L82 U1ST0KY OF LACE. A second manufactory was established by the Comte de iVIarsan, 4 in Paris, towards the end of the same century. Having brought over from Brussels his nurse, named Dumont, with her lour daughters, she asked him, as a reward for the care she had bestowed upon him in his infancy, to obtain for her the privilege of Betting up in Paris a manufactory of point de France. Colbert granted the request: Dumont was established in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine-»-classicland of embroidery from early times — cited in the "Reyolte des Passemens:" — "Telle Broderie qui n'avoit jamais este plus loin que du Faubourg S.-Antoinc au Louvre." A " cent Suisse " of the king's was appointed as guard before the door oi' her house. In a short time Dumont had collected more than nOO girls, among whom were several of good birth, and made beautiful lace called " point de France." Her manufactory was next transferred to the Rue Saint-Sauveur, and subsequently to the Hotel Saint-Chaumont, near the Porte Saint-Denis. Dumont afterwards went to Portugal, leaving her establishment under the direction of Mademoiselle de Marsan. But, adds the historian, as fashion and taste often change in France, people became tired of this point. It proved difficult to wash ; the flowers had to be raised each time it was cleaned ; it was thick and unbecoming to the face. Points d'Espagne were now made instead, with small flowers, which, being very fine, was more suitable for a lady's dress. Lastly, the taste for Mechlin lace coming in, the manu- facture of Dumont was entirely given up. 5 In the time of Louis XIV. the commerce of lace was distributed in different localities of Paris, as we learn from the " Livre Commode," 6 already quoted. The gold laces, forming of them- selves a special commerce, had their shops in the "rue des Bour- don nais and the rue Sainte-Honore, entre la place aux Chats et les piliers des Halles," while the Rue Betizy retained for itself the specialite of selling " points et dentelles." The gold and silver laces of Paris, commonly known as points d'Espagne, 7 often embellished with pearls and other ornaments, 4 Youngest son of the Comte rt'Har- point of Spain into France, see Spain, court. p. 80. The manufacture of gold lace iri 5 " Vie de J.-Bap. Colbert." (Printed Paris was, however, prior to Colbert. ill the " Archives curieuses.") " 1732. Un bord de Point d'Espagne 6 " Livre Commode ou les Adresses de d'or de Paris, a fonds de re'scau." — Gar- la Ville de Paris," for 1G92. clerobe de 8. A. S. Mgr. le Due de Pen- 7 For the introduction of the g«>ld thievre. Arch. Nat. K. K. 390-1. CHANTILLY. 183 were for years renowned throughout all Europe. Its importance is shown by the sumptuary edicts of the seventeenth century, forbidding its use, and also by its mention in the " Kevolte des Passemens." It was made on the pillow. Until the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, it was an object of great commerce to France. Much was exported to Spain and the Indies. How those exiled workmen were received by the Protestant princes of Europe, and allowed to establish themselves in their dominions, to the loss of France and the enrichment of the lands of their adoption, will be told in due time, when we touch on the lace manufactures of Holland and Germany. Since 1784, little lace has been made at Paris itself, but a large number of lace-makers are employed in applying the flowers of Binche and Mirecourt upon the bobbin-net grounds. CHANTILLY (Dep. Oise). " Dans sa pompe elegante admirez Cliantilli, De he'ros en heros, d'age en age embelli." Delille, Les Jardins. Although there long existed lace-makers in the environs of Paris, the establishment for which Chantilly was celebrated owes its formation to Catherine de Rohan, Duchesse de Longueville, who sent for workwomen from Dieppe and Havre to her chateau of Etrepagny, where she retired at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and established schools. The town of Chantilly being the centre of a district of lace- makers, has given its name to the laces of the surrounding district, the trade being distributed over more than a hundred villages, the principal of which are Saint-Maximien, Viarmes, Meric, Luzarches, and Dammartin. The proximity to Paris affording a ready sale for its productions caused the manufacture to prosper, and the narrow laces which they first made were soon replaced by guipures, white thread and black silk lace. 8 Some twenty years since there dwelt 8 In " Statistique de la France," 1800, Gisors, Saint-Pierre-les-Champs, Etre- the finest silk lace is said to be made at pagny, &c. Peuchet adds : " II s'y fait Fon tenay, Puisieux, Morges, and Louvres- dans Paris et ces environs une grande en-Parisis ; the coarse and common quantite de dentelles noires dont il se fait kinds at Montmorency, Villiers-le-Bel, des expeditions considerables.'' It was Sarcelles, Ecouen, Saint-Brice, Groslay, this same black silk lace which raised to IS I 1IIST«»|;V OF LACK. at Chantilly an elderly Lady, granddaughter of an old proprietor, who Had in her possession one of the original pattern books of the fabric, with autograph letters of Marie-Antoinette, the Princesse de Lamballe, and other ladies of the court, giving their orders and expressing their opinion on the laces produced. We find in the inventories of the last century, " coeffu re de c.our de dontelle de soye noire," "mantelet garni de dentelles noiros," a " petite duohosso et une respectueuse," and other "cooties," all of "dontelle do soye noire. White blonde appears more sparingly. The Duchesse de Duras has " une paire de manchettes a trois rangs, deux fichus et deux paires de sabots en blonde ; " 10 the latter to wear, probably, with her "robe en singe." I)u Barry purchases more largely. 11 Fte. 86. Chantilly (reduced). From one of the ord?r books, temp. Louis XVI. Fig. 86 is a specimen taken from the above-mentioned pattern book ; the flowers and ground are of the same silk, the flowers worked " en grille," or open stitch, instead of the compact tissue of the " blondes mates " of the Spanish style. This is essentially " Chantilly lace." Chantilly first created the black silk lace industry, and deservedly it retains her name, whether made there or in Calvados. Chantilly black lace has always been made of silk, but from its being a grenadine, not a shining silk, a so high a reputation the fabrics of Chantilly. 9 " Inv. de dece3 de la Duchesse de Modene," 1761. 10 " Inv. de deces du Due de Duras," 1789. 11 " Une fraise a deux rangs de blonde tres-fine, grande hauteur, 120 1. " Une paire de sabots de la meme blonde, 84 1. " Un fichu en colonette, la fraise garnie a deux rangs d'une tres-belle blonde fond d'Alencon, 120 1. " Un pouff borde d'un plisse' de blonde toumante fond d'Alencon, a bouquets tres-fms et des bouillons de meme blonde." This wonderful coiffure being finished with " Un beau panache de quatre plumes couleurs imperiales, 108 1." CHANTILLY. 185 common error prevails that it is of thread, whereas black thread lace has never been made either at Chantilly or Bayenx. Chantilly fell with '93. Being considered a royal fabric, and its productions made for the nobility alone, its unfortunate lace- workers became the victims of revolutionary fury, and all perished, with their patrons, on the scaffold. We hear no more of the manu- facture until the empire, a period during which Chantilly enjoyed its greatest prosperity. In 1805, white blonde became the rage in Paris, and the workwomen were chiefly employed in its fabrication. The Chantilly laces were then in high repute, and much exported, the black, especially, to Spain and her American colonies ; no other manufactories could produce mantillas, scarfs, and other large pieces of such great beauty. It was then they made those rich large-patterned blondes called by the French " blondes mates," by the Spaniards " trapeada," the prevailing style since the first empire. About 1835 black lace again came into vogue, and the lace- makers were at once set to work at making black silk laces with double ground, and afterwards they revived the hexagonal ground of the last century, called " fond d'Alencon," 12 for the production of which they are celebrated. The lace industry has been driven away of late years from Chantilly, by the increase in the price of labour consequent on its vicinity to the capital. The lace manufacturers, unable to pay such high salaries, retired to Gisors, where in 1851 there were from 8000 to 9000 lace-makers. They only make the extra fine lace. The black shawls, dresses, scarfs, now produced at Chantilly, are more objects of luxury than of commercial value. Specimens of the finest workmanship made at Yiarmes were exhibited in 1867. The generally so-called Chantilly shawls are the production of Bayeux. 12 See preceding note. L«ti HISTORY OF LACK. CHAPTER XVI NOEMANDY. " Dangling thy lunula like bobbins before thee." Congreve, Way of the World. SEINE-INFERIEURE. Lace forms an essential part of the costume of the Normandy peasants. The wondrous " bourgoin," 1 with its long lappets of rich lace, descended from generation to generation, but little varied from the cornettes of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (Fig. 87). The countrywomen wore their lace at all times, when it was not replaced by the cotton nightcap, without much regard to the general effect of their daily clothes. "Madame the hostess," writes a traveller in 1739, "made her appearance in long lappets of bone lace ; with a sack of linsey wolsey." The manufactures of the Pays de Caux date from the beginning of the sixteenth century. Lace-making was the principal occupation of the wives and daughters of the mariners and fishermen. In 1692, M. de Sainte-Aignan, governor of Havre, found it employed 20,000 women. 2 1 " The bourgoin is formed of white, bas prix," employed at Rouen, Dieppe, stiffly starched muslin, covering a paste- Le Havre, and throughout the Pays de board shape, and rises to a great height Caux, theBailliage of Caen, at Lyons, Le above the head, frequently diminishing Puy, and other parts of France, one in size towards the top, where it finishes quarter of the population of all classes in a circular form. Two long lappets and ages from six to seventy years. These hang from either side towards the back, laces were all made of Haarlem thread, composed often of the finest lace. The See Holland. bourgoins throughout Normandy are not " The lace-makers of Havre," writes alike " — Mrs. Stothard's Tour in Nor- Peuchet, " work both in black and white mandy. points, from 5 sous to 30 francs the ell. 2 This must have included Honfleur They are all employed by a certain and other surrounding localities. number of dealers, who purchase the By a paper on the lace trade (" Mem. produce of their pillows. Much is trans- concernant le Commerce des Dentelles," ported to foreign countries, even to the 1704; Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 14,294;, East Indies, the Southern Seas, and the we find that the making of " dentelles de islands of America." NORMANDY. 187 It was in the province of Normandy, as comprised in its ancient extent, that the lace trade made the most rapid increase in the eighteenth century. From Arras to St. Malo more than thirty Fi«r. 87. Caucho.se. From an engraving of the eighteenth century. centres of manufacture established themselves, imitating with success the laces of Mechlin ; the guipures of Flanders ; the " fond clair," or single ground, then called point de Bruxelles ; point de Paris ; black thread laces, and also those guipures, enriched with gold and silver, so much esteemed for church ornament. The L88 BISTORY OF LACK. manufactures of Havre Eonfleur, Bolbec, Eu, Fecamp, and Dieppe, were most thriving. They made double and single grounds, guipure, and a kind of thick Valenciennes, such as is still made in the little town of llonflcur and its environs. In 1692, the number of Lace-makers at Havre and its environs was not less than 22,000. Corneille, 3 1707, declares the laces of Havre to be '' tres-recherchees ;" and in an engraving, 1(588, representing a "marchande lingere en sa boutique," 4 among the stock in trade, together with the points of Spain and England, are certain " cartons " labelled " point du Havre." It appears also in the " lie volte des Passemens," and in the inventory of Colbert, who considered it worthy of trimming his pillow-cases and his camisoles; 5 and Madame de Simiane 6 had two "toilettes garnies de dentelle du Havre," with an " estuy a peigne," en suite. Next in rank to the points du Havre came the laces of Dieppe and its environs, which, says an early writer of the eighteenth century, rivalled the " industrie " of Argentan and Caen. The city of Dieppe alone, with its little colony of Saint-Nicolas-d'Aliermont (a village of two leagues distant, descendants of a body of workmen who retired from the bombardment of Dieppe), 7 employed 4000 lace-makers. A writer in 17 6 1 8 says : " A constant trade is that of laces, which yield only in precision of design and fineness to those of Mechlin ; but it has never been so considerable as it was at the end of the seventeenth century. Although it has slackened since about 1745 in the amount of its productions, which have diminished in value, it has not altogether fallen. As this work is the occupation of women and girls, a great number of whom have no other means of subsistence, there is also a large number of dealers who buy their laces, to send them into other parts of the kingdom, to Spain, and the islands of America. This trade is 3 " Dictionnaire geographique," T. " 1681. Une chemisette de toile de Corneille, 1707. Marseille picquee garnye de dentelle du 4 " Gravures de Modes." Arch. Nat. Havre.'' — Inv. d'Anne d'Escouhleau de M. 815-23. Sourdis, veuve de Frangois de Simiane. 5 " 1683. Deux housses de toille pique'e Arch. Nat. M. M. 802. avec dentelle du Havre deux camisolles 7 " Les ouvriers n'etant apparemment de pareille toille et de dentelle du rappele's par aucune possession dans cette Havre." — Inv. fait apres le decedz de ville, lorsqu'elle fut retablie, ils s'y sont Monseigneur Colbert. Bib. Nat. MSS. etablis et ont transmis leur travail a la Suite de Mortemart, 34. posterity."— Peuchet. 6 " 1851. Un tour d'autel de dentelle 8 Point de Dieppe appears among the du Havre." — Inv. des meubles de la tickets on the already quoted lace boxes Saeristie de VOratoire de Jesus a Paris. of 168S. Bib. Nat. MSS. F. P. 8821. NOEMANDY. 189 free, without any corporation ; but those who make lace without being mercers cannot sell lace thread, the sale of which is very lucrative." 9 About twenty years later, we read : " The lace manufacture, which is very ancient, has much dimished since the points, embroidered muslins, and gauzes have gained the preference ; yet good workers earn sufficient to live comfortably ; but those who have not the requisite dexterity would do well to seek some other trade, as inferior lace-workers are unable to earn sufficient for a maintenance." 10 M. Feret writes in 1824 : ll " Dieppe laces are Fig. 88. Petit ponssin. in little request ; nevertheless there is a narrow kind, named ' poussin,' the habitual resource and work of the poor lace-makers of this town, and which recommends itself by its cheapness and Fig. 89. Ave Maria. pleasing effect when used as a trimming to collars and morning dresses. Strangers who visit our town make an ample provision of this lace " (Fig. 88). The lace-makers of Dieppe love to give 9 "Me'moires pDur servir a l'Histoire de la Ville de Dieppe, composes en l'annee 1761, par Michel-Claude Gurbert," p. 99. 10 " Mem oi res chronologiques pour servir a l'Histoire de Dieppe, par M. Desmarquets," 1785. 11 "Notices sur Dieppe, Arques etc., par P. J. Ferret," 1824. 1D0 11ISTOKY OV LACE. their own names to their different laces, Vierge, Ave Marin, &c. (Fig. 89), and the designation of " poussin " (chicken) is given to the lace in question from the delicacy of its workmanship. Point de Dieppe (Fig. 90) much resembles Valenciennes, but is less complicated in its make. The ground has three threads, Valenciennes four ; and whereas Valenciennes can only be made in lengths of 8 inches without detaching the lace from the pillow, the Dieppe point is not taken off, but rolled. 12 A few aged 12 Peuchet, of Dieppe, says : u On ne fait pas la dentelle en roulant \es fuseaux sur le coussin, mais en l'y jetant." NORMANDY. 101 workwomen, from 70 to 80 years of age, still make the ancient point, but it is now entirely superseded by Valenciennes. In 1826 a lace school was established at Dieppe, under the direction of two sisters from the convent of La Providence at Rouen, patron- Flo- 91. Dentelle a la Vierge. ised by the Duchesse de Berri, the Queen of the French, and the Empress Eugenie. The exertions of the sisters have been most successful. In 1842 they received the gold medal for having, by the substitution of the Valenciennes for the old Dieppe stitch, introduced a new industry into the department. They make Valenciennes of every width, and are most expert in the square L92 11IST0KY OF LACK. grounds of the Belgian Valenciennes, made entirely of flax thread, unmixed with cotton, and a1 most reasonable prices. 13 A very pretty double-grounded old Normandy lace, greatly used for caps, was locally known under the name of " dentelle de la Vierge" (Fig. 1)1). Wo find only one mention of a lace so designated, and that in the inventor)- made in 1785, after the death of Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orleans, the lather of Egalit6, where in his chapel at Villers-Cotterets is noted : "line aube en baptisto garnie en g*ros point de dentelle (lite a la Vierge." l4 The lace of En, resembling Valenciennes, was much esteemed. Located on the site of a royal chateau, the property of the beloved Due de Penthievre, himself a most enthusiastic lover of fine point, as his wardrobe accounts testify, the lace-makers received, no Fijr. 92. Due de Penthievre. Vanloo. Mu.see Nationale, Versailles. doubt, much patronage and encouragement from the seigneur of the domain. In the family picture by Vanloo, known as the " Tasse de Chocolat," containing portraits of the Due de Penthievre, his son, and the unfortunate Princesse de Lamballe, together with his daughter, soon to be Duchess of Orleans, the duke, who is holding in his hand a medal, enclosed in a case, wears a lace ruffle of Valenciennes pattern, probably the production of his own people (Fig. 92). Arthur Young, in 1788, states the wages of the lace-makers seldom exceed from seven or eight sous per day ; some few, he 13 '' Almanach de Dieppe pour 1847." librarian at Dieppe, for their commu- The Author has to express her thanks nications. to Srour Hubert, of the Ecole d'Appren- 14 Arch. Nat. X. 10,086. tissage de Dentelle, and M. A. Morin, NOKMANDY. 193 adds, may earn fifteen. Previous to the Revolution the lace made at Dieppe amounted to 400,000 francs annually. But Normandy experienced the shock of 1790. Dieppe had already suffered from the introduction of foreign lace when the Revolution broke out in all its fury. The products of Havre, with the manufactures of Pont-1'Eveque (Dep. Calvados), Harfieur, Eu, and more than ten other neighbouring towns, entirely disappeared. Those of Dieppe and Honfleur alone trailed on a precarious existence. CALVADOS. The principal lace centres in the Department of Calvados are Caen and Bayeux. From an early date white thread lace was made at Caen. It was not until 1745 that the blondes or silk laces made their appearance. The first silk used for the new production was of its natural colour, " ecrue," hence these laces were called " blondes." 15 After a time silk was procured of a more suitable white, and those beautiful laces produced which before long became of such com- mercial importance. A silk throwster, M. Duval, who died lately at Caen, was in a great degree the originator of the success of the Caen blondes, having been the first to prepare those brilliant white silks which have made their reputation. The silk is pro- cured from Bourg-Argental, in the Cevennes. The Caen workers made the Chantilly lace, " grille blanc," already described, and also the " blonde de Caen," in which the flower is made with a different silk from that which forms the reseau. It is this kind of blonde which is so successfully imitated at Calais. Lastly, the" blonde mate," or Spanish, already mentioned. In no other place, except Chantilly, have the blondes attained so pure a white, such perfect workmanship, such lightness, such brilliancy as the " blondes de Caen." They had great success in France, were extensively exported, and made the fortune of the surround- ing country, where they were fabricated in every cottage. Not every woman can work at the white lace. Those who have what is locally termed the " haleine grasse " are obliged to confine 15 " The silk came from Nankin, by prepared at Lyons, the thread was from way of London or the East, the black Haarlem." — Roland de la Plaiiere. silk called ' grenadine ' was dyed and O 194 HISTORY OF LAOE. themselves to Mack. In order to preserve purity of colour, the Lacemakers work during the summer months in the open air, in winter in Lofts over their COW-houses: wanned by the heat of the animals, they dispense with lire and its accompanying smoke. 16 Generally, i1 was only made in summer, and the Mack reserved for w inter work. lVuchot speaks of white lace being made in Caen from the lowest price to 25 livres the ell. 17 The silk blonde trade did not suffer from the crisis of 1821 to 1832; when the thread-lace makers were reduced to the brink of ruin by the introduction of bobbin net, the demand for blonde, on the con- trary, had a rapid increase, and Caen exported great quantities, by smuggling, to England. The blonde-makers earning twenty- five per cent, more than the thread-lace makers, the province was in full prosperity. The competition with the machine-made blondes of Calais and Nottingham has caused the manufacture of the white blondes to be abandoned, and the Caen lace-makers now confine themselves to making black lace. Caen also produces gold and silver blondes, mixed sometimes with pearls. In 1847 the laces of Caen alone employed more than 50,000 persons, or one-eighth of the whole population of Calvados. Bayeux formerly made only light thread laces — mignonettes, and what Peuchet calls 18 " point de Marli." " On ne voit dans ces dentelles," he writes, " que du reseau de cli verses especes, du fond et une canetille a gros fil, qu'on conduit autour de ces fonds." Marli, styled in the Dictionary of Napoleon Landais a " tissu a jour en fil et en soie fabrique sur le metier a faire de la gaze," was in fact the predecessor of tulle. It was invented about 1765, 19 and for twenty years had great success. In the " Tableau de Paris," 1782, we read that marli employed a great number of workpeople, " et Ton a vu des soldats valides et invalides faire le marli, le promener, l'offrir, et le vendre eux-memes. Des soldats faire le 16 Letter from Edgar McCulIoch, Esq., ,8 The handkerchief of "Paris net," Guernsey. mentioned by Goldsmith. 17 Blondes appear also to have been 19 In the Dep. du Nord, by Jean-Ph. made at Le Mans : — Briatte. " Its fall was owing to the bad " Cette manufacture qui etoit autrefois faith of imitators, who substituted a single entretenue a l'hopital du Mans, lui thread of bad quality for the double twisted rapportoit un benefice de 4000 a 5000 fr. thread of the country." — Diendonne", Elle est bien tombee par la dispersion Statistique du Dep. du Nord. des anciennes soeurs hospitalieres." — Stat. In the "Mercure Galant" for June du De'p. de la Sarthe, par le Citoyen 1086, we find the ladies wear " cornettes L.-M. Auvray. An X. a la jardiniere ' de Marly.' " NORMANDY. 195 marli ! " It was to this marli, or large pieces of white thread net, that Bayeux owes its reputation. No other manufactory could produce them at so low a price. Bayeux alone made albs, shawls, and other articles of large size. Lace was first made at Bayeux in the convents and schools, under the direction of the nuns of La Providence. It was not until 1740 that a commercial house was established by M. Clement ; from which period the manufacture has rapidly increased, and is now one of the most important in France. The black laces of Caen, Bayeux, and Chantilly, are alike ; the design and mode of fabrication being identical, it is almost impossible, for even the most experienced eye, to detect the difference. They are mostly composed of "piece goods," shawls, dresses, flounces, and veils, made in small strips, united by the stitch already alluded to, the point de raccroc, to the invention of which Calvados owes her prosperity. This stitch, invented by a lace-maker named Cahanet, admits of putting a number of hands on the same piece, whereas, under the old system, not more than two could work at the same time. A scarf, which would formerly have taken two women six months to complete, divided into segments, can now be finished by ten women in one. About 1827, Madame Carpentier caused silk blonde again to be made for French consumption, the fabric having died out. Two years later she was succeeded by M. Auguste Lefebure, by whom the making of " blondes mates " for exportation was introduced with such success that Caen, who had applied herself wholly to this manufacture, almost gave up the competition. Mantillas (Spanish, Havanese, and Mexican), in large quantities, were ex- ported to Spain, Mexico, and the Southern Seas, and were superior to those made in Catalonia. This manufacture requires the greatest care, as it is necessary to throw aside the French taste, and adopt the heavy, overcharged patterns appropriate to the costumes and fashions of the countries for which they are des- tined. These mantillas have served as models for the imitations made at Nottingham. To the exertions of M. Lefebure is due the great improvement in the teaching of the lace schools. Formerly the apprentices were consigned to the care of some aged lace-maker, probably of deficient eyesight ; he, on the contrary, places them under young and skilful forewomen, and the result has been the rising up of a generation of workers who have given to Bayeux a reputation o 2 L96 HISTORY OF LA OF, superior to all in Calvados. It is the first maim factory for large pieces of black Lace ( Fig. 93), of extra fine quality and rich design ; and as point d'Alencon (see p. L72) lace bas also been introduced into the city, Bayeux excels equally at the pillow and the needle. Black luci of Bayeux. Messrs. Lefebure have also most successfully reproduced the Venetian point in high relief ; the raised flowers are executed with great beauty, the picots rendered with the greatest precision (Coloured Plate XL). The discovery of the way in which this To face page 18G NORMANDY. 197 richest and most complicated of point lace was made has been the work of great patience. It is called " point Colbert," after the minister to whom France owes the establishment of her lace industry. In 1851 there were in Calvados 00,000 lace-workers, spread along the sea-coast to Cherbourg, where the nuns of La Providence have an establishment. It is only by visiting the district that an adequate idea can be formed of the resources this work affords to the labouring classes, thousands of women deriving from it their sole means of subsistence. 20 20 "LTndustric fran9ai.se depuis la Revolution do Fc'viier ct rExjosition do 1848, par M. A. Audiganne." M. Aubry, in his report, thus divides the lace-makers of Normandy :— jArrondissement of Caen . 25,000 Department J „ „ Bayeux 15,000 of Calvados] „ „ Pont-1'Eveque, Falaise, and ( Usieux 10,000 Departments of La Manche and Seine-Inferieure 10,100 60,000 The women earn from 50 sous to 25 sons. sous a day, an improvement on the wages Their products are estimated at from of the last century, which, in the time of 8 to 10 millions of francs (320,000?. to Arthur Young, seldom amounted to 24 400,OOOL). L98 IUSTOKY OF LACE. CHAPTEE XVII. VALENCIENNES (Dbp. dtj Nobd). " lis s'attachoient a considerer des tableaux de petit point de la manufacture de Valencienne qui representoieut ties fleurs, et comme ils lcs trouvoicut parfaitement beaux, M. de Magelotte, leur bote, voidoit lcs leur donner, mais ils no lcs accepterent point." — Voyage des Ambassadeurs de Shim, 1688. Part of the ancient province of Hainault, Valenciennes, together with Lille and Arras, is Flemish by birth, French only by conquest and treaty. 1 The date of its lace manufacture is unknown, but it early made lace with straight edge and a ground of running pattern, its lirst productions being attributed to a Pierre Chauvin and Ignace Harent, who employed a three-thread twisted flax. It flourished under Louis XIV., and reached its climax from 1725 to 1780, when there were from 3000 to 4000 lace-makers in the city alone. Coloured Plate XII. shows the style of patterns till the middle of the eighteenth century — flowers and scrolls of the Renaissance, later replaced with the reseau ground. From 1780 downwards, fashion changed. The cheaper and lighter laces of Brussels, Lille, and Arras, obtained the preference over the costly and more substantial products of Valenciennes — " les eternelles Valenciennes," as they were called — while the sub- sequent disappearance of ruffles from the costume of the men greatly added to the evil. Valenciennes fell with the monarchy. During the war of liberty, foreign occupation decimated its popu- lation, and the art became nearly lost. In 1790 the number of lace-workers had diminished to 250 ; and though Napoleon used every effort to revive the manufacture, he was unsuccessful. In 1851 there were only two lace-makers remaining, and they both upwards of eighty years of age. 1 Frencli Hainault, French Flanders Louis XIII. and Louis XIV., confirmed and Cambresis (the present Dep. du to France by the treaties of Aix-la- Nord), with Artois, were conquests of Ohapelle (1G08), and Nimcguen (1G78). ■ ... i ^-;-.Y -i ■;,-/.'.-..- %^iyi To face pc. VALENCIENNES. 199 The lace made in the city alone was termed " vraie Valen- ciennes," and attained a perfection unrivalled by the productions of the villages beyond the walls. In the lace accounts of Madame du Barry we find frequent mention of this term. 2 ' " Vraie Valen- ciennes " appears constantly in contradistinction to " batarde " 3 and " fausse." i M. Dieudonne* writes : 5 " This beautiful manu- facture is so inherent in the place that it is an established fact, if a piece of lace were begun at Valenciennes and finished outside the walls, the part which had not been made at Valen- ciennes would be visibly less beautiful and less perfect than the other, though continued by the same lace-maker with the same thread, and upon the same pillow." 6 The extinction of the fabric and its transfer to Belgium has been a great commercial loss to France. Valenciennes being specially a " dentelle linge," is that of which the greatest quantity is consumed throughout the universe. Valenciennes lace is altogether made upon the pillow, of simple combination, with one kind of thread for the pattern and the ground (Fig. 94). No lace is so expensive to make from the number of bobbins required, and the flax used was of the finest quality. The city-made lace was remarkable for the beauty of its ground, the richness of its design, and evenness of its tissue. From their solidity, " les belles et eternelles Valenciennes " became an heirloom in each family. A mother bequeathed them to her daughter as she would now her jewels or her furs. 7 The lace-makers worked in underground cellars, from four in the morning till eight at night, scarcely earning their tenpence a day. The pattern was the especial 2 " 1772. 15 aunes 3-16 mes jabot haut been possible to transfer any kind of de vraie Valencienne, 3706 livres manufacture from one city to another, 17 sous ;" and many other similar entries. without there being a marked difference 3 " 5/8 Batarde dito a bordure, a 60 11., between the productions." — Auhry. 37 11. 10 s." — Comptes de Madame du May not this - difference be rather Barry. attributed to mechanical causes, the 4 See Bailleul, p. 208. different inclination of the pillow the 5 " Statistique du Dep. du Nord, par weight and size of the bobbing, the M. Dieudonne, Prefet en 1804." different way of pricking the pattern, and 6 "Among the various lace fabrics of twisting the bobbins? All these may having the same process of manufacture, influence the production. there is not one which produces exactly the 7 In the already quoted " Etat d'uu same style of lace. The same pattern, with Trousseau," 1771, among the necessary the same material, whether executed in articles, are enumerated : " Une coeffure Belgium, Saxony, Lille, Arras, Mirecourt, tour de gorge et le fichu plisite' de vraie or Le Puy, will always hear the stamp of Valencienne." The trimming of one of the place where it is made. It has nev< r Madame du Barry's pilluw-cases cost liOO HISTOKY OF LAC]-:. property of the manufacturer; it was at the option of the worker to pay for its use and retain her work, if not satisfied with the l»ricr she recei \ commerce, they wrote to Colbert for 8936. protection. 2,; We find in the "Colbert Corre- ARRAS. 207 The lace-workers earn from 12 to 15 sons." Pouchet corroborates this statement. " Arras," he says, " fait beancoup de mignonette et entoilage, dont on consomme beauconp en Angleterre." The fabric of Arras attained its climax during the empire (1804 a to 1812), since which period it has declined. In 1851 there were 8000 lace-makers in a radius of eight miles round the city, their salary not exceeding 65 centimes a day. There is little or, indeed, no variety in the pattern of Arras lace ; for years it has produced the same style and design ; as a Fig. 98. Arras (modern). consequence of this sameness, the lace-makers, always executing the same pattern, acquire great rapidity. Though not so fine as that of Lille, the lace of Arras has three good qualities : it is very strong, firm to the touch, and perfectly white ; hence the great demand for both home and foreign consumption ; no other lace having this triple merit at so reasonable a price (Fig. 98). The gold lace of Arras appears also to have had a reputation. We find among the coronation expenses of George I. a charge for 354 yards of Arras lace " atrebaticse lacinse." 27 27 Gt. Ward. Ace. Geo. I. 1714-15 (P. R. O.), and Ace. of John, Duke of Montagu, master of the great wardrobe, touching the expenses of the funeral of Queen Anne and the coronation of George T P. R. O. In 1761, an act was passed against its being counterfeited, and a vendor of "Orrice lace" (counterfeit, we suppose) forfeits her goods. •JOS HISTOIJY OV LACE. BAILLEtJL (Dfcp. du Nord> As already mentioned, up to L7i)0 the"vraie Valenciennes' was only made in the city of that name, The same lace manu- factured at Lille, Bergues, Bailleul, Aresnes, Cassel, Armentieres, as well as thai of Belgium, was called ^faUsses Valenciennes." "Armentieres et Bailleul ne font quo de la Valencienne fausse, dans tons lox prix," writes Peuchet, " On nomme," states another author, 28 "fausses Valenciennes la dcntelle dc memo espece, inferieure en qualite, fabriquee moins serree, dont le dessin est moins recherche* et le toile des fleurs moins marque." Of such is the lace of Bailleul, whose manufacture is the most ancient and most important, extending to Hazebrouck, Morgues, Cassel, and the surrounding villages. 29 Previous to 1830 Bailleul fabricated little besides straight edges for the Normandy market. In 1822 the scalloped edge was adopted, and from this period dates the progress and present prosperity of the manufacture. Its laces are not much esteemed in Paris. They have neither the finish nor lightness of the Belgian products, are soft to the touch, the mesh round, and the ground thick; but it is strong and cheap, and in general use for trimming lace. The lace, too, of Bailleul is the whitest and cleanest Valen- ciennes made ; hence it is much sought after, for exportation to America and India. The patterns are varied and in good taste ; and there is every reason to expect that in due time it may attain the perfection, if not of the Valenciennes of Ypres, at least to that of Bruges, which city alone annually sends to France lace to the value of from 120,000?. to 100,000/. CHAMPAGNE. The Ardennes lace was generally much esteemed, especially the " points de Sedan," which derived their name from the city where they were manufactured. 30 Not only were points made 28 " Statistique des Gens de Lettres,'' dispersed over the district. 1803. Herbin, t. ii. 30 Savary. Sedan was ceded to Louis 20 In 1851, there were 8000 lace-makers XIII. in 1G42. CHAMPAGNE. 209 there, but, to infer from the Great Wardrobe Account of Charles I., the cut work of Sedan had then reached our country, and was of great price. We find in one account, 31 a charge for " six hand- some Sedan and Italian collars of cutwork, and for 62 yards of needlework purl for six pairs of linen ruffs," the enormous sum of 1161. 6s. And again, in the last year of his reign, he has " six handsome Pultenarian Sedan collars of cutwork, with the same accompaniment of 72 yards of needlework purl," amounting to 106Z. 16s. 32 What these Pultenarian collars may have been, we cannot, at this distance of time, surmise ; but the entries afford proof that the excellency of the Sedan cutwork was known in England. Lace was made in the seventeenth century at Sedan, Donchery, Charleville, Mezieres, and Troyes. The thread manufacturers of Sedan furnished the material necessary for all the lace-workers of Champagne. Much point de Sedan was made at Charleville, and the laces of this last- named town 33 were valued at from four up to fifty livres the el], and even sometimes at a higher rate. The greater part of the produce was sold in Paris, the rest found a ready market in England, Holland, Germany, and Poland. 34 Pignariol de la Force, writing later, says the manufacture of points and laces at Sedan, formerly so flourishing, is now of little value. 35 The importance of the lace industry in Champagne, second only to that of Alencon, naturally pointed it out as a fitting site for the new manufacture of point de France ; so we find Sedan, Rheims, and Chateau-Thierry among the towns mentioned in the declaration of 1665. In 1666, Colbert, by order of the king, writes to the governor of Sedan, enjoining him to take the greatest precautions against the malice of the dealers, who were in the habit of having work executed at Venice which they sold at court and in the kingdom as point de France, the work of Sedan. Rheims, again, was the subject of a close correspondence. General Hoguebert wrote to Colbert, on the 18th January 1665, 31 " Eidem pro 6 divit Sedan et Italic xi. to xii. colaris opere sciss et pro 62 purles opere 33 In 1700, there were several lace acuo pro 6 par manic linteaf eisdem, 116Z. manufacturers at Charleville, the prin- 6s." — Gt. Ward. Ace. Car. I. ix. to xi. cipal of whom was named Vigoureux. P. K. O. " Hist, de Charleville," Charleville, 1854. 32 " Eidem pro 6 divit Pultenarian 34 Savary, ed. 1726. Sedan de opere sciss colaris et pro 72 35 "Description de la France," ed. purles divit opere acuo pro manic linteaf 1752. eisdem, 106/. 16s."— Gt. Ward. Ace. Car. I. 210 HISTORY OF LACE. assuring him thai the establishment will not be wanting in assist- ance from the town and Prom himself. Again, on the 1st July of the same yea!-, he writes thai the Sieur Pierre Chardin, a French- man, who lias lived a Long time in Venice, lias arrived with his wife, three sons, and two daughters, and has been made director of the establishment. He has now in the house 5 Venetian women, 22 Flemish and 30 girls of this town, without counting the servants. There have also lately arrived 7 girls, sent from Paris. So the director is sanguine of success; and, besides, the work has the additional merit of being whiter than elsewhere. In three months and a half the establishment had 120 workers. In a previous letter to Colbert, from a nun who undertook to watch the workgirls, she writes there has been a calamity fallen upon the manufactory. Several girls had been attacked by illness, which the grand vicaire attributes to witchcraft; but when the house had been properly blessed, no more cases had occurred. They now amount to 140 good workwomen, and they have sent an " envoi " this week which the entrepreneurs will be satisfied with. Of the Chateau-Thierry manufacture, we hear nothing ; and Sens is incidentally mentioned by Colbert, 1670, in a letter to Auxerre, in which he expresses his surprise to hear the lace- workers diminish, while at Sens, a town in which he had not the same interest, they are satisfied with the advantages it pro- cures them. Most of its lace-makers being Protestants, they emigrated after the Edict of Revocation. Chateau-Renaud and Mezieres were chiefly employed in the manufacture of footings (engrelures). 36 The laces of Donchery were similar to those of Charleville, but made of the Holland thread. They were less esteemed than those of Sedan. A large quantity were exported to Italy and Portugal ; some few found their way to England and Poland. Up to the Revolution, Champagne employed from 5000 to 0000 lace-workers, and their annual products were estimated at 200,000 fr. During the twelve years of revolutionary anarchy, all the lace manu- factories of this province disappeared. 30 Savary. ( 211 ) CHAPTER XVIII. AUVERGNE AND VELAY LE PUY (Dep. Haute-Loire). As early as the fifteenth century, the countrywomen of the moun- tains of the Velay would congregate together during the winter within the walls of the neighbouring cities, and there, forming themselves into companies, gain their subsistence by making coarse lace, to ornament the albs of the priests, the rochets of the bishops, and the petticoats of ladies of quality. And very coarse and tasteless were these early products, to judge from the specimens which remain tacked on to faded altar-cloths, still to be met with in the province, a mixture of netting and darning without design. They also made what was termed " dentelles de menage," with the coarse thread they used for weaving their cloth. They edged their linen with it, and both bleached together in the wearing. This lace region of Central France, of which Le Puy is the chief place, is considered to be the most ancient and considerable in France. It is distributed over the four departments, 1 and employs from 125,000 to 130,000 women. It forms the sole industry of the Haute-Loire, in which department alone are 70,000 lace-makers. The lace industry of Le Puy, like all others, has experienced various changes; it has had its trials 2 and its periods of great prosperity. 3 In the chronicles of Le Puy of the sixteenth century 4 we read that the merciers of Notre-Dame-des-Anges, " qui, suivant l'usage, faisaient dans notre ville le commerce des passementeries, broderies, dentelles etc., comptaient alors quarante boutiques, et 1 Haut-Loire. Cantal, Puy-de-Dume, and Loire. 3 1833 and 1848. 2 1640. 4 By Medecis. p 2 212 HISTORY OF LACE. qu'ils figurenl avec enseignes et torches an premier rang dans lcs si demotes religieuses." Judging from local documents, this manufacture has lor more than two centuries hack formed the chief occupation of the women of t his province. It suffered from the sumptuary edicts of 1629, 1035, and lf)39, and in 1 (I lo threatened to be annihilated altogether. In the month of January of that year, the seneschal of Le Puy published throughout the city a decree of the parliament of Toulouse, which forbade, under pain of heavy fine, all persons of whatever sex, quality, or condition, to wear upon their vestments any lace "tant de soie que de ill blanc, ensemble passement, clinquant d'or ni d'argent tin on faux;" thus by one ordinance annihilating the industry of the province. The reasons assigned for this absurd edict were twofold : first, in consequence of the largo number of women employed in the lace trade, there was great difficulty in obtaining domestic servants; secondly, the general custom of wearing lace among all classes caused the shades of distinction between the high and low to disappear. These ordinances, as may be imagined, created great consternation throughout Le Puy. Father Regis, a Jesuit, who was then in the province, did his best to console the sufferers thus reduced to beggary by the caprice of parliament. " Ayez confiance en Dieu," he said ; " la dentelle ne perira pas." He set out to Toulouse, and by his remonstrances obtained a revocation of the edict. Nor did he rest satisfied with his good work. At his suggestion the Jesuits opened to the Auvergne laces a new market in Spain and the New World, which, until the year 1790, was the occasion of great prosperity to the province. The Jesuit father was later canonised for his good deeds ; and under his new appellation of Saint Francois Regis, 5 is still held in the greatest veneration by the women of Auvergne — patron saint of the lace-makers. Massillon, when bishop of Clermont (1717), greatly patronised the lace-makers of his diocese, and, anxious the province should itself furnish the thread used in the manufacture, he purchased a quantity of spinning-wheels which he distributed among the poor families of Beauregard, the village in which the summer palace of the bishop, previous to the Revolution, was situated. The lace trade of this province frequently appears on the scene "' Died December L640. The edict was promulgated the preceding January. AUVERGNE AND VELAY. 213 during the eighteenth century. In 1707 the manufacturers demand a remission of the import duties of 1664 as unfair, 6 and with success. Scarce ten years afterwards, 7 notwithstanding the privilege accorded, we again find them in trouble : whether their patterns did not advance with the fashions of the day, or the manufacturers deteriorated the quality of the thread — too often the effect of commercial prosperity — the magazines were filled with lace, " propres, les unes pour l'ltalie, d'autres pour les mers du sud," which the merchants refused to buy. To remedy this bad state of affairs, the commissioners assembled at Montpelier coolly decided that the diocese should borrow 60,000 livres to purchase the dead stock, and so clear the market. After some arguments the lace was bought by the Sieur Jerphanion, syndic of the diocese. Prosperity, however, was not restored, for in 1755 we again hear of a grant of 1000 livres, payable in ten years by the states of Velay, for the relief of the distressed lace-makers, and again a fresh demand for exemption of the export duty. 8 This is de- clared in a memorial of 1761 to be the chief cause of the distress, which memorial also states that, to employ the people in a more lucrative way, a manufacture of blondes and silk laces had been introduced. Peuchet, with his predecessor, Savary, and other writers on statistics, describe the manufacture of Le Puy as the most flourish- ing in France. "Her lace," writes Peuchet, "resembles greatly that of Flanders ; much is consumed in the French dominions, and a considerable quantity exported to Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, and England. Much thread lace is also expedited by way of Cadiz to Peru and Mexico. The ladies of these countries trim their petticoats and other parts of their dress with such a profusion of lace as to render the consumption ' prodigieuse.' ' " Les Anglois en donnent des commissions en contrebande pour l'lsthmus de Panama. Les Hollandois en demanclent aussi et 6 They represent to the king that the cVEdat du Roy, 6 August 1707. Arch, laces of the "'diocese du Puy, du Ve'lay Nat. Coll. Rond. They ended by ob- et de l'Auvergne, dont il se faisait un tainiug a duty of five sous per lb., commerce tres-conside'rabh; dans les pays instead of the 50 livres paid by Flanders etrangei s, par les ports de Bordeaux, La and England, or the 10 livres paid by Kochelle et Nantes," ought not to pay the laces of Comte', Liege, and Lorraine. the import duties held by the "cinq 7 1715 and 1716. grosses fermes." — Arrest du Conseil s See p. 51. 1'U HISTORY OF LACK. faisaient exp6dier a Cadiz a Leur compte."' It may indeed be said that, with the exception of the period of the French Revolution to 1801, the lace trade of Le Puy has been over prosperous, 10 Formerly, they only made at I^o Puy Laces to each of which was given a distinctive name — ave, pater, chapelets, mie, serpent, bonnet, scie, &C. 11 Le Puy now produces every description of lace, white and coloured; silk, thread, and worsted; blondes of all kinds, black silk guipures, and others of the finest reseau grounds; application, double and single grounds; from gold and silver lace to edgings of a halfpenny a yard. In 1847 more than 5000 women were employed in making Valenciennes. They have also succeeded in producing admirable needle-points, similar to the ancient Venetian. A dress of this lace, destined to adorn an image of the Virgin, was shown in the French Exhibition of 1855. In 1848, commerce and the lace trade languished, and a cheaper lace was produced, made of worsted, for shawls and trimmings. This J ace was not long in fashion, but it reappeared a few years after under the name of " lama," or " poil de chevre," when it obtained a great success. The hair of the lama has never been used. The finest collection of Auvergne lace in the International Exhibition was from the manufactory at Craponne (Haute-Loire), 12 established in 1830 by M. Theodore Falcon, to whom Le Puy is indebted for her " musee de dentelles," containing specimens of the lace of all countries and all ages, a most useful and instructive collection for the centre of a lace district, and one which might to advantage be established in our own country. 13 Le Puy has also a lace school, numbering a hundred pupils, and a school of design for lace patterns, founded in 1859. Poland de la Platiere. Florence and Spain, each 200,000 ; Guy- 10 The thread used in Auvergne comes enne exported by the merchants of from Haarlem, purchased either from Bordeaux 200,000 ; 500,000 went to the the merchants of Eouen or Lyons. In Spanish Indies. The rest was sold in the palmy days of Le Puy her lace- France by means of colporteurs. Peuchet. workers consumed annually to the 12 In Auvergne, lace has preserved its amount of 400,000 livres. ancient names of "passement" and 11 Three-fourths of the Auvergne lace "pointes," the latter applied cspeciVlyto were consumed in Europe in time of peace : needle-made lace. — Sardinia took 120,000 francs, purchased 13 "We are happy to state that a lace by the merchants of Turin, once a year, museum has been opened in the Albert and then distributed through the country; Memorial Museum of Exeter. AUVERGNE AND VELAY. 215 AURILLAC AND MUKAT (Dip-. Cantal). The lace of Aurillac had an early reputation. The origin of the manufacture is assigned to the fourteenth century, when a company of emigrants established themselves at Cuenca and Valcameos, and nearly all the points of Aurillac were exported into Spain through this company. 14 It had an important commerce in the seventeenth century, where it is mentioned in the " Revolte des Passemens " ; and in 1670, the author of the " Delices de la France " writes : " L'on fait a Orillac les dentelles qui ont vogue dans le royaume." 15 Colbert established manufactories of points de France at Aurillac and Riom, and met with the usual resistance on the part of the lace-makers, who would not give up what the intend ant terms " the wretched old point," which an historian of the depart- ment describes, on the contrary, as consisting of rich, flowered designs, as may be seen by studying the portraits of many Auvergnat noblemen of the period. 16 There are various letters on the subject in the " Colbert Correspondence ; " in the last from Colbert, 1 670, he writes that the point d' Aurillac is improving, and there are 8000 lace-women at work. It appears that he established at Aurillac a manufactory of lace, where they made, upon "des dessins flamands modifies," a special article, then named " point Colbert," and, subsequently, " point d' Aurillac." In the convent of the Visitation at Le Puy is shown the lace trimming of an alb, point d'Angleterre. It is 28 inches wide, of white thread, with brides picotees, of elegant scroll design. If, as tradition asserts, it w 7 as made in the country, it must be the produce of this. manufactory. 17 It appears that rich " passements," as they are still called in the country, of gold and silver were made long before the period of Colbert. We find abundant mention of them in the church 14 Savary. I7 Photographed in the ''Album 15 Saviniere d'Alquie. d'Arehe'ologiu religieuse," where it is 16 " Guide historique du De'pat tenient styled " Valenciennes/' de Caiital, par Henri Duref." 21« HISTORY OF LAOE. inventories of the province; and in the museum arc pieces oi rich lace said to have belonged to Francis 1. and his successors, which, according to tradition, were the produce of Aurillac. They an 1 not o( a wire, but consist of strips of metal twisted round the silk. In the inventory of the sacristy of the Benedictine monastery at St.-Aligro, 1 (IS K there is a great profusion of lace. " Voile de brocard, fond d'or entoure* d'un point d'Espagne (Tor et argent;" another, "garni dedentelles d'or et argent, enrich i de perles lines;" "20 aubea a grandes dentelles, amicts, lavabos, surplis-," &c., all •• a grandes ou petites dentelles." 1H In the account of a masked ball, as given in the ' r Mercure Galant" of 1679, these points find honourable mention. The Prince de Oonty is described as wearing a "mante de point d'Aurillac or et argent;" the Comte de Vermandois, a veste edged with the same; while Mademoiselle de Blois has "ses voiles de point d'Aurillac d'argent;" and of the Duchesse de Mortemart it is said, "On voyoit dessous ses plumes un voile de point d'Aurillac or et argent qui tomboit sur ses epaules." Tin; Chevalier Colbert, who appeared in an African costume, had " des manches pendantes " of the same material. The same "Mercure," of April 1681, speaking of the dress of the men, says : "La plupart portent des garnitures d'une richesse qui ernpeschera que les particuliers ne les imitent, puisqu'elles reviennent a 50 louis. Ces garnitures sont de point d'Espagne ou d'Aurillac." From the above notices, as well as from the fact that the greater part of these laces were sent into Spain, it appears that the " passements," as they were still called, were a rich gold and silver lace made at Aurillac, and similar to the point d'Espagne. 19 The laces of Murat (Dep. Haute-Garonne) were " facon de is "V il e de toile d'argent, garni tie d'Espagne d'or et argent fin," while grandes dentelles d'or et argent fin, donne hi the cathedral of Clermont the chapter en 1711 pour envelopper lc chef de 8. contented itself with " dentelles d'or et ( Tiiurlence." — Inventaire du Monastere des argent faux." Benedictines de St.-Aligre. 19 The finest "points de France," In the inventory of Massil Ion's chapel writes Savary, were made at Aurillac at Beauregard, 1742, are albs trimmed and Murat, the former alone at one time with "point d'Aurillac," veils with "point producing to the annual value of 700,000 d'Etpagne or et argent." In the convents francs (28,000Z.), and giving occupation arc constantly noted down "point to from 8000 to 4000 lace -workers. AUVERGNE AND V^LAY. 2L7 Malines et de Lille." They were also made at La Chaise-Dieu, Alenches, and Verceilles. These points were greatly esteemed, and purchased by the wholesale traders of Le l J uy and Clermont, who distributed them over the kingdom through their colporteurs. The manufacture of Aurillac and Murat ended with the devolution. The women, finding they could earn more as domestic servants in the neighbouring towns, on the restoration of order, never again returned to their ancient occupation. 216 HISTORY <>K LACK. CHAPTER XIX. LIMOUSIN. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a kind of pillow net ("torchon entoilage," Mr. Ferguson calls it) 1 for women's sleeves was manufactured at Tulle (Correze), and also at Aurillac. From this circumstance many writers have derived "tulle," the French name for bobbin-net, from this town, where it has never, at any period, been made. The first dictionary in which the word "tulle" occurs is the French Encyclopaedia of 17b5, where we find, " Tulle, une espece de dentelle commune rnais plus ordinairement ce qu'on appelait entoilage." 2 Entoilage, as we have already shown, is the plain net ground upon which the pattern is worked, 3 or a plain net used to widen points or laces, or worn as a plain border. In Louis XV.'s reign, Madame de Mailly is described after she had retired from the world as "sans rouge, sans poudre, et, qui plus est, sans dentelles, attendu qu'elle ne portait plus que de l'entoilage a bord plat." 4 We read in the " Tableau de Paris " how " le tul, la gaz et le marli out occupes cent mille mains." Tulle was made on the pillow in Germany before lace was introduced. If tulle derived its name from any town, it would more probably be from Toul, celebrated, as all others in Lorraine, for its embroidery ; and as net resembles the stitches made in embroidery by separating the threads (hemstitch, &c), it may have taken its French name, tulle, German, Tiill, from the points de Tulle of the workwomen of the town of Toul, called in Latin, Tullum, or Tullo. 5 1 " 1773. 6 an. de grande entoilage de ' " Souvenirs de la Marquise de belle blonde a poix." Crequy." 2 " 16 au. entoilage a mouches a 11 1., 5 In an old geography, we find "Tulle, 17'J 1." — C&mptes de Madame du Barry. Tuille three hundred years ago." "7 au. de tulle pour hausser lea The word Tule, or Tuly, occurs in an manehettes, a 9 1., 63 1." — Comptes de English inventory of 1315, and again, in Madame du Barry, 1770. "Sir Gawayn and the Green Knight;" LORRAINE. 219 LORRAINE. r l he lace manufacture of Lorraine passes for one of the oldest in France. It flourished in the seventeenth century. Mirecourt 6 and the villages of its environs, extending to the Department of the Meurthe, was the great centre of this trade, which formed the sole occupation of the countrywomen. For some centuries the lace-workers employed only hempen thread, spun in the environs of Epinal, and specially at Chatel-sur-Moselle. 7 From this they produced a species of coarse guipure termed " passament," or, in the patois of the province, " peussemot." 8 As early as the seventeenth century, they set aside this coarse article, and soon produced a finer and more delicate lace, with various patterns : they now made double ground and mignonette ; and at Luneville (Dep. Meurthe\ " dentelles a l'instar de Flandre." In 1715, an edict of Duke Leopold regulates the manufacture at Mirecourt. 9 The lace was exported to Spain and the Indies. It found its way also to Holland, the German States, and England, where Eandle Holme mentions "points of Lorraine, without raisings." 10 The Lorraine laces were mostly known in commerce as " les dentelles de Saint-Mihiel," from the town of that name, one of the chief places of the fabric. These last named laces were much esteemed on their first appearance. Previous to the union of Lorraine to France, in 1766, there were scarcely 800 lace-makers in Mirecourt. The number now amounts to nearly 25,0l>0. n but in both cases, the word seems not objects of religious art exhibited at the to indicate a stuff, but rather a locality, General Assembly of the Catholics of probably Toulouse. Francisque Michel. Belgium, at Mechlin. We find noticed In Skelton's " Garland of Lawrell," we therein, " Den telle pour rochet, point de find, " A skein of tewly silk ;" which his Nancy," from the church of St. Charles commentator, the Rev. A. Dyce, con- at Antwerp, together with various " voiles siders to be " dyed of a red colour." de be'ne'diction," laces for rochets and 6 Dep. Vosges. 7 Neufchateau. altar-cloths, of " point de Paris/' 8 The trader who purchases the lace is ll The " Tableau statistique du Dep. called " peussemotier." des Vosges," by Citoyen Desgoulles, An 9 The Lorraine laces could only enter X, says : "Mirecourt is celebrated for its France by the bureau of Chaumont, nor lace fabrics. There are twenty lace could they leave the country without a merchants; but the workers are not formal permit delivered at Monthureux- attached to any particular house. They le-Sec. buy their own thread, make the lace, 10 In a catalogue of the collection of and bring it to the merchants of Mirecourt 220 IllSToKY OF LACE. K;trl\ in the present century the export trade gave place to more extensive dealings with France. "Point de Flandre" was tlun very much made, the patterns imported l>y travelling merchants journeying on their wav to Switzerland. Anxious to produce Dovelty, the manufacturers of Mirecourt wisely sent for draughtsmen and changed the old patterns. Their success was complete. They soon became formidable rivals to Lille, Geneva, and the \al do Travels (Switzerland). Lille now lowered her prices, and the Swiss lace trade sank in the contest. Scarcely any but white lace is made, the patterns are varied and in excellent taste, the work similar to that of Lille and Arras. Some few years since the making of application flowers was attempted with success at Mirecourt, and though it has not yet attained the perfection of the Brussels sprigs, yet it daily improves, and l)ids fair to supply France witli a production for which she now pays Belgium 120,000/. annually. The Lorraine application possesses one advantage over those of Flanders: the flowers come from the hands of the lace-makers clean and white, and do not require bleaching. 12 The price, too, is most moderate. The pro- duction which of late years has been of the most commercial value is the Cluny lace, so called from the first patterns being copied from specimens of old lace of the sixteenth and seven teen tli centuries, of Gothic geometric design, in the Musee de Cluny. The immense success of this lace has been highly profitable to Mirecourt and Le Puy. Much of the Lorraine lace is consumed at Paris and in the interior of France; the rest is exported to America, the East Indies, and the different countries of Europe. BURGUNDY. ( Jolbert was proprietor of the terre de Seignelay, three leagues iron i Auxerre, which caused him to interest himself in establishing manufactories in these countries, and especially that of point de t'. purchase. Tie women follow this Germany towards Swabia. Of the fine occupation when not engaged in field qualities, France consumed 2/8. The work; but they only earn from 25 to 40 remainder went to the colonics." centimes ■< day. Before the Revolution, 12 So are those of Courseullcs (Calva- 7/- of tli' coarse lace was expdrted to dos). BURGUNDY. 221 222 HISTORY OF LACE. Prance. In his " Correspondence " are twelve letters relating to this manufacture for l<>'>7 74, Imt it did not succeed. At last worn out, be says "the mayor and aldermen will not avail themselves <>f the means of prosperity 1 oiler, ho I leave them to their had conduct." Specimens of a beautifully tine, well-finished pillow lace, re- sembling old Mechlin, are often to be met with in Belgium (Fig, 99), bearing the traditional name of "point de Bourgogne," but no record remains of its manufacture. In the census taken in 1571, <^h ing the names of all strangers in the City of London, three are cited as natives of Burgundy, knitters and makers of lace. 13 In the eighteenth century, a manufactory of Valenciennes was carried on in the hospital at Dijon, under the direction of the magistrates of the city. It fell towards the middle of the last century, and at the Revolution entirely disappeared. 14 "Les dentelles sont grosses," writes Savary, " mais il s'en debite beaucoup en Franche-Comte." LYONNOIS. Lyons, from the thirteenth century, made gold and silver laces enriched with ornaments similar to those of Paris. At the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the trade, of an annual value of 4,000,000 francs, passed into Switzerland. The laces of St.-Etienne resembled those of Valenciennes, and were much esteemed for their solidity. The finest productions were for men's ruffles, which they fabricated of exquisite beauty. A considerable quantity of blonde was made at Meran, a village in the neighbourhood of Beauvoisin, but the commerce had fallen off at the end of the last century. These blondes go by the familiar name of " bisettes." Lyons had great trade with Florence ; and an author calls it " ville moitie florentine." 13 John Roberts, of Burgundy, eight the learned archiviste of Dijon, he kindly- years in England, " a knitter of knotted informed the Author that " les archives wool." de 1'hospice Sainte-Anne n'ont conserve Peter de Grue, Burgundian, "knitter aucune trace de la manufacture de den- of cauls and sleeves." telles qui y fut etablie. Tout ce qu'on Callys de Hove, " maker of lace," and sait, e'est qu'elle etait sous la direction Jane his wife, born in Burgundy. — State d'un sieur Helling, et qu'on y fabriquait Papers, Bom. Eliz. vol. lxxxiv. P. R. O. le point d'Alencon." 14 On referring to M. Joseph Gamier, BRETAGNE. 223 ORLlUNOIS. Colbert's attempts at establishing a manufactory of point de France at Montargis appears by his letters to have been un- successful. BERRY. Nor were the reports from Bourges more encouraging. BRETAGNE. No record of lace-making occurs in Bretagne, though probably the Normandy manufactures extended westward along the coast. At all events, the wearing of it was early adopted. There is a popular ballad of the province, 1587, on " La Fontenelle le Ligueur," one of the most celebrated partisans of the League in Bretagne. He has been entrapped at Paris, and, while awaiting his doom, sends his page to his wife with these words (we spare our readers the Breton dialect) : — " Page, mon page, petit page, va vite a Coadelan et dis a la pauvre heritiere 15 de ne plus porter des dentelles. " De ne plus porter des dentelles, parce que son pauvre epoux est en peine. Toi, rapporte-moi une chemise a mettre, et un drap pour m'ensevelir." 16 One singular custom prevails among the ancient families in Bretagne : a bride wears her lace-adorned dress but twice — once on her wedding-day, and only again at her death, when the corpse lies in state for a few hours before its placing in the coffin. After the marriage ceremony the bride carefully folds away her dress l7 in linen of the finest homespun, intended for her winding-sheet, and each year, on the anniversary of the wedding- 15 He had run away with the rich and each of them sprinkles the orange heiress of Coadelan. blossoms with which it is trimmed with 16 " Chants populaires de la Bretagne, holy water placed at the foot of the bed par Th. Hersart do la Villemarque." whereon the dress is laid, and oft'ers up a 17 The bringing home of the wedding prayer for the future welfare of the dress is an event of solemn importance. wearer. The family alone are admitted to see it, - -■• HISTOEY OV LACE. day, fresh sprigs <>1 lavender and rosemary are laid upon it until tln i Tenise " and " poynte d'Espagne." flax to silk.' I have seen flax twenty 5 C. Weisse, " History of the French years old as fine as a hair." — Ibid. Protectant Piefugees from the Edict of ,0 "Commerce de la Hollande," 1768. Nantes." Edinburgh, 1854. u " Edinburgh Amusement." HOLLAND. 227 As in other matters, the Dutch carried their love of lace to the extreme, tying up their knockers with rich point to announce the birth of an infant. A traveller who visited France in 1691 re- marks of his hotel: "The warming-pans and brasses were not Q 2 228 HISTORY OF LACE. here muffled up in point and outwork, after the manner of Holland, for there wore no such things to be Been." ia The Dutch lace most in use was thick, strong, and serviceable. Pig. LOO adorned a Dutchwoman's cap. That which has come under our notice resembles the fine (dost* Valenciennes, having a pattern often of (lowers or fruit strictly copied from nature. "The ladies wear," remarks Mrs. Calderwood, "very good lace mobs." The shirt worn by William the Silent when he fell by the assassin is still preserved at the Hague; it is trimmed with a lace de- scribed as of thick linen stitches, drawn and worked over in a, stylo familiar to those acquainted with the earlier Dutch pictures. SAXONY. " Here unregarded lies the rich brocade, There Dresden lace in scaiter'd heaps is laid ; Here the gilt, china vase bestrews the floor, While chidden Betty weeps without the door." Ecloque on the Death of Shock, a Pet Lapdo'g. lAidies Magazine, 1750. " His olivc-tann'd complexion graces With little dabs of Dresden laces; While for the body Mounseer Putf Would think e'en dowlas fine enough." French Barber, 1756. The honour of introducing pillow lace into Germany is ac- corded by common consent to Barbara Uttmann. She was born in 1514, in the small town of Etterlein, which derives its name from her family. Her parents, burghers of Nuremberg, had removed to the Saxon Erzgebirge, for the purpose of working some mines. Barbara Etterlein here married a rich master miner named Christopher Uttmann, of Annaberg. It is said that she learned lace-making from a native of Brabant, a Protestant, whom- the cruelties of the Spaniards had driven from her country Barbara had observed the mountain girls occupied in making a network for the miners to wear over their hair : she took great interest in the work, and, profiting by the experience derived from her Brabant teacher, succeeded in making her pupils produce a kind of plain lace ground. In 1561, having procured aid from 12 " Six Weeks in the Court and Country of France, "1601. SAXONY. 229 Flanders, she set up, in her own name of Barbara Uttmann, a workshop at Annaberg, and there began to make laces of various patterns. This branch of industry soon spread from the Bavarian frontier to Altenberg and Geissing, giving employment to 30,000 persons, and producing a revenue of 1,000,000 thalers. Barbara Uttmann died in 1575, leaving sixty-five children and grand- children, thus realising a prophecy made previous to her marriage, that her descendants would equal in number the stitches of the first lace ground she had made : such prophecies were common in Fiff. 101. Tomb of Barbara Uttmann, at Annaberg. those days. She sleeps in the churchyard of xinnaberg, near the old lime-tree. On her tomb (Fig. 101) is inscribed: "Here lies Barbara Uttmann, died 14 January 1575, whose invention of lace in the year 1561 made her the benefactress of the Erz- gebirge." " An active mind, a skilful hand, Bring blessings down on the Fatherland." In the Green Vault at Dresden is preserved an ivory statuette ..(Frontispiece) of Barbara Uttmann, 4£ inches high, beautifully 230 HISTORY OK LACE. executed by Koehler, a jeweller of Dresden, who worked at the beginning of the eighteenth 'century. It is richly ornamented with enamels and precious stones, such figures (of which there are many in the Green Vault) being favourite articles for birthday and ( Ihristmas gifts. 13 Previous to the eighteenth century the nets of Germany had already found a market in Paris. "On vend," says the " Livre Commode des Adresses" of 1692, "lo treillis d'AUemagne en plusieurs boutiques de la rue Bethizy." w " Dresden," says Anderson, " makes very fine lace," a statement confirmed by nearly every traveller of the eighteenth century. We have every reason to believe the so-called Dresden lace was the drawn-work described p. 11, and which was carried to great perfection. " Went to a shop at Spaw," writes Mrs. Calderwood, " and bought a pair of double Dresden ruffles, which are just like a sheaf, but not so open as yours, for two pounds two." " La broderie de Dr'esde est tres-connue et les ouvriers tres- habiles," says Savary. This drawn-work, for such it was, excited the emulation of other nations. The Anti-Gallican Society in 1753 leads the van, and awards three guineas as their second prize for ruffles of Saxony. 15 Ireland, in 1755, gives a premium of 5?. for the best imitation of " Dresden point," while the Edinburgh Society, following in the wake, a year later, presents to Miss Jenny Dalrymple a gold medal for " the best imitation of Dresden work in a pair of ruffles." In the " Fool of Quality," 16 and other works, from 1760 to 1770, 13 " The Green Vault of Dresden," Polite Arts, premiums were given to a edited by L. Gruner. specimen of a new invention imitating 14 "Treillis d'AUemagne" is early men- Dresden work. It is done with such tioned in the French inventories : — success as to imitate all the various 1543. " Pour une aulne deux tiers stitches of which Dresden work is com- trillist d'AUemagne." — Argenterie de la posed, with such ingenuity as to surpass Reine ' Eleonore d'Autriche). Arch. Nat. the finest performance with the needle. K. K. 104. This specimen, consisting of a cap, and a 1557. " Pour une aulne de treilliz piece for a long apron, the apron, noir d'AUemagne pour garnir la robbe de valued by the inventress at 21. 2s., was damars noir ou il y a de la bizette." — declared by the judges worth 56Z." — Comptes de VArgentier du Roi (Henry Annual Register, 1762. II.). Arch. Nat. K. K. 106. 18 " Smash go the glasses, aboard pours 15 : ' At a meeting of the Society of the wine on circling laces, Dresden GERMANY (NORTH AND SOUTH). 231 we have " Dresden aprons," " Dresden ruffles," showing that de- scription of lace to have been in high fashion. Wraxall, too, 1778, describes a Polish beauty as wearing " a broad Medicis of Dresden lace." As early as 1760 "Dresden work" is advertised as taught to young ladies in a boarding-school at Kelso, 17 together with " shell-work in grottoes, flowers, catgut, working lace on bobbins or wires, and other useful accomplishments." The lace of Saxony has sadly degenerated since the eighteenth century. The patterns are old and ungraceful, and the lace of inferior workmanship, but owing to the low price of labour, they have the great advantage of cheapness, which enables them to compete with France in the American and Russian markets. In all parts of Germany there are some few men who make lace. On the Saxon side of the Erzgebirge many boys are employed, and during the winter season men of all ages work at the pillow ; and it is observed that the lace made by men is firmer and of a superior quality to that of the women. The lace is a dentelle torchon, of large pattern, much in the style of the old lace of Ischia. 18 The Saxon lace of the present day is an imitation of old Brussels. This lace is costly, and is sold at Dresden and other large towns of Germany, and particularly at Paris, where the dealers pass it off for old lace. It employed, in 1851, 300 workers. A quantity of so-called Maltese lace is also made. The new Museum for Art and Industry, lately opened at Vienna, contains several pattern books of the sixteenth century, and in it has been exhibited a fine collection of ancient lace belonging to General von Hauslaub, Master - General of the Ordnance. GERMANY (NORTH AND SOUTH). " Presque dans toutes sortes d'arts les plus habiles ouvriers, ainsi que les plus riches negociants, sont de la religion pretendue reformee," said the Chancellor d'Aguesseau : 19 and when his aprons, silvered silks, and rich brocades." 17 " Caledonian Mercury," 1760. And again, " Your points of Spain, your 18 Letter from Koestritz, 1863, ruffles of Dresden."— Fool of Quality, 19 In 1713. 1766. &32 IIISTOUY ov LACE. master, Louis XIV., whom be, in not too respectful terms, calls " Le roi trop er^dule/' Bigned the Act of Revocation (1685), Europe was at once inundated with the most skilful workmen of France. Hamburg alone of the Hanse Towns received the wanderers. Lubeck ami Bremen, in defiance of the remonstrances oi' the Protestant princes, allowed no strangers to settle within their precincts. The emigrants soon established considerable manufactories of gold and silver lace, and also that now extinct fabric known under the name of "Hamburg point,"' 20 probably a kind of drawn-work, like the Dresden point. Miss Knight, in her " Autobiography," notes : " At Hamburg, just before we embarked, Nelson purchased a magnificent lace trimming for Lady Nelson, and a black lace cloak for another lady, who, he said, had been very attentive to his wife during his absence." On the very year of the Ee vocation, Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, anxious to attract the fugitive workmen to his dominions, issued from Potsdam an edict 21 in their favour. Crowds of French Protestants responded to the call, and before many years had passed, Berlin alone boasted 450 lace manu- factories. 22 Previous to this emigration she had none. These " mangeurs d'haricots," as the Prussians styled the emigrants, soon amassed large fortunes, and exported their laces to Poland and to Bussia. The tables were turned. France, who formerly exported lace in large quantities to Germany, now received it from the hands of her exiled workmen, and in 1723 and 1734, we find " Arrets du Conseil d'Etat," relative to the importation of German laces. 23 Louis XV. having asked Frederick the Great what he could do most agreeable to him, replied, " A second Edict of Nantes." The Landgrave of Hesse also received the refugees, publish- ing an edict in their favour. 24 Two establishments of fine point were set up at Hanover. 25 Leipzig, Anspach, 26 Elberfeld, all profited by the migration. " On compte," writes Peuchet, " a Leipsig cinq fabriques de dentelles et de galon d'or et d'argent." 20 Weisse. by Charles I., Landgrave of Hesse, to the 21 Dated 29 Oct. 1685. French Protestants, dated Cassel, 12 Dec. 22 Anderson. 1685." 23 Arch. Nat Col. Eondoneau. 23 Peuchet. 21 "Commissions and Privileges granted 2(i Anderson. GERMANY (NORTH AND SOUTH). 233 A large colony settled at Halle, where ,they made " Hun- garian" lace — "point de Hongrie," 27 a term more generally applied to a stitch in tapestry. 28 The word, however, does occasion- ally occur : — " Your Hungerland 29 bands and Spanish quellio ruffs, Great Lords and Ladies feasted to survey." 30 Fynes Moryson expresses surprise at the simplicity of the German costume — ruffs of coarse cloth, made at home. The Dantzickers, however, he adds, dress more richly. " Citizens' daughters of an inferior sort wear their hair woven with lace stitched up with a border of pearl. Citizens' wives wear much lace of silk on their petticoats." Dandyism began in Germany, says a writer, 31 about 1626, when the women first wore silver, which appeared very remarkable, and "at last indeed which lace." A century later luxury at the baths of Baden had reached an excess unparalleled in the present day. The bath mantles, " equipage de bain," of both sexes are described as trimmed with the richest point, and after the bath were spread out ostentatiously as a show on the baths before the windows of the rooms. Lords and ladies, princesses and margraves, loitered up and down, passing judgment on the laces of each new arrival. 32 This love of dress, in some cases, extended too far, for Bishop Douglas 33 mentions how the Leipzig students " think it more honourable to beg, with a sword by their side, of all they meet than to gain their livelihood. I have often," he says, " given a few groschen to one finely powdered and dressed with sword and lace ruffles." Concerning the manufactures of the once opulent cities of Nuremberg and Augsburg, we have no record. In the first-men- tioned was published, in 1601, the model book, engraved on 27 " La France Protestante, par M. Weales through the World," London, M. Haag," Paris, 1846-59. 1608, we find " Hungerland." 28 " Item. Dix carrez de tapisserye a 30 " City Madam," Massinger. poinctz de Hongrye d'or, d' argent et soye 31 " Pictures of German Life, in the de differends patrons." — Iav.apresle deces Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth da Marechal de ' Mar iliac, 1632. Bib. Centuries," by Gustaf Freytag. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 11,424. 32 "Merveilleux Amusements des Bains 29 Hungary was so styled in the seven- de Bade," Londres, 1739. teenth century. In a " Eolation of the 33 Bishop of Salisbury, " Letters." most famous Kingdoms and Common 1748-9. 231 HISTORY OF LAOE. copper, of Sibmaeher. 34 On the frontispiece is depicted a garden of the sixteenth century. From the branches of a tree hangs a label, informing the world "that she who loves the art of needle- work, and desires to make herself skilful, can here have it in per- fection, and she will acquire praise, honour, and reward." At the Fool oi' the tree is seated a modest young lady, yclept Industrial ; on the right a second, feather-fan in hand, called Ignavia — Idle- ness; on tin 4 left, a respectable matron, named Soiia — Wisdom. By way of a preface, the three hold a dialogue, reviewing, in most flattering terms, the work. A museum has been lately formed at Nuremberg for works and objects connected with the lace manufacture and its history, It contains some interesting specimens of Nuremberg lace, the work of a certain Jungfrau Picklemann, in the year 1600, presented by the widow of Pfarrer Michel, of Poppenreuth. 35 The lace is much of the Venetian character. One specimen has the figures of a knight and a lady, resembling the designs of Yecellio. The museum also possesses other curious examples of lace, together with a collection of books relative to lace-making. "In the chapel of St. Egidius at Nuremberg," writes one of our correspondents, " we were led to make inquiries concerning sundry ponderous-looking chairs, bearing some resemblance to confessionals, but wanting the side compartments for the penitents. AVe learned that they belonged to the several guilds (Innungen), who had undertaken to collect money for the erection of a new church after the destruction of the old by fire. For this end the last members sworn in of every trade sat in their respective chairs at the church doors on every Sunday and holiday. The offerings were thrown into dishes placed on a raised stand on the right of the chair, or into the hollow in front. The devices of each trade were painted or embossed on circular plates, said to be of silver, on the back of each chair. One " Handwerksstuhl " in particular attracted our attention ; it was that of the passe- menterie-makers (in German, Portenmacher- or Posamentier-Hand- werk), w T hich, until the handicrafts became more divided, in- cluded the lace-makers. An elegant scroll-pattern in rilievo surrounds the plate, surmounted by a cherub's head, and various designs, resembling those of the pattern-books, are embossed in a 3i " Modelbuch in Kupfer geinaclit," NUrnberg, 1G01. 33 Poppenreuth is about a German mile from Nuremberg. SWITZERLAND. 235 most finished style upon the plate, together with an inscription dated 1718." Misson, who visited Nuremberg in 1698, describes the dress of a newly married pair as rich in the extreme. That of the bridegroom as black, " fort charge de dentelles ; " the bride as tricked out in the richest " dentelle antique," her petticoat trimmed with " des tresses d'or et de dentelle noire." Perhaps the finest collection of old German point is preserved, or rather was so, five-and-thirty years since, in the palace of the ancient, but now extinct, prince-archbishops of Bamberg. The modern laces of Bohemia are tasteless in design. The manufacture is of early date. " The Bohemian women," writes Moryson, " delight in black cloth with lace of light colours." In the beginning of the present century, upwards of 60,000 people, men, women, and children, were occupied in the Bohemian Erzgebirge alone in lace-making. Since the introduction of the bobbin-net machine into Austria, 1831, the number has decreased. There are now scarcely 8000 employed in the common laces, and about 4000 on Valenciennes and points. 36 Austria sent to the International Exhibition of 1874 specimens of needle point and point plat, made in the school of the Grand Duchess Sophie, and specimens of border laces in the style of those of Auvergne were exhibited from the Erzgebirge and Bohemia. Countess Nako and Mr. Artaria, both of Vienna, possess fine collections of lace. SWITZERLAND. " Dans un vallon fort bien nomme Travers, S'eleve un mont, vrai sejour des hivers." — Voltaire. In 1572, one Symphorien Thelusson, a merchant of Lyons, having escaped from the massacre of St. Bartholomew, concealed himself in a bale of goods, in which he reached Geneva, and was hospitably received by the inhabitants. When, after the lapse of near a hundred and twenty years, crowds of French emigrants arrived in the city, driven from their homes on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, a descendant of this same Thelusson took a "Austria." — Report of the International Exhibition of 1862. 236 HISTORY OF LACK. body of 2000 refugees into his service, and at once established a manufacture of lace/' 7 especially gold lace made with false gold of Nuremberg, a cheap, strong production which was sent to Spain and the colonics. The produce of this industry was smuggled back into France, the goods conveyed across the Jura over passes known only to the bearers, by which they avoided the custom- house duties of Valence. "Every day," writes Jambonneau, himself a manufacturer, " they tell my wife what lace they want, and she takes their orders." Louis XIV. was furious. 38 Though lace-making employed many women in various parts of the country, who made a common description while tending their flocks in the mountains, Neufchatel has always been the " chef-lieu " of the trade. " In this town," says Savary, " they have carried their works to such a degree of perfection as to rival the laces of Flanders, not only in beauty but in quality." We have ourselves seen in Switzerland guipures of fine workmanship that were made in the country, belonging to old families, in which they have remained as heirlooms ; and have now in our possession a pair of lappets, made in the last century at Neufchatel, of such exquisite beauty as not to be surpassed by the richest productions of Brussels. Formerly lace-making employed a large number of workmen in the Val-de-Travers, where, during his sojourn at Moutiers, Jean-Jacques Kousseau tells us he amused himself in handling the bobbins. In 1780, the lace trade was an object of great profit to the country, producing laces valuing from 1 batz to upwards of 70 francs the ell, and exporting to the amount of 1,500,000 francs; on which the workwomen gained 800,000, averaging their labour at scarcely 8 sols per day. The villages of Fleurens and Connet were the centre of this once flourishing trade, 39 now ruined by competition with Mirecourt. In 1814 there were in the Neufchatel district 5628 lace-makers; in 1844, a few aged women alone remained. The modern laces of Neufchatel resemble those of Lille, but are apt to wash thick. In 1840, a manufacture of " point plat de Bruxelles dite de Geneve " was established at Geneva. 37 Haag, " La France Protestante." Bale. 3S The Neufchatel trade extended 39 " Statistique de la Suisse. Picot, through the Jura -range from the valley de Geneve." 1819. of Lake Joux (Vaud) to Porentruy, near SWITZERLAND. 237 By the sumptuary laws of Zurich, which 40 were most severe, women were especially forbidden to wear either blonde or thread lace, except upon their caps. This must have been a disadvantage to the native fabrics, " for Zurich," says Anderson, " makes much gold, silver, and thread lace." Several pattern books for lace were published in Switzerland in the later years of the sixteenth century. One, without date, but evidently printed at Zurich about 1540, by C. Froschover, is entitled "Niiw Modelbuch allerley Gattungen Dantel," &c. We refer our reader to the Appendix for some interesting details relative to the introduction of lace given in the preface. Another one, entitled " New Model-Buch," printed by G. Strauben, 1593, at St. Gall, is but a reprint of the third book of Vecellio's "Corona." Another, called also " Sehr Newe Model-Buch," was published at Basle in 1599, at the printing-house of Ludwig Ktinigs. 40 A curious pattern book has been contains specimens of a variety of narrow sent to us, belonging to the Antiquarian braids and edgings of a kind of knotted Society of Zurich, through the kindness work ; but only a few open-work edgings of its president, Dr. Ferd. Keller. It that could be called lace. 238 HISTORY OF LACE. CHAPTER XXI. DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND RUSSIA DENMARK. " Ehaste. — Miss, how many parties have you been to this week? " Lady. — I do not frequent such places ; but it' you want to know how much lace I have made this fortnight, I might well tell you." Holberg, The Inconstant Lady. " The far-famed lace of Tonder." "A certain kind of embroidery, or cutwork in linen, was much used in Denmark before lace came in from Brabant," writes Professor Thomsen. " This kind of work is still in use among the peasants, and you will often have observed it on their bed-clothes." The art of lace-making itself is supposed to have been first brought over by the fugitive monks at the Eeformation, or to have been introduced by Queen Elizabeth, 1 sister of Charles V., and wife of Christian II., that good queen who, had her husband been more fortunate, would, says the chronicler, " have proved a second Dagmar to Denmark." Lace-making has never been practised as a means of livelihood throughout Denmark. It is only in the province of North Schleswig (or South Jutland, as it is also called) that a regular manufacture was established. It is here that King Christian IV. appears to have made his purchases ; and while travelling in Schleswig, entries constantly occur in his journal book, from 1619 to 1625, such as, " Paid to a female lace- worker 28 rixdollars — 71 specie to a lace-seller for lace for the use of the children," and many similar notices. 2 It was one of those pieces of Tonder lace 1 On her marriage, 1515. 2 1619. Sept. 11. Paid for a lace, G3 rixd. 11 sellings. 1G20. Oct. 11. Paid to a female lace-worker, 28 rixd. ,, Nov. 4. Paid 10 rixd. to a female lace-worker who received her dismissal DENMARK. 239 that King Christian sends to his chamberlain, with an autograph letter, ordering him to cut out of it four collars of the same size and manner as Prince Ulrik's Spanish. They must contrive also to get two pairs of manchettes of the same. In the museum of the the palace at Rosenborg are still preserved some shirts of Christian IV., trimmed with Schleswig lace of great beauty (Fig. 102), evidently from a Brabant pattern, and in his portrait, which hangs in Hampton Court Palace, the lace on his shirt is of similar texture. Fte. 102. Shirt collar of Christian IV. Castle of Rosenborg, Copenhagen. It was in the early part of this monarch's reign 3 that the celebrated Golden Horn, so long the chief treasure of the Scandinavian Museum at Copenhagen, was found by a young lace-maker on her way to her work. She carried her prize to the king, and with the money he so liberally bestowed on her she was enabled, says tradition, to marry the object of her choice. 1620. Nov. 11. Taid 71 specie dollars to a lace-seller for lace for the use of the children. Paid 33 specie dollars and 18 skill. Lubeck money, to the same man for lace and cambric. 1625. May 19. Paid 21 rixd. for lace. „ Dec. 20. Paid 25 specie dollars 15 skill. Lubeck money, for taffetas and lace. 3 1639. 240 HISTORY OF LACE. The year 1(5 17 was a great epoch in the lace-making of Jutland. A merchant named Steenbeck, taking a great interest in the fabric, engaged twelve persons from Dortmund, in West- phalia, to improve the trade, and settled them at Tender, to teach the manufacture to both men and women, rich and poor. These twelve persons are described as aged men, with long beards, which, while making lace, they gathered into bags, to prevent the hair from becoming entangled among the bobbins. The manufacture soon made great progress under their guidance, and extended to the south-western part of Kibe, and to the island of Borno. 4 The lace was sold by means of " lace postmen," as they were termed, who carried their wares throughout all Scandinavia and part of Germany. Christian IV. protected the native manufacture, and in the act of 1643, 5 " lace and such like pinwork " are described as luxurious articles, not allowed to be imported of a higher value than five shillings and sixpence the Danish ell. 6 A later ordinance, 1683, mentions " white and black lace which are manufactured in this country," and grants permission to the nobility to wear them. 7 Christian IV. did not patronise foreign manufactures. " The King of Denmark," writes Moryson, " wears but little gold lace, and sends foreign apparel to the hangman to be disgraced, when brought in by gentlemen." About the year 1712 the lace manufacture again was much improved by the arrival of a number of Brabant women, who accompanied the troops of King Frederick IV. on their return from the Netherlands, 8 and settled at Tonder. We have received from Jutland, through the kind exertions of Mr. Rudolf Bay, of Aalborg, a series of Tonder laces, taken from the pattern books of the manufacturers. The earlier specimens are all of Flemish character. There is the old Flanders lace, with its Dutch flowers and grounds in endless variety. The Brabant, with reseau ground, the flowers and "jours" well executed. Then follow the Mechlin grounds, the patterns worked with a coarser thread, in many, 4 Rawert's "Report upon the Industry Thereof is exported to the German mar- in the Kingdom of Denmark," 1848. kets and the Baltic, it is supposed, for 5 " The Great Recess." more than 100,000 rixdollars (11,110Z.), G Two-thirds of a yard. and the fine thread must he had from 7 Dated 1643. the Netherlands, and sometimes costs * "Tonder lace, fine and middling, 100 rixdollars per lb." — Pontoppidan, made in the districts of Lygum Kloster, Economical Balance, 1759. keeps all the peasant girls employed. DENMARK. 241 apparently, run in with the needle. There is also a good specimen of that description of drawn muslin lace, commonly known under the name of " Indian work," but which appears to have been very generally made in various manners. The leaves and flowers formed of the muslin are worked round with a cordonnet, by way of relief to the thick double ground (Fig. 103). In the Scandinavian Museum at Copenhagen is a pair of lappets of drawn muslin, a fine specimen of this work. The modern laces are copied from French, Lille, and Saxon patterns ; there are also imitations of the so-called Maltese. The Schleswig laces are all remarkable for their fine quality and excellent workmanship. Guipure after the manner of the Venice points was also fabricated. A fine example of this lace may be seen decorating the black velvet dress of the youthful daughter of Duke John of Holstein. She lies in her coffin within the mortuary chapel of her family, in the castle of Sonderborg. Lace was much used in burials in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when it really appears people were arrayed in more costly clothing than in their lives. The author of " Jutland and the Danish Islands " has often seen mummies in the Danish churches exposed to view tricked out in points of great rich- ness. The lace industry continued to increase in value till the be- ginning of the present century. The year 1801 may be considered its culminating point. At that period the number of peasants employed in Tonder and its neighbourhood alone was 20,000. Even little boys were taught to make lace till strong enough to work in the fields, and there was scarcely a house without a lace- maker, who would sit before her cottage door, working from sun- rise till midnight, singing the ballads handed down from their Brabant teachers. 9 "My late father," 10 writes Mr. F. Wulff, of Brede, "who began the lace trade the end of the last century, first went on foot with his wares to Mecklenburg, Prussia, and Hanover : we con- 9 « rpj ie j acc fyjjj^ m N 01 -tli Schleswig will have it in their shops." — Report of in 1840, was divided into two districts, the Royal Schleswig-Holstein Government, that of Tonder and Lygum-Kloster, on 1840. the western coasts, and that of Haders- 10 Mr. Jens Wulff, an eminent lace leben and Apenraade, on the east. The dealer, knight of the Danebrog, who has quality of the lace from these last locali- made great exertions to revive the lace ties is so bad that no Copenhagen dealers industry in Denmark. K 24*2 HISTORY OF LACK. signed lace to all parts of the world. Soon ho could afford to buy a horse; and in his old age he calculated he had travelled on horseback more than 75,000 English miles, or thrice round the DENMARK. 243 earth. In his youth the most durable and prettiest ground was the old Flemish, much used by the peasants in Germany. It was solid, and passed as an heirloom through several generations. Later, the fine needle ground came in, and lastly, the fond clair, or point de Lille, far less solid, but easier to work ; hence the lace-makers became less skilful than of old." They had not many models, and the best workwomen were those who devoted their whole life to one special pattern. Few were found so persevering. One widow, however, is recorded who lived to the age of eighty, and brought up seven children on the produce of a narrow edging, which she sold at sixpence a yard. Each pattern had its trivial name, — cock-eye, spider, lyre, chimney-pot, and feather. The rich farmers' wives sat at their pillows daily, causing their household duties to be performed by hired servants from North Jutland. Ladies also, a century and a half ago, made it their occupation, as the motto of our chapter, from the drama of Holberg, will show. And this continued till the fashion of " hvidsom " — white seaming — the cutwork already alluded to, was for a time revived. This work was, however, looked upon as infra dig. for the wives of functionaries and such like, in whom it was unbecom- ing to waste on such employment time that should be devoted to household matters. Our informant tells of a lady in the north who thus embroidered the christening robe of her child by stealth in the kitchen, fearing to be caught by her visitors — cookery had in those days precedence over embroidery. Among the hoards of this child, born 1755, and who died not many years ago, was found a most exquisite collection of old Tonder lace, embracing all the varieties made by her mother and herself, from the thick Flemish to the finest needle-point. The fashion of cutwork still prevails in Denmark, where collars and cuffs, decorated with stars, crosses, and other mediaeval designs, are exposed in the shop-windows of Copenhagen for sale — the work of poor gentlewomen, who, by their needle, thus add a few dollars yearly to their income. From 1830 dates the decline of the Tonder lace. Cotton thread was introduced, and the quality of the fabric was deterio- rated. 11 The lace schools were given up ; and the flourishing state 11 Tonder lace was celebrated for its durability, the best Hax or silk thread only being used. fi 2 244 HISTOKY OF LACE. of agriculture rendered it no longer a profitable employment either for the boys or tin 4 women. 13 The trade passed from the manufac- turers into the hands of the hawkers and petty dealers, who were too poor to purchase the liner points. The "lace postmen" once mere travelled from house to house with their little leathern boxes, offering these interior wares for sale. 13 The art died out. In 1840 there were not more than six Lace manufactories in Schleswig. The old people, however, still believe in a good time coming. "I have in my day," said an aged woman, " sold point at four thalers an (41, sir ; and though I may never do so again, my daughter will. The laee trade slumbers, but it does not die." SWEDEN. At a very early period, the Scandinavian goldsmith had learned to draw out wires of gold, and twine them round threads either of silk or flax — in fact, to " gurper " them. Wadstena, where repose the remains of Queen Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of Henry IV., has been considered from time immemorial as the cradle of lace-making in Sweden. The art, according to tradition, was introduced among the nuns of the con- vent by their foundress, St. Bridget, on her return from Italy. As St. Bridget died in 1335, we may be allowed to question the fact : certain it is, though, the funeral coif of the saintess, as depicted in an ancient portrait said to have been taken at Rome after death, is ornamented with a species of perforated needlework. 14 By the rules of the convent, the nuns of Wadstena were forbidden to touch either gold or silver, save in their netting and embroidery. 12 "A lace-maker earns from 3\d. to fear came over her that she should not 4:\d. per day of sixteen hours." — Rawerf6 finish her work creditably to herself, and Report, 1848. in her anxiety she raised her heart above. 13 The Tonder lace traders enjoy the As her aunt came into the chamber, she privilege of offering their wares for sale beheld an unknown maiden sitting op- all over Denmark without a licence (con- posite to her niece, and aiding her in her cession), a privilege extended to no other task ; she vanished immediately, and industry. when the aunt asked Bridget who had 14 The early perfection of Bridget her- helped her, she knew nothing about it, self in this employment, which, if we may and assured her relation she had seen no credit the chronicle of the Abbess one. Margaretha, 1440-46, may be ascribed to All were astonished at the fineness a miraculous origin. and perfection of the work, and kept the When, at the age of twelve, she was lace as of miraculous origin, employed at her knitted lace work, a SWEDEN. 245 There exists an old journal of the Kloster, called " Diarium Vad- stensense," in which are, however, no allusions to the art ; but the letters of a Wadstena nun to her lover, extra muros, published from an old collection 15 of documents, somewhat helps us in our researches. " I wish," she writes to her admirer, " I could send you a netted cap that I myself have made, but when Sister Karin Andersdotter saw that I had mingled gold and silver thread in it, she said, ' You must surely have some beloved.' - Do not think so,' I answered. ' Here in the Kloster, you may easily see if any of the brethren has such a cap, and I dare not send it by any one to a sweetheart outside the walls.' ' You intend it for Axel Nilson,' answered Sister Karin. ' It is not for you to talk,' I replied. ' I have seen you net a long hood, and talk and prattle yourself with Brother Bertol.' " From netted caps of thread, worked in with gold and silver, the transition to lace is easy, and history tells that in the middle ages the Wadstena nuns " knit their laces of gold and silk." We may therefore suppose the art to have flourished in the convents at an early date. At the suppression of the monasteries, under Charles IX., a few of the nuns, too infirm to sail with their sisters for Poland, remained in Sweden. People took compassion on the outcasts, and gave them two rooms to dwell in, where they continued their occupation of making lace, and were able, for a season, to keep the secret of their art. After a time, however, lace-making became general throughout the town and neighbourhood, and was known to the laity previous to the dissolution of Wadstena— a favoured convent which survived the rest of the other monasteries of Sweden. " Send up," writes Gustaf Vasa, in a familiar letter 16 to his queen, Margaret, " the lace passement made for me by Anne, the smith's daughter, at Upsala ; I want it : don't neglect this." 17 In an inventory of Eriksholm Castle, drawn up in 1548, are endless entries of " sheets seamed with cutwork, half worn-out 15 "Wadstena Past and Present" body of his little granddaughter, the (Forr och Nu). Princess Isabella, daughter of John III., le The letter is dated 20th March as it lies in the vault of Strengnas, the 1544. child's dress and shoes literally covered 17 In the detailed account of the trous- with gold and silver lace of a Gothic seau furnished to his daughter, there is pattern, fresh and untarnished as though no mention of lace; but the author of made yesterday. " One Year in Sweden " has seen the 24G HISTORY OF LACK. sheets with open border of cutwork, towels with outwork and with the king and queen's anus in each corner, blue curtains with cut work scams," &C. The style of Wadstena lace changed with the times and fashion of the national costume. Those made at present are of the single ^v double ground, both black and white, line, but wanting in firmness. They also make much dentelle torchon, of the lozenge pattern, tor trimming the bed-linen they so elaborately embroider in draw n-work. In L830, the products in value amounted to 30,000 rixdollars. They were carried to every part of Sweden, and a small quantity even to foreign parts. One dealer alone, a Madame Hartruide, now sends her colporteurs hawking Wadstena lace round the country. The manufacture, after much depression, has slightly increased of late years, having received much encouragement from her majesty Queen Louisa. Specimens of Wadstena lace were sent to the great international exhibitions. Holesom, or cutwork, is a favourite employment of Swedish women, and is generally taught in the schools. At the various bathing-places you may see the young ladies working as indus- triously as if for their daily sustenance ; they never purchase such articles of decoration, but entirely adorn their houses by the labours of their own hands. It was by a collar of this holesom, worked in silk and gold, that young Gustaf Erikson was nearly betrayed when working as a labourer in the barn of Rankhytta, the property of his old college friend, Anders Petersen. A servant girl observed to her master, " The new farm-boy can be no peasant ; for," says she, " his linen is far too fine, and I saw a collar wrought in silk and gold beneath his kirtle." Gold lace was much in vogue in the middle of the sixteenth century. Entries of it abound in the inventory of Gustavus Vasa, and his youngest son Magnus. In an inventory of Eriksholm, 1536, is a pair of laced sheets. It is the custom in Sweden to sew a broad border of seaming lace between the breadths of the sheets, sometimes wove in the linen. Directions, with patterns scarcely changed since the sixteenth century, may be found in the " Weaving Book " published at Stockholm in 1828. 18 18 Weber, " BiLlerbueh," Leipzig. 1740. u Handbok for unga Fnr.itimmer," l>y Ekenmark ; Stockholm, 1826-28. SWEDEN. 24 7 Towards the end of 1500, the term "passeinent " appears in general use, in an inventory of " Pontus de la Gardic." In the neighbourhood of Wadstena, old soldiers, as well as women, may be seen of a summer's evening sitting at the cottage doors making Lice. Though no other lace manufactory can be said to exist in Sweden beyond that of Wadstena, still much lace is made by the peasantry for home consumption. The author has received from the Countess Elizabeth Piper, late grande maitresse to her majesty the Queen of Sweden, specimens of coarse pillow laces, worked by the Scanian peasant-women, which, she writes, " form a favourite occupation for the women of our province." Fig. 104. Dalecarlian lace. Far more curious are the laces that have been sent to us, made by the peasants of Dalecarlia, still retaining the patterns used in the rest of Europe two hundred years since. The broader 19 kinds, of which we give a woodcut (Fig. 104), are from Gaguef, that part of Dalecarlia where laces are mostly made and used. Married women wear them on their summer caps, much starched, as a shelter against the sun. Others, of an unbleached thread, are from Orsa. This lace is never washed, as it is considered an elegance 19 Some are twice the width of Fie*. 104. 248 BISTOBY OF LACE. to preserve this coffee-coloured tint. The firmness and solidity of these Last laces are wonderful. The specimens from Rattwik are narrow " seaming " laces of the Lozenge pattern. There is also a sort of plaiting used as fringe, in the stylo of the Genoese macrame, from the ends of a small sheet which the peasants spread over their pillows. No improvement takes place in the designs. The Daleearlian women do not make a trade of Lace-making, they merely work to supply their own wants.' 20 Efig. 105 represents a lace collar worn by Uustavus Adolphus ; 21 a relic carefully preserved in the Northern Museum at Stockholm. In addition to this collar, there is preserved at the Royal Klads- kammar, at Stockholm, a blood-stained shirt worn by Gustavus at the battle of Dirschau, the collar and cuffs trimmed with lace of rich geometric pattern, the sleeves decorated with " seaming " lace. In an adjoining case of the same collection are some splendid altar-cloths of ancient raised point, said to have been worked by the Swedish nuns previous to the suppression of the monasteries. A small escutcheon constantly repeated on the pattern of the oldest specimens has the semblance of a water-lily leaf, the emblem of the Stures, leading one to believe they may have been of Swedish fabrication, for many ladies of that illustrious house sought shelter from troublous times within the walls of the lace- making convent of Wadstena. In the same cabinet is displayed, with others of more ordinary texture, a collar of raised Spanish guipure, worked by the prin- cesses Catherine and Marie, daughters of Duke Johan Adolf (brother of Charles X.). Though a creditable performance, yet it is far inferior to the lace of convent make. The making of this Spanish point formed a favourite amusement of the Swedish ladies of the seventeenth century : bed-hangings, coverlets, and toilets of their handiwork may still be found in the remote castles of the provinces. We have received the photograph of a flower from an old bed of Swedish lace — an heirloom in a Smaland castle of Count Trolle Bonde. 20 For this information, with a collec- Sweden, and presented, together with^his tion of specimens, the author has to thank portrait, as a remembrance, in 1682, to Madame Petre, of Gene. Miss Jacobina Lauber, of Augsburg, 21 On it is inscribed, in Swedish, " This because she was the most beautiful damsel collar was work by Gustaf Adolf, King of present." o To face page 248. RUSSIA. 249 RUSSIA. In Russia, lace-making and embroidery go hand in hand, as in our early examples of embroidery, drawn-work and outwork combined. Lace-making was not a distinct industry ; the peasants, especially in Eastern Russia, made it in their houses to decorate, in conjunction with embroidery, towels, table linen, shirts, and even the household linen, for which purpose it was purchased direct of the peasants by the inhabitants of the towns. All will have seen the Russian towels in the International Exhibition of 1874, and have admired their quaint design and bright colours, with the curious line of red and blue thread running through the pattern of the lace. Darned netting and drawn work appear, as elsewhere, to have been their earliest productions. The lace is loosely wrought on the pillow, the work simple, and requires few bobbins to execute the vermiculated pattern which is its characteristic (Fig. 106). In some, silks of various colours are employed, in others the network is formed of silver wire. The Eastern traditions are traceable in all the designs. Peter the Great founded a manufactory of silk lace at Novo- gorod, which in the time of the Empress Elizabeth fell into decay. The principal sites of modern pillow-lace making are Torjok, in the province of Tver, and Jetetz, in that of Orel. A manufactory of needle-made lace, called " point de Moscou," has been successfully established by a lady of that city. In workmanship it resembles the old rose point, but retaining in design its Russian nationality. 2">0 HISTORY OF LACK. ( 361 ) CHAPTEE XXIT. ENGLAND TO QUEEN ELIZABETH. " We wcare most fantastical fashions than any nation under the sun doth, the French only excepted." — Coryafs Crudities, 1611. It would be a difficult matter for antiquaries to decide at what precise time lace, as we now define the word, first appears as an article of commerce in the annals of our country. As early as the reign of Edward III. 1 the excessive luxury of veils, worn even by servant girls, excited the indignation of the government, who, in an act, dated 1363, forbade them to be worn of silk, or of any other material, " mes soulement de fil fait deinz le Koialme," for which veils no one was to pay more than the sum of tenpence. Of what stuff these thread veils were composed, we have no record ; probably they were a sort of network, similar to the caul of Queen Philippa, as we see represented on her tomb. 2 That a sort of crochet decoration used for edging was already made, we may infer from the monumental effigies of the day. 3 The purse of the carpenter is described, too, in Chaucer, as " purled with latoun," a kind of metal or wire lace, similar to that found at Herculaneum, and made in some parts of Europe to a recent period. M. Anbry refers to a commercial treaty of 1390, between England and the city of Bruges, as the earliest mention of lace. This said treaty we cannot find in Rymer, Dumont, or anywhere else. We have, as before alluded to, constant edicts concerning the gold wires and threads of " Cipre, Venys, Luk, and Jeane," 1 Rot. Purl. 37 Edw. III. Printed silk cap with a three-pointed border of p. 278, col. 2, No. 26. broad lace network." (Sandford. St. 2 See her monument in Westminster Paul's monument, after Dugdale.) "Eliza- Abbey. Sandford's " Genealogical Table." betli, Duchess of Exeter, died 1425 3 " Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster, (Sandford, p. 259), wore also a caul of wife of John of Gaunt, wears a quilted network with a needlework edging." ZDi HISTORY OV LACE. of embroideries and such like, but no distinct allusion to " 4 " lace. According- to Anderson, the first intimation of such an occupa- tion being known in England is the complaint, made in 1454, by the women of the mystery ol* thread-working in London, in conse- quence of the importation of six foreign women, by which the manufacture of needlework 5 of thread and silk, not as yet under- stood, was introduced. These six women, probably Flemings, had brought over to England the cutwork or darning of the time, a work then unknown in this country. All authors, up to the present period, refer to the well-known act of Edward IV., G 1463, in which the entry of " laces, corses, ribans, fringes, de soie and de file, laces de file soie enfile," &c. are prohibited, as the first mention of " lace " in the public records. The English edition of the " Fcedera," as well as the statutes at large, freely translate these words as laces of thread, silk, twined, laces of gold, &c. ; and the various writers on commerce and manu- factures have accepted the definition as " lace," without troubling themselves to examine the question. 7 Some even go so far as to refer to a MS. in the Harleian Library, 8 giving " directions for making many sorts of laces, 9 which were in fashion in the times of King Henry VI. and Edward IV.," as a proof that lace was already well known, and formed the occupation of the " handcraftry " — as those who gained their livelihood by manual occupation were then 4 In the statute 2 Rich. II. = 1378, " 'Item, to John Eden, my ogr. of tawny merchant strangers are allowed to sell in silk with poynts of needle work, — ojms gross and in retail " gold wire or silver punctatum."" — Bury Will and Inven- wtre,'* and " other such small ware.'' tories. Neither in this nor in the treaty 13 Bich. 8 Bib. Harl. 2320. II. = 1390, between England, the Count 9 Such as "Lace Bascon, Lace cn- of Flanders, and " les bonnes Gentz des dented, Lace bordred on both syde, yn o Trois bonnes villes des Flandres. Gand, syde, pykke Lace bordred, Lace Condrak, Brugges et Ipre " (see Rymer), is there Lace Dawns, Lace Piol, Lace covert, any mention of lace, which, even if fabri- Lace coverte doble, Lace compon coverte, cated, w r as of too little importance, as an Lace maskel, Lace cheyne brode, Las article of commerce, to deserve mention Cheveron, Lace Ounde, Grene dorge, save as other " small wares." Lace for Hattys," &c. 5 Pins not yet being in common use, Another MS. of directions for making any lace would be called " work of the these same named laces is in the posses- needle." sion of the vicar of Ipsden, Oxfordshire, 6 3 Edw. IV. cap. iv. and has been examined by the author, 7 " 1463. John Barett bequeaths to through the kindness of the late Mr. W. •My Lady Walgrave, my musk ball of Twopenny. gold with pie and lace. ENGLAND TO QUEEN ELIZABETH. 253 termed — of the country. Now the author has carefully examined this already quoted MS., in the principal letter of which is a damaged figure of a woman sitting and " making of lace," which is made by means of " bowys." 10 As regards the given directions, we defy any one, save the most inveterate lover of crochet- work to understand one word of its contents, beyond that it relates to some sort of twisted threadwork, and perhaps we might, in utter confusion of mind, have accepted the definition as given, had not another MS. of similar tenor, bearing date 1651, been also pre- served in the British Museum. 11 This second MS. gives specimens of the laces, such as they were, stitched side by side with the directions ; which at once establishes the fact that the laces of silk and gold, laces of thread, were nothing more than braids or cords — the laces used with tags, commonly called " poynts " (the " ferrets " of Anne of Austria) — for fastening the dresses, as well as for ornament, previous to the introduction of pins. In the wardrobe accounts of the time we have frequent notice of these " laces " and corses. " Laces de quir " (cuir) also appear in the statutes, 12 which can only mean what we now term boot- laces, or something similar. From the time of Edward IV. downwards, statute on apparel 10 Bows, loops. When this you see 11 Additional MSS. No. 6293, small Remember me. quarto, ff. 38. It contains instructions In the British Museum (Lansdowne for making various laces, letters, and Coll. No. 22) is a third MS. on the same "edges," such as "diamond stifl, fly, subject, a parchment roll written about cross, long S, figure of 8, spider, hart," the time of Charles I., containing rules &c. and at the end : — an( i directions for executing various kinds of sampler- work, to be wrought in letters, " Heare may you^see in Letters New &c., by means of coloured strings or bows. The Love of her that honoreth you. It has a sort of title in these words, " To My love is this, know the use of this Booke it is two Presented is folkes worke," meaning that the works The Love I owe are to be done by two persons. I cannot showe, Probably of this work was the " Brede The fall of Kings (braid) of divers colours, woven by Four Confusion bringes Ladies," the subject of some verses by Not the vallyou but the Love. Waller, beginning : — "Twice twenty slender Virgins' Fingers twine This curious web, where all their fancies shine. As Nature them, so they this shade have wrought, Soft as their Hands, and various as their Thoughts," &c. 12 1 Rich. III. = 1483, act xii. 254 IMsToliY OF LACE. followed 14)011 statute renewed for a Dumber of years, bearing always the same expression, and QOthing more definite. 13 The Venetian galleys, at an early period, bore to England "apes, sweet wines," and other articles of luxury. They brought also the goldwork of " I.uk," Florence, " Jeane," and Venice. In our early parliamentary records are many statutes on the subject. The 1 Italians were in the habit of giving short lengths, gold thread of had quality, and were guilty of sundry other peccadilloes, which greatly excited the wrath of the nation. The balance was not in England's favour : — '■ Thti bare the gold out of this land And sowkcthe the thrifto out of our hande As the waspe sowkethe the honey of the he." It was these cheating Venetians who first brought over their gold lace into England, but it is not till the reign of Henry VII. that, according to Anderson, " Gold and thread lace came from Florence, Venice, and Genoa, and became an article of commerce. An act was then passed to prevent the buyers of such commodities from selling for a pound weight a packet which does not contain twelve ounces, and the inside of the said gold, silver, and thread lace was to be of equal greatness of thread and goodness of colour as the outside thereof." u A warrant to the keeper of the great wardrobe, in the eighteenth year of King Henry's reign, 15 contains an order for "a mauntel lace of blewe silk and Venys gold, to be delivered for the use of our right dere and well-beloved Cosyn the King of Eomayne" — Maximilian, who was made knight of the Garter. 16 If lace was really worn in the days of Henry VIF., it was probably a braid or passernent of gold or silk, as one of the last 13 1 Rich. III. renews 3 Edvv. IV. for plate, made 1543, we have some curious ten years, and that of Richard is con- entries in which the term lace appears: — tinued by 19 Henry VII. for twenty "Item, oone picture of a woman made yiarsmore. of erthe with a carnacion Roohe knitt, " 4 Hen. VII. = 1488-9. with a knott in the lefte shoulder and 15 P. R. O. The same warrant con- bare he did with her heore rowlid up tains an order to deliver "for the use of with a white lace sett in a boxe of and wearing of our right dere daughter wodde. the Lady Mary,'' together with a black " Item, oone picture of a woman made velvet gown, scarlet petticoat, &c, ' : a of erthe with a carnacon garment after nounce of lace for her kyrtel," and a the Inglishe tycr and bareheddid with thousand " pynnes." her heare rowled up with a white lace 16 In the list of the late King Henry's sett in a box of wodde.'' P. K. O. ENGLAND TO QUEEN ELIZABETH. 255 acts of that monarch's reign — by which all foreign lace is prohibited, and " those who have it in their possession may keep it and wear it till Pentecost " 17 — was issued rather for the protection of the silk- women of the country than for the advantage of the ever-complaining " workers of the mysteries of thread-work." On the 3rd of October 1502, his queen, Elizabeth of York, pays to one " Master Bonner, at Langley, for laces, rybands," &c, 40s. ; and again, in the same year, '3&s. Id. to " Dame Margrette Cotton, for hosyn, laces, sope, and other necessaries for the Lords Henry Courtenay, Edward, and the Lady Margrette, their sister." A considerable sum is also paid to "Fryer Hercules for gold of Venys, gold of Danmarke, and making a lace for the King's mantell of the Garter." 18 It is towards the early part of Henry VIII.'s reign that the " Actes of Apparell " 19 first mention the novel luxury of shirts and part lets, " garded and pynched," 20 in addition to clothes decorated in a similar manner, all of which are forbidden to be worn by any one under the degree of a knight. 21 In the year 1517 there had been a serious insurrection of the London apprentices against the numerous foreign tradesmen who already infested the land, which, followed up by the never-ending complaints of the workers of the mysteries of needlework, induced the king to ordain the wearing of such " myxte joyned, garded or browdered 22 articles of lynnen cloth be only allowed when the same be wrought within this realm of England, Wales, Berwick, Calais, or the Marches." 23 The earliest record we find of laced linen is in the inventory of Sir Thomas L'Estrange, of Hunstanton, co. of Norfolk, 1519, where it is entered, '' 3 elles of Holland cloth, for a shirte for hym, 6 shillings," with " a yard of lace for hym, 8d" 17 19 Hen. VII. = 1504. "An Act agaynst wearing of costly 18 Sir H. Nicolas. Apparell," and again, 6 Hen. VIII. = 19 Slatute l\Henry VIII. = 1509-10, 1514-15. 20 " Gard, to trim with lace." — Cotgrave. " No lesse than crimson velvet did him grace, All garded and regarded with gold lace." Samuel Bowlands, A Pair of Spy-Knaves. " I do forsake these 'hroidered gardes. And all the fashions new." The Queen, in King Cambists, cir. 1561. 21 Under forfeiture of the same shirt 23 24 Hen. VIII. = 1532-33, "An and a fine of 40s. Act for Reformation of Excess in Ap- 22 7 Hen. VIII. = 15 15-10, "Thacte parol." of Apparell." HISTORY OF LACE. In a MS. called "The Boke of Curtasye" — a sort of treatise on etiquette, in which all grades of society arc taught their duties — the chamberlain is commanded to provide for his master's up- rising, a "olene shirte," bordered with lace and curiously adorned with needlework. The correspondence, too, of Honourable Lady Lisle, seized by Henry VIII. 24 as treasonous and dangerous to the state, embraces a hot correspondence with one Sueur Antoinette de Sevenges, a nun milliner of Dunkirk, on the important subject of nightcaps, 25 one half-dozen of which, she complains, are far too wide behind, and not of the lozenge (cut) work pattern she had selected. The nightcaps were in consequence to be changed. Anne Basset, daughter of the said Lady Lisle, educated in a French convent, writes earnestly begging for an " edge of perle 26 for her coif and a tablete (tablier) to ware." Her sister Mary, too, gratefully expreses her thanks to her mother, in the same year, 27 for the " laced gloves you sent me by bearer." Calais was still an English possession, and her products, like those of the Scotch border fortresses, were held as such. 28 Lace still appears but sparingly on the scene. Among the privy purse expenses of the king in 1530, 29 we find five shillings and eightpence paid to Richard Cecyll, 30 groom of the robes, for eight pieces of " yolowe lace, bought for the lung's Grace." We 24 In 1589. Mary Neville, who espoused George 25 "Lisle Corr." vol. i. p. 64. Clifton, 1536, is:— P. K. O. Lord Lisle was governor of " A neyge of perle, 11. 4s. Od." Calais, whence the letter is dated. In the pictures, at Hampton Court Palace, of Queens Mary and Elizabeth, » Honor. Lylle to Madame Antoinette de and another of Francis n all as childrenj Sevenges, a Dunlterie. their ruffs are e(lged wit]i a yery lianw " Madame, — Je ne vous eusse vollu purl, envoiercestedemidousainepourchangier 27 1538. "Lisle Corr.' P. R. O. nestoit que tous celles que menvoiez 28 See p. 255. dernierement sont trop larges, et une 29 Privy Purse Ex. Hen. VIII. 1529- dousaine estoit de cestuy ouvrage dont 1532. Sir H. Nicolas, jesfcis esmerveille, veu que je vous avois 30 Father of Lord Burleigh. There escript que menvoissiez de louvrage aux are other similar entries : — " 8 pieces of lozenges, vous priant que la demy yellow silk, 9s. 4cZ." Also, "green silk dousaine que menvoierez pour ceste lace." demy dousaine soient du diet ouvrage de 1632, " green silk lace " occurs again, lozenge, et quil soient plus estroictes as trimming a pair of French shoes in a mesmement par devant noeobstant que " Bill of shoes for Sir Francis Windebank lexemple est au contraire." and family." — State Papers, Bom. vol. 26 Among the marriage clothes of cexxi. P. R. O. ENGLAND TO QUEEN ELIZABETH. 257 have, too, in the Harleian inventory, 31 a " coif laid over with pas- samyne of gold and silver." These " Acts of Apparell," as regards foreign imports, are, however, somewhat set aside towards the year 1546, when Henry grants a licence in favour of two Florentine merchants to export for three years' time, together with other matters, " all manner of fryngys and passements wrought with gold or silver, or otherwise, and all other new gentillesses of what facyon or value soever they may be, for the pleasure of our dearest wyeff the Queen, our nobles, gentlemen, and others." 32 The king, however, reserves to himself the first view of their merchandise, with the privilege of selecting anything he may please for his own private use, previous to their being hawked about the country. The said " dearest wyeff," from the date of the act, must have been Katherine Parr ; her predecessor, poor Katherine Howard, had for some four years slept headless in the vaults of the White Tower Chapel. Of these " gentillesses " the king now began to avail himself. He selects " trunk sleeves of redd cloth of gold with cut work ; " knitted gloves of silk, and " handkerchers " edged with gold and silver ; his towels are of diaper, " with Stafford knots," or " knots and roses ; " he has " coverpanes of fyne diaper of Adam and Eve garnished about with a narrow passamayne of Venice gold and silver ; handkerchers of Holland, frynged with Venice gold, redd and white silk," others of " Flanders worke," and his shaving cloths trimmed in like fashion. 33 The merchandise of the two Florentines had found vast favour in the royal eyes. Though these articles were imported for our dear " wyeff's " sake, beyond a " perle edging " to the coif of the Duchess of Suffolk, and a similar adorn- ment to the tucker of Jane Seymour, 34 lace seems to have been little employed for female decoration during the reign of King Henry VIII. That lace was early used for the adornment of the ministers of the church, we have ample evidence. M. Aubry states having seen, in London, lace belonging to Cardinal Wolsey. On this matter we have no information ; but we know the surplices were ornamented round the neck, shoulders, and sleeves, with " white work " and cutwork 35 at this period. The specimens we give (Figs. 107 31 Inv. of Hen. VIII. and 4 Edw. VI. 33 Harl. MS. 1419, passim. Harl. MS. 1419, A and B. 34 See Holbein's portraits. 32 38 Hen. VIII. = 1546. Rymer's 35 " The old cutwork cope."— Beau- " Fcedera," vol. xv. p. 105. mont and Fletcher, Tlie Spanish Curate. S 258 HISTORY OF LACE. and L08), are from a portrait formerly in the Library of the Sorbonne, now transferred to Versailles, of Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Cardinal Fisher, as he is styled -his cardinal's hat arriving at Dover a1 the very momenl the head that was to wear it had fallen at Tower Hill. Fie. 107. Fisher, Bishop of Rochester. + 1535. Musee Rationale, Versailles. About this time, too, lace gradually dawns upon us in the church inventories. Among the churchwardens' accounts of St. Mary-at-Hill, date 1554, we find entered a charge of 3s. for making " the Bishopp's (boy bishop) myter with stuff and lace." 36 Fie. 10s. Ifclr Fisher, Bishop of Rochester. Mnsee Nationale, Versailles. The richly laced corporax cloths and church linen are sent to be washed by the " Lady Ancress," an ecclesiastical washerwoman, who is paid by the churchwardens of St. Margaret's, Westminster, 36 We read too of "3 kyrcheys y* was women, and given to be sold for the good given to the kyrk wash,'' large as a of the impoverished church, for which the woman's hood worn at a funeral, highly churchwardens of St. Michael, Spun- ornamented with the needle by pious Gate, York, received the sum of 5s. ENGLAND TO QUEEN ELIZABETH. 259 the sum of 8d. ; this Lady Ancress, or Anchoress, being some worn-out old nun who, since the dissolution of the religious houses, eked out an existence by the art she had once practised within the walls of her convent. At the burial of King Edward VI., Sir Edward Waldgrave enters on his account a charge of fifty yards of gold passemen lace for garnishing the pillars of the church. The sumptuary laws of Henry VIII. were again renewed by Queen Mary : 37 in them, ruffles made or wrought out of England commonly called cutwork, are forbidden to any one under the degree of a baron ; while to women of a station beneath that of a knight's wife, all wreath lace or passement lace of gold and silver with sleeves, partlet or linen trimmed with purles of gold and silver, or white works, alias cut works, &c, made beyond the sea, is strictly prohibited. These articles were, it seems, of Flemish origin, for among the New Year's gifts presented to Queen Mary, 1556, we find enumerated, as given by Lady Jane Seymour, " a fair smock of white work, 38 Flanders making." Lace, too, is now in more general use, for on the same auspicious occasion, Mrs. Penne, King Edward's nurse, gave " six handkerchers edged with passamayne of golde and silke." 39 Two years previous to these New Year's gifts, Sir Thomas Wyatt is described as wearing, at his execution, " on his head a faire hat of velvet, with broad bone- work lace about it." 40 Lace now seems to be called indifferently "purle," "passa- mayne," " bobbin-lace," or " bone-work," the two first-mentioned terms occurring most frequently. The origin of this last ap- pellation is generally stated to have been derived from the custom of using sheep's trotters previous to the invention of wooden bobbins. Fuller so explains it, and the various dictionaries have followed his theory. The employing anything so heavy and cumbersome as sheeps' trotters for bobbins, of which some 300 to 400 are used on a pillow, is perfectly absurd. More simple to suppose the bobbins 37 1 & 2 Ph. & Mary. " lo89. Lady Shandowes (Chandos). 38 "White work" appears also among A cushion cloth of lawne wrought with Queen Elizabeth's New Year's gifts: — whitework of brandies and trees, edged u 1578. Lady Ratcliff, A veil of with bone work, wrought with crowns." — white work, with spangles and small bone Nichols^ Boyal Progresses. lace of silver. A swete bag, being of 39 Roll of New Year's Gifts, 1556. changeable silk, with a small bone lace 40 Stowc, "Queen Mary,'' an. 1551. of gold. 2 s LOO HISTORY OF LACE. to have been made, as fchey are in the present day, of bono cut into tin* prescribed form. Shakespeare, in "Twelfth Night," speaks of "The Bpinstera and the knitters in the sun, And the free maids that weave (heir threads with bone." The Devonshire Lace-makers, on the other hand, deriving their knowledge from tradition, consider the term as applying not to bone bobbins, but the bone pins used in pricking out the lace. When Lace-making was first introduced into their county, pins, 41 so indispensable to their art, being then sold at a price far beyond their means, the lace-makers, mostly the wives of fishermen living along the coast, adopted the bones of fish, which, pared and cut into regular lengths, fully answered as a substitute. Even at the present day pins made from chicken bones continue to be employed in Spain ; and bone pins are still used in Portugal. 42 " Bone " lace 43 constantly appears in the wardrobe accounts ; while bobbin lace 44 is of less frequent occurrence. 41 It is not known when brass wire pins were first made in England, but it must have been before 1 543, in which year a statute was passed (35 Hen. VIII.), entitled, " An Act for the True Making of Pynnes," in which the price is fixed not to exceed 6s. Sd. per 1000. By an act of Rich. III., the importation of pins was prohibited. The early pins were of boxwood, bone, bronze, or silver. In 1 347 (" Liber Garderobse," 1 2-1 6 Edw. III. P. E. O.), we have a charge for 12,000 pins for the trousseau of Joanna, daughter of Edward III., betrothed to Peter the Cruel. The young princess probably escaped a miserable married life by her decease of the black death at Bordeaux, when on her way to Custille. The annual import of pins, in the time of Elizabeth, amounted to 3297/. " State Papers, Dom." Eliz. vol. viii. P. R. O. In Eliz. Q. of Bohemia's Expenses, we find : " Dix mille espingles dans un papier, 4 florins." — Ger. Corr. No 41. P. R. O. " In Holland, pillow-lace is called Pin- work lace — Gespelde-werkte kant." — Sewell's Eng. and Dutch Diet. 42 Bone pins were in use until a re- cent period, and renounced only on ac- count of their costliness. The author purchased of a Devonshire lace-maker one, bearing date 1829, with the name tattooed into the bone, the gift of some long-forgotten youth to her grand- mother. These bone or wood bobbins, some ornamented with glass beads— the more ancient with silver let in — are the calendar of a lace-worker's life. One records her first appearance at a neigh- bouring fair, or May meeting; a second was the first gift of her good man, long cold in his grave ; a third, the first prize brought home by her child from the dame school, and proudly added to her mother's cushion : one and all, as she sits weaving her threads, are memories of bygone days of hopes and fears, of joys and sorrows; and though many a sigh it calls forth, she cherishes her well-worn cushion as an old friend, and works away, her present labour lightened by the memory of the past. 43 " Surtees Wills and Inv." " Hearing bone lace value 5s. 4d." is mentioned " in y e shoppe of John John- ston, of Darlington, merchant." 44 " 1578. James Backhouse, of Kirby in Lonsdale. Bobbin lace, 6s. per ounce." "1597. John Farbeck, of Durham. In y e Shoppe, 4 oz. & ^ of Bobbin lace, 6s. Id."— Ibid. ENGLAND TO QUEEN ELIZABETH, 261 Among the New Year's gifts presented to Queen Elizabeth, we have from the Lady Paget " a petticoat of cloth of gold stayned black and white, with a bone lace of gold and spangles, like the way ves of the sea ;" a most astounding article, with other entries no less remarkable, but too numerous to cite. In the marriage accounts of Prince Charles 45 we have charged 150 yards of bone lace 46 for six extraordinary ruffs and twelve pairs of cuffs, against the projected Spanish marriage. The lace was at 9s. a yard. Sum total, 671. 10s. 47 Bone lace is mentioned in the catalogue of King Charles I.'s pictures, drawn up by Vanderdort, 48 where James I. is described " without a hat, in a bone lace falling band." 49 Setting aside wardrobe accounts and inventories, the term constantly appears both in the literature and the plays of the seventeenth century. " Buy some quoifs, handkerchiefs, or very good bone lace, mistress," cries the pert sempstress when she enters with her basket of wares, in Green's " Tu Quoque," 50 showing it to have been at that time the usual designation. " You taught her to make shirts and bone lace," says some one in the " City Madam." 51 Again, describing a thrifty wife, Loveless, in " The Scornful Lady," 52 exclaims — " She cuts cambric to a thread, weaves bone lace, and quilts balls admirably. " Laqueo . . . fact, super les bob- Would it specially refer to gold or silver bins."'— a W. A. Eliz. 27 & 28. P. R. O. wire and not to thread ? " Three peces teuiar bobbin." — Ibid. 4(J Handle Holme, in his enumeration Car. I. vi. of terms used in arts, gives : " Bone lace, " One pece of bobin lace, 2s.," occurs wrought with pegs." frequently in the accounts of Lord Comp- The materials used for bobbins in Italy ton, afterwards Earl of Northampton, have been already mentioned, p. 59, master of the wardrobe of Prince Charles. note 82 . Roll, 1622-23, Extraordinary Expenses, 47 Lord Compton, " Extraordinary and others. P. P. O. Expenses of the Wardrobe of K. Charles, 45 In the Ward. Ace. of his brother before and after he was King." — Boll Prince Henry, 1607, and the warrant to 1622-26. P. R. O. the G.Ward., on his sister's, the Princess 48 An. 1635. Elizabeth's, marriage, 1612-13, "bone" 49 A miniature of old Hilliard, now in lace is in endless quantities. the possession of his Grace the Duke of Bobbin lace appears invariably dis- Hamilton, tinguished from bone lace, both being 50 1614. mentioned in the same inventory. It 51 Massinger, 1612. seems to have been sold by weight, ; ' 2 Beaumont and Fletcher. 262 HISTORY OF LACE. The same term is used in the "Tatler" 53 and "Spectator," 5 * and in the list of prizes given, in L752, by the Society of Anti- Gallicans, we find, "Six pieces of bone Lace for men's ruffles." It continued to be applied in the acts of parliament and notices relative to lace, nearly to the end ol* the Last century. ^ After a time, the sheep's trotters or bones having been universally replaced by bobbins of turned boxwood, the term fell into disuse, though it is still retained in lielginm and Germany. But to return to Queen Mary Tudor. We have among the " late Queen Mary's clothes " an entry of " compas " lace ; pro- bably an early name for lace of geometric pattern. Openwork edging of gold and passamaine lace also occur ; and on her gala robes, lace of " Yenys gold," as well as " vales of black network," a fabric to which her sister, Queen Elizabeth, was most partial ; " partlets, dressings, shadowes, and pynners ' de opere rete,' " appearing constantly in her accounts. 56 AVe find in the entries from this period frequent mention of parchment lace. From the privy purse expenses of the Princess Mary, 57 we find she gives to Lady Calthorpe a pair of sleeves of " gold, trimmed with parchment lace ;" a favourite donation of hers, it would appear, by the following anecdote : — " A great man's daughter," relates Strype 58 (the Duke of Suffolk's daughter, the Lady Jane Grey), " receiving from Lady Mary, before she was queen, goodly apparel of tinsel, cloth of gold, and velvet, laid on with parchment lace of gold, when she saw it, said, ' What shall I do with it ? ' Mary said, * Gentlewoman, wear it.' ' ^ay,' qnoth she, ' that were a shame to follow my Lady Mary against God's word, and leave my Lady Elizabeth, which folio weth God's word.' " 53 "The things you follow and make bon' flora t' in forma oper" seiss' ad 24s., songs on now, should be sent to knit, or 41. 16s."— G. W. A. EUz. 43 to 44. sit down to bobbins or bone-lace."— " 1578-79. New Year's Gifts. Baroness Taller. Shandowes. A vail of black network 54 " We destroy the symmetry of the flourished with flowers of silver and a human figure, and foolishly combine to small bone-lace." — Nichols. call off the eye from great and real " 1536-44. Sir Fred. Madden, beauties, to childish gewgaw ribbands " 2 payr of sleeves whereof one of gold and bone-lace." — Spectator. w h p'chemene lace," &c. 55 It is used in Walpole's "New " 2 prs. of sieves w h pchmyn lase, 8/6.' British Traveller," 1784. 58 " Ecclesiastical Memoirs," iii. 2,' 56 "Eidem pro 4 pec' de opera Bhet' 167. ENGLAND TO QUEEN ELIZABETH. 263 In the list of the Protestant refugees in England, 1563 to 1571 , 59 among their trades, it is stated " some live by making matches of hempe stalks, and parchment lace." Again, Sir Eobert Bowes, " once ambassador to Scotland," in his inventory, 1553, has " One cassock of wrought velvet with p'chment lace of gold." 60 " Parchment lace 61 of watchett and sy liver at 7s. 8d. the ounce," appears also among the laces of Queen Elizabeth. 62 King Charles I. has his carpet bag trimmed with " broad parch- ment gold lace," 63 his satin nightcaps with gold and silver parch- ment laces, 64 and even the bag and comb case " for His Majesty's barber " is decorated with " silver purle and parchment lace." 65 Again, Charles II. ornaments the seats on both sides the throne with silver parchment lace. 66 In many of the inventories circa 1590, " sylke parchment lace " is noted down, and " red " and " green parchment ]ace," again, appear among the wares " in ye StufTes." 67 The term seems most generally associated with gold or silver, otherwise, we should consider it as merely referring to needle- made lace, which is made on a parchment pattern. 59 " State Papers," vol. lxxxii. P. E. 0. parchment lace, 41 . 9 . 9." 60 Surtees Society, Durham, "Wills 65 Roll, 1630. and Inventories." 66 " Eiclem pro novemdecim virg et dim 61 1572. Thynne, in his " Debate be- aurese et argentese pergamen latinise tween Pride and Lowliness," describes a pondent sexdecim unc § -J venet . . . coat "layd upon with parchment lace pro consuat ad ornand duas sedes utroque witiioute. latere thronse in domo Parliament." — Gt. * 2 B. M. Add. MSS. No. 5751. Ward Acc Car> n 30 and 31 = 1678 _ 9 3 Roll, 1607. P. P. O. In 1672 _73 i s an entry for " 2 virgis 64 Ibid. 1626. "11 nightcapsof coloured tenise pero-amen " satin, laid on thick, with gold and silver 6 7 « s m tees Inventories " 264 BISTORT OF LACE. CHAPTER XXI II. QUEEN ELIZABETH. " By land and sea a Virgin Queen I reign, And spurn to dust both Antichrist and Spain." Old Masque. " Tell me, Dorinda, why so gay ? Why such embroidery, fringe, and lace ? Can any dresses find a way To stop the approaches of decay, And mend a ruined face ? " Lord Dorset. Up to the present time our mention of lace, both in the statutes and the royal wardrobe accounts, has been but scanty. Suddenly, in the days of the Virgin Queen, both the privy expenses and the inventories of New Year's gifts overflow with notices of passe- ments, drawn work, outwork, crown lace, 1 bone lace for ruffs, Spanish, chain, byas, 2 parchment, hollow, 3 billament, 4 and diamond 1 Crown lace, — so called from the pattern worked being a succession of crowns sometimes intermixed with acorns or roses. A relic of this lace may still be found in the " faux galun " sold by the German Jews, for the decoration of fancy dresses and theatrical purposes. It is frequently mentioned. We have : — " 12 yards laquei, called crown lace of black gold and silk."- G. W. A. Eliz. 4 &5. " 18 yards crown lace purled with one wreath on one side." — Ibid. 5 & 0. 2 "11 virgis laquei Byas." — Ibid. 29 &30. 3 Hemming and edging 8 yards of ruff of cambric with white lace called hollow lace, and various entries of Spanish lace, fringe, black chain, diamond, knotted, hollow, and others, are scattered through the earlier wardrobe accounts of Queen Elizabeth. The accounts of the keepers of the great wardrobe, which we shall have occasion so frequently to cite, are now deposited in the Public Record Office, to which place they were transferred from the Audit Office, in 1859. They extend from the 1 Elizabeth = 1558 to 10th Oct. 1781, and comprise 160 volumes, written in Latin, until 1730-31, when the account appears in English, and is continued so to the end. 1743-49 is the last account in which the items are given. 4 Eliz. 30 &31. Billament lace occurs both in the '' shoppes " and inventories of the day. Among the list of foreigners settled in the City of London in 1571 (" State Papers, Dom." Eliz. vol. Ixxxiv. P. R. 0.)» are: William Crutall, "useth QUEEN ELIZABETH. 265 lace, 5 in endless and to us, we must own, most incomprehensible variety. The " Surtees Wills and Inventories " add to our list the laces of Waborne 6 and many others. Lace was no longer confined to the court and high nobility, but, as these inventories show, it had already found its way into the general shops and stores of the provincial towns. In that of John Johnston, merchant, of Dar- lington, already cited, we have 12 yards of " loom " lace, value 4s., black silk lace, " statute " lace, &c, all mixed up with entries of pepper, hornbooks, sugar-candy, and spangles. About the same date, in the inventory taken after the death of James Backhouse, of Kirby-in-Lonsdale, are found enumerated " In y e great shoppe," thread lace at 16s. per gross ; 4 dozen and 4 " pyrled " lace, 4s. ; 4 quarterns of "statching " (stitching or seaming?) lace ; lace edging ; crown lace ; hollow lace ; copper lace ; gold and silver " chean " (chain) lace, &c. This last-mentioned merchant's store appears to have been one of the best-furnished provincial shops of the period. That of John Farbeck, of Durham, mercer, taken thirty years later, adds to our list 78 yards of velvet lace, coloured silk " chayne " lace, " coorld " lace, petticoat lace, all cheek by jowl with " Venys " gold and turpentine. To follow the " stitches " and " works " quoted in the wardrobe accounts of Elizabeth — all made out in Latin, of which we sincerely trust, for the honour of Ascham, the queen herself was guiltless — would be but as the inventory of a haberdasher's shop. We have white stitch, "opus ret' alb," of which she had a kirtle, " pro le hemmynge et edginge " of which, with " laqueo the craft of making byllamerit lace;" of broad cloth, with billements lace, 10s." Kich. Thomas, Dutch, " a worker of — Ibid. Billament lace." 5 95 dozen rich silver double diamond In 1573, a country gentleman, by his and cross laces occur also in the " Extra- will deposited in the Prerogative Court of ordinary Expenses for Prince Charles's Canterbury (Brayley and Britton's Journey to Spain," 1623. P. K. O. " Graphic Illustrations ") bequeaths : 6 " 1571. In y e Great Shop, 8 peces of " To my son Tyble ray short gown faced 'waborne ' lace, 16cL" — Mr John Wilkin- with wolfskin and laid with Billements son's Goods, of Newcastle, Merchant. lace." " 1580. 100 Gross and a half of ' wa- in John Johnston's shop, we have : borne ' lace." — Inv. of Cuthbert Ellyson. "3 doz. of velvet Billemunt lace, 12s." 1519, John de Tronch, Abbot of Kil- In that of John Farbeck, 9 yards of the mainham Priory, is condemned to pay 100 same. (" Surtees Wills and Inv.") marks fine for detaining 2 lbs. of Waborne Widow Chapman of Newcastle's inven- thread, value 3s., and other articles, the tory, 1533, contains : " One old cassock property of W. Sacy. 266 HISTORY OK LACK. coronat' de auro et arg'" — gold and silver crown lace — and " Laqueo alb' lat' bon' operat' super oss' " — broad white lace worked upon bono — sho pays the sum oi' 35s. 1 Then there is the Spanish stitch, already mentioned as intro- duced by Queen Catherine, and true stitch, 8 Laid-work, 9 not-work, black work, 10 white work, and cutwork. Of chain stitch we have many entries, such as "Six caules of knotwork, worked with chain stitch and bound 'cum tapem' (tape), of sister's (nun's) thread." u A scarf of white stitch- work appears also among the New Year's ffifts. As regards the use, however, of these ornaments, the queen stood no nonsense. Luxury for herself was quite a different affair from that of the people ; for, on finding that the London appren- tices had adopted the white stitching and garding as a decoration for their collars, she put a stop to all such finery by ordering 12 the first transgressor to he publicly whipped in the hall of his com- pany. Laid-work, which, maybe, answers to our modern plumetis, or simply signified a braidwork, adorned the royal garters, " Frauncie," which, worked " cum laidwork," stitched, and trimmed " in ambo- bus lateribus " with gold and silver lace, from which hung silver pendants, " tufted cum serico color," cost her majesty 33s. the pair. 13 The description of these right royal articles appears to have given as much trouble to describe as it does ourselves to translate the meaning of her accountant. The drawn-work, "opus tract'," seems to have been but a 7 G. W. A. Eliz. 16 & 17. opat' cu' le chainestich et ligat' cu' tape 8 " Eidem pro 6 manuterg' de camerick de filo soror, ad 14s., 4Z. 4s." — G. W. A. operat' cum serico nigra trustich," &c. — Eliz. 41 & 42. G. W. A. Eliz. 41 & 42, and, again, 44. Also, in the last year of her reign 9 1572. Inventory of Thomas Swin- (1G02>, we find : — burne, of Ealingham, Esq. " Six fine net caules flourished with " His Apparell." chaine stitch with sister's Ihreod." — " A wellwett cote layd with silver las. JVardrobe Accounts. B. M. Add. MSS. " A satten doublet layd with silver las. No. 5751. " A payr of wellwett sleeves layd with 12 In 1583. .silver las."— &wrtees Wills and Inv. 13 G. W. A. Eliz. 38 & 39. We have it 10 New Year's gifts, Lady Mary also on ruffs. Sydney: "A smock and two pillow " Eidem pro 2 sutes de lez ruffs bon' de berea of cameryck wrought with black- la lawne operat' in le laid work et edged work and edged with a broad bone-laee cum ten' bon' ad 70s. per pec', 11." — G. i A black sylke." W. A. Eliz. 43 & 44. 11 "Eidem pro 6 caules alb' nodut QUEEN ELIZABETH. 267 drawing of thread worked over with silk. We have smocks thus wrought and decorated " cum lez ruffs et wrestbands." 14 In addition to the already enumerated laces of Queen Eliza- beth are the bride laces of Coventry blue, 15 worn and given to the guests at weddings, mentioned in the " Masques " of Ben Jon- son : 16 — " Clod. And I have lost beside my purse, ray best bride-lace I had at Joan Turnips' wedding. " Frances. Ah, and I have lost my thimble and a skein of Coventry blue I had to work Gregory Litchfield a handkerchief." When the queen visited Kenilworth, in 1577, a " Bridall " took place for the pastime of her Majesty. "First," writes the Chan- cellor, " came all the lusty lads and bold bachelors of the parish, every wight with his blue bridesman's bride lace upon a braunch of green broom." What these bride laces exactly were, we cannot now tell. They continued in fashion till the Puritans put down all festivals, ruined the commerce of Coventry, and the fabric of blue thread ceased for ever. It was probably a showy kind of coarse trimming, like that implied by Mopsa in the " Winter's Tale," when she says — " You promised me a tawdry lace : " 17 14 G. W. A. Eliz., last year of her reign. black silk drawne worke, five smocks of Again— fine holland cloth."— B. M. Add. MSS. 1600. " Drawing and working with No. 5751. " These Holland smocks as white as snow, And gorgets brave with drawn-work wrought." Pleasant Quippesfor Upstart New-fangled Gentlewomen, 1596. 15 As early as 1485, we have in the or the Worlds' s Folly, 1605. inventory of St. Mary-at-Hill, " An altar " Though he perfume the table with cloth of diaper, garnished with 3 blue rose cake or appropriate bone-lace and Kays (St. Peter's) at each end." All the Coventry Blue," writes Stephens in his church linen seems to have been em- " Satirical Essays," 1615. broidered in blue thread, and so appears In the inventory of Mary Stuart, taken to have been the smocks and other linen. at Fotheringay, after her death, we have : Jenkin, speaking of his sweetheart, " Furniture for a bedd of black velvet, says : " She gave me a shirt collar, garnished with Bleue lace. In the care wrought over with no counterfeit stuff. of Kallay, alias Beauregard." " George. What ! was it gold ? 16 The window of the famous clothier, " Jenkin. Nay, 'twas better than gold. called Jack of Newbury, is described " Geokge. What was it ? when a bride as "led to church between " Jenkin. Bight Coventry blue." — two boys with bride laces and rosemary Pinner of Walcefield, 1 599. tied about their sleeves." " It was a simple napkin wrought with 17 "Tawdry. As Dr. Henshaw and Coventry blue." — Laugh and Lie Downe, Skinner suppose, of knots and ribbons. 268 IllSTOHY OF LACK. articles which, judging from the song of A.utolycus — •• Will you buy any tape, Or lace for your cape?" were already \\i\\\ ked about among the pedlars 1 wares throughout the country: one of the " many laces " mentioned by Shakespeare. 18 Dismissing, then, her stitches, her laces, and the 30(H) gowns she left in her wardrobe behind her — for, as Shakespeare says, "Fashion wears out more apparel than the man" 19 — we must eon line ourselves to those articles immediately under our notice, cutwork, bone lace, and purle. Outwork — "opus scissum," as it is termed by the keeper of the great wardrobe — was used by Queen Elizabeth to the greatest extent. She wore it on her ruffs, " with lilies of the like, set with small seed pearl ;" on her doublets, " flourished with squares of silver owes ; on her forepart of lawn, " flourished with silver and spangles ;" 20 on her cushion cloths, 21 her veils, her tooth-cloths, 22 her smocks, and her nightcaps. 23 All flourished, spangled, and edged in a manner so stupendous as to defy description. It was bought at a fair held in St. Audrey's chapel ; fine, without grace or elegance." —Bailey's Diet. 1764. Southey (" Omniana," vol. i. p. 8) says : — " It was formerly the custom in England for women to wear a necklace of fine silk called Tawdry lace, from St. Audrey. " She had in her youth been used to wear carcanets of jewels, and being after- wards tormented with violent pains in the neck, was wont to say, that Heaven, in his mercy, had thus punished her for her love of vanity. She died of a swelling in her neck. Audrey (the same as Ethel- rede) was daughter of King Anna, who founded the Abbey of Ely." Spenser, in the " Shepherd's Calendar," has : — " Bind your fillets faste And girde in your waste For more fineness with a tawdry lace ;" and in the "Faithful Shepherdess " of Beaumont and Fletcher, Amaryllis speaks of " The primrose chaplet, tawdry lace and ring. 18 A passage, already quoted, in " Much Ado about Nothing " shows us that, in Shakespeare's time, the term " to lace " was generally used as a verb, denoting to decorate with trimming. Margaret, the tiring woman, describes the Duchess of Milan's gown as of " Cloth o' gold, and cuts, and laced with silver." 1D " Much Ado about Nothing." 20 u New y ear ' s Gi ff, s f Mrs. Wyng- field, Lady Southwell, and Lady Wil- loughby." — Nichols' Royal Progresses. 21 " Mrs. Edmonds. A cushion cloth of lawn cutwork like leaves, and a few owes of silver." — New Year's Gifts. "Eidem pro le edginge unius panni vocat' a quishion cloth de lawne alb' operat' cum spaces de opere sciss' et pro vii. virg' de Laquei alb' lat' operat' sup' oss' 33s. U."—G. A. W. Eliz. 31 & 32. 22 "Mistress Twist, the Court laundress. Four toothcloths of Holland wrought with black silk and edged with bone lace of silver and black silk." — New Year's Gifts. 23 " Lady Ratcliffe. A night coyf of white cutwork flourished with silver and set with spangles." — Ibid. QUEEN ELIZABETH. 269 dizened out in one of these last-named articles 24 that young Gilbert Talbot, son of Lord Shrewsbury, caught a sight of the queen while walking in the tilt-yard. Queen Elizabeth at the window in her nightcap ! What a goodly sight ! That evening she gave Talbot a good flap on the forehead, and told her cham- berlain how the youth had seen her " unready and in her night stuff," and how ashamed she was thereof. Outwork first appears in the New Year's offerings of 1 577-8, where, among the most distinguished of the givers, we find the name of Sir Philip Sidney, who on one occasion offers to his royal mistress a suit of ruffs of cutwork, on another a smock — strange presents according to our modern ideas. We read, however, that the offering of the youthful hero gave no offence, but was most graciously received. Singular enough, there is no entry of cut- work in the great wardrobe accounts before that of 1584-5, where there is a charge for mending, washing, and starching a bodice and cuffs of good white lawn, worked in divers places with broad spaces of Italian cutwork, 20 shillings, 25 and another for the same operation to a veil of white cutwork trimmed with needlework lace. 26 Cutwork was probably still a rarity ; and really on reading the quantity offered to Elizabeth on each recurring new year there was scarcely any necessity for her to purchase it herself. By the year 1586-7 the queen's stock had apparently diminished. Now, for the first time, she invests the sum of sixty shillings in six yards of good ruff lawn, well worked, with cutwork, and edged with good white lace. 27 From this date the great wardrobe accounts swarm with entries such as a " sut' de lez ruffes cle lawne," with spaces of " opre sciss'," 28 " un' caule cle lawne alb' sciss' cum le edge," of similar work ; 29 a " toga cum traine de opere sciss' ; " 30 all minutely detailed in the most excruciating gibberish. Sometimes the cutwork is of Italian 31 fabric, some- 24 a Oropson. A night coyf of cameryk 27 Ibid. 28-29. cutwork and spangles, with a forehead 28 Ibid. 29-30. cloth, and a night border of cutwork with 29 Ibid. 35-36. bone lace."— Ibid. 1577-8. 3 ° Ibid. 43-44. "A round kyrtle of 25 " Eidem pro emendac lavacione et cutwork in lawne." — B. M. Add. MSS starching unius par' corpor' (stays) et No. 5751. manic' de lawne alb' bon' deorsum operat' 31 " One yard of double Italian cutwork in diversis locis cum spaciis Lat' de a quarter of a yard wide 55s. id " operibus Italic' sciss 20sft."— G. W. A. G. W. A. Eliz. 33 & 34. Eliz. 26-27. " Una virga de opere sciss' lat' de fac- 6 Iki E P l 9™™. House."— G. IF. Ace. Jac. I. 18 to 19. 41 " Ace. of Sir Lyom 11 Cranfield (now In the same year, 1620, an English Earl of Middlesex), late Master of the company exported a large quantity of Great Wardrobe, touching the funeral gold and silver lace to India, for the of Queen Anne, who died 2nd March King of Golconda. 1(518" (i.e. 1619,, N. S.). P. R. O. HISTORY OF LACE. tlu> charges for the king's mourning ruffs, an edging at Ikl. the piece is alone recorded. 42 Fie. 1! I. mm Mary, Countess of Pembroke. + 1621. From her portrait in Walpole's "Roj T al and Noble Authors." 42 About this time a complaint is made by the London tradesmen, of the influx of refugee artisans, " who keepe theire misteries to themselves, which hath made them bould of late to device engines for workinge lace, &c, and such wherein one man doth more among them than seven Englishmen can doe, soe as theire cheape sale of those commodities beggareth all our English artificers of tl.at trade and enricheth them," which becomes " scarce tolleruble," they conclude. Cecil, in consequence, orders a census to be made in 1621. Among the traders appears " one satten lace maker." Colchester is bitterly irate against the Dutch strangers, and complains of one " Jonas Snav, a Bay and Say maker, whose wife selleth blacke, browne, and white thredde, and all sorts of bone lace and vatuegardes, which they receive out of Holland. One Isaac Bowman, an Alyen born, a chirurgeon and merchant, selleth hoppes, bone lace, and such like, to the great grievance of the free bur- gesses." A nest of refugee lace-makers, '* who came out of France by reason of the late ' trebles ' yet continuing," were congre- gated at Dover (1621-2). A list of about five-and-twenty 'widows, being makers of Bone lace," is given, and then Mary JAMES I. 289 Towards the end of James I.'s reign a singular custom came into fashion, brought in by the Puritan ladies, that of representing religious subjects, both in lace, cutwork, and embroidery, a fashion hitherto confined to church vestments. We find constant allusions to it in the dramatists of the day. Thus, in the " City Match," 43 we read — " She works religious petticoats, for flowers She'll make church histories. Her needle doth So sanctify my cushionets, besides My smock sleeves have such holy embroideries, And are so learned, that I fear in time All my apparel will be quoted by Some pious instructor." Again, in the " Custom of the Country " 44 " Sure, you should not be Without a neat historical shirt." We find in a Scotch inventory 45 of the seventeenth century : " Of Holland scheittes ii pair, quhairof i pair schewit (sewed) with hollie work." 46 The entries of this reign, beyond the " hollie work," picked 47 and seaming 48 lace, contain little of any novelty ; all articles of the toilet were characterised by a most reckless extravagance. Tanyer and Margarett Le Moyne, ' ; may- " 40 yards broad peaked lace to edge dens and makers of bone lace," wind up 6 cupboard cloths, at 4s. per yard, 8/." — the catalogue of the Dover " Alyens." Ibid. The Maidstone authorities complain 48 " Seaming " lace and spacing lace that the thread -makers' trade is much appear to have been generally used at this decayed by the importation of thread period to unite the breadths of linen, in- from Flanders. " List of Foreign Pro- stead of a seam sewed. We find them em- testants resident in England," 1618-88. ployed for cupboard cloths, cushion cloths, Printed by the Camden Society. sheets, shirts, &c, throughout the accounts 43 Jasper Mayne. of King James and Prince Charles. 44 Beaumont and Fletcher. " At Stratford-upon-Avon is preserved, 45 t; Valuables of Glenurquhy," 1640. in the room where Shakspeare's wife, Innes' " Sketches of Early Scotch Anne Hathaway, was born, an oaken History." linen chest, containing a pillow case and 46 Collars of " Hollie worke " appear in a very large sheet made of homespun the inventories of Mary Stuart. linen. Down the middle of the sheet is 47 » Thomas Hodges, for making ruffe an ornamental open or cut work insertion and cuffes for his Highness of cuttworke about an inch and a half deep, and the edged with a fayre peake purle, 7Z." — pillow case is similarly ornamented. 2nd Ace. of Sir J. Villiers, Prince They are marked E. H., and have al- Charles, 1617-18. P. R. O. ways been used by the Hathaway family U :\>o I1ISTOKV OF LACK. " There is not a gentleman new in the fashion," says Peacham, 49 "whose band of Italian outwork CLOW standeth him net in the least three or lour pounds. Yes, a semster in Eolborn told me that there are of threescore }>onnds. ,, We read how two-thirds of a woman's dower was often expended in the purchase of outwork and Flanders lace. In the warrant of the great wardrobe for the marriage expenses of the ill-fated princess Elizabeth, on which occasion it is recorded of poor Arabella Stuart, the "Lady Arabella, though still in the Tower, lias shewn her joy by buying four new gowns, one of which cost 1500Z.," 50 in addition to "gold cheine laze, silver spangled, silver looped, myllen bone lace, drawneworke poynte, black silk Naples lace," &c, all in the most astonishing quantity, we have the astounding entry of 1092 ounces of silver bone lace. 51 No wonder, in after days, the princess caused so much anxiety to the palatine's privy purse, Colonel Schomberg, who in vain implores her to have her linen and lace bought beforehand, and paid at every fair. 52 " You brought," he writes, " 3000Z. worth of linen from England, and have bought 100G7. worth here," and yet " you are ill provided." 53 on special occasions, such as births, deaths, and marriages. This is still a common custom in Warwickshire ; and many families can proudly show em- broidered bed linen, which lias been used on state occasions, and carefully pre- served in old carved chests for three centuries and more." — A Shakspeare Me- morial, 1864. 49 u The Truth of the Times » w Peacham, 1638. 50 " State Papers, Dom." Jas. I. vol. lxxii. No. 28. 51 Warrant on the Great Wardrobe, 1612-13, Princess Elizabeth's marriage. 52 Frankfort fair, at which most of the German princes made their purchases. 53 " German Correspondence," 1614-15 P. R. O. We find among the accounts of Col. Schomberg and others : — " To a merchant of Strasbourg, for laces which she had sent from Italy, 288 rix- dollars." And in addition to numerous entries of silver and other laces : — "Pour dentelle et linge kare pour Madame, 115 florins." " Donne Madame de Caus pour des mouchoirs h, point couppee pour Madame, 4Z." " Une petite dentelle a. point couppe, 3Z." &c. Point coupe handkerchiefs seem to have been greatly in fashion. Ben Jonson, " Bartholomew Fair," 1614, mentions them : — " A cutwork handkerchief she gave me." CHARLES I. 201 CHARLES I. " Embroider' d stockings, cutwork smocks and shirts." Ben Jonson. " Une mode a a peine detruit une autre mode, qu'elle est abolie par une plus nouvelle, qui cede elle-meme a celle qui la suit et qui ne sera pas la derniere ; telle est notre legerete." — La Bruyere. Ruffs may literally be said to have gone out with James I. His son Charles is represented on the coins of the two first years of his reign in a stiff starched ruff; 54 in the fourth and fifth we see Fig. 115. Falling collar of the seventeenth century. After Abraham Bosse. the ruff unstarched, falling down on his shoulders, 55 and afterwards, the falling band (Fig. 1 15) was generally adopted, and worn by all classes save the judges, who stuck to the ruff as a mark of dignity and decorum, till superseded by the peruke. 56 Even loyal Oxford, conscientious to a hair's-breadth — always behind the rest of the world — when Whitelocke, in 1635, addresses 54 See Snelling's " Coins," pi. ix. 8, 9,10. 55 Ibid. pi. ix. 5, 6, 11. 56 Evelyn, describing a medal of King- Charles I., struck in 1633, says he wears " a falling band, which new mode suc- ceeded the cumbersome ruff; but neither did the bishops or the judges give it up so soon, the Lord Keeper Finch being, I think, the very first." u 2 292 HISTORY OF LACE. the quarter sessions arrayed in the new fashion, owned "one may speak as good sense in a falling band as in a ruff." The change did not, however, diminish the extravagance of the age. The bills for the king's lace and Linen, which in the year 1625 amounted to 1000/., in course of time rose to L500Z. 67 Palling bands of Flanders bone lace and outwork appear constantly in the accounts. 58 As the foreign materials arc carefully specified (it was one of the articles, then a novelty, that Queen Anne of Denmark "bought of the French Mann ,? ), we may infer much of the bobbin or bone lace to have been of home produce. As Ben Jonson says, " Rich apparel has strong virtues." It is, he adds, " the birdlime of fools." There was, indeed, no article of toilet at this period which was not encircled with lace — towels, sheets, shirts, caps, cushions, boots Fier. 110. Ffe. 117. From an engraving of Abraham Bosst From an engraving of Abraham Bosse. (Fig. 116), cuffs (Fig. 117) ; and, as too often occurs in the case of excessive luxury, when the bills came in. money was wanting to discharge them ; Julian Elliott, the royal lace merchant, seldom receiving more than half her account, and in 1630 — nothing. 59 There were, as Shakespeare says, " Bonds entered into For gay apparel against the triumph day." G0 57 In 1633, the bills having risen to 1500?. a year, a project is made for reducing the charge for the king's fine linen and bone lace, " for his body," again to 1000?. per annum, for which sum it "may be very well done." — State Papers, Ohas. I. vol. cexxxiv. No. 83. s * "Paid to Smith Wilkinson, for 420 yarda of good Flanders bone lace for 12 day ruffes and 6 night ruffes ' cum cuffes eisdem,' 87Z. 15s. "For 6 falling bands made of good broad Flanders luce and Cuttworks with cuffs of the same, 52?. 16s."— Gt. W. A. Car. I. 6 = 1631. 59 See G. W. A. Mich. 1029 to April 1630. ,:o "Twelfth Nirrht." CHARLES I. 203 The quantity of needlework purl consumed on the king's hunt- ing collars, " colares pro venatione," scarcely appears credible. One entry alone makes 994 yards for 12 collars and 24 pairs of cuffs. 61 Again, 600 yards of fine bone lace is charged for trimming the ruffs of the king's night-clothes. 62 The art of lace-making was now carried to great perfection in England ; so much so that the lease of twenty-one years, granted in 1627 to Dame Barbara Villiers, of the duties on gold and silver thread, became a terrible loss to the holder, who, in 1629, petitions for a discharge of 437Z. 10s. arrears due to the crown. The prayer is favourably received by the officers of the customs, to whom it was referred, who answer they " conceive those duties will decay, for the invention of making Venice gold and silver lace within the kingdom is come to that perfection that it will be made here more cheap than it can be brought from beyond seas." 63 The fancy for foreign articles still prevailed. " Among the goods brought in by Tristram Stephens," writes Sir John Hippisley, from Dover Castle? " are the bravest French bandes that ever I did see for ladies — they be fit for the Queen." 64 Gold lace was exported in considerable quantities to India in the days of James I.; 65 and now, in 1631, we find the "riband roses," edged with lace, notified among the articles allowed to be exported. These lace rosette-trimmed shoes were in vogue in the time of James I., and when first brought to that monarch, he refused to adopt the fashion, asking " if they wanted to make a ruffe-footed dove of him." They were afterwards worn in all the 61 G. W. A. Car. I. the Annunciation no more then that which is half a crowne 9 to Mich. 11. a yard, and so the uppermost will costyou, 62 Ibid. 8 and 9. and the other will cost 18 pence ; I did 63 " State Papers, Dom.'' Charles I. vol. thinke you would rather staye something cxlix. No. 31. long for it then to pay so deare for that 04 In a letter to Mr. Edward Nicholas, wh would make no better show ; if you Sec. of the Admiralty, 7 March 1627 like either of these, you shall have it sone (afterwards Sec. of State to Chas. II.). desptch, for I am promise to have it made " State Papers, Dom." Charles I. vol. in a fortnight. I haue received the monie cxxiii. 62. from my consson Huuton. Heare is no Among the " State Papers "(vol. cxxvi. news to wright of. Thus with my best 70) is a letter from Susan Nicholas to love remembred unto you, I rest your very her " loveing Brother," 1628, about lace loving sister, for his baud. She writes :— " I have sent " Susanne Nicholas. you your bootehose and could have sent " I have sent ye the lase ye foyrst be- your lase for your band, but that I did see spoke, to compare them together, to see these lasees which to my thought did do a which ye like best." greddeale better than that wh you did 65 See p. 287, note 33 . bespcake, and the best of them will cost 294 HISTORY OF LACK. extravagance of the French court (sec Fig. 60, page \2\). My. Brooks, in his speech in the House of Commons against costly apparel ( L8 James [.), says, " Nowadays, the roses worn by Members of the House on their shoes are more than their fathers' apparel." Peacham speaks of "shoe ties, that goe under the name of roses, from thirty shillings to three, four, and five pounds the pair. Yea, a gallant of the time, not Long since, paid thirty pounds for a pair." 66 Well might Taylor say they " Wear a farm in shoe-strings edged with gold, And spangled garters worth a copyhold." It was not till the year 1635 that an effort was made for the protection of our home manufactures, " at the request and for the benefit of the makers of those goods in and near London, and other parts of the realm, now brought to great want and necessity, occasioned by the excessive importation of these foreign wares." Foreign " Purles, Outworks, or Bone-laces, or any commodities laced or edged therewith," are strictly prohibited. Orders are also given that " all purles, cutworks, and bone laces English made are to be taken to a house near the sign of the ' Red Hart/ in Fore Street, without Cripplegate, and there sealed by r l homas Smith or his deputy." 67 An act the same year prohibits the use of " gold or silver purles" except manufactured in foreign parts, and especially forbids the melting down any coin of the realm. The manufacture of bone lace in England had now much improved, and was held in high estimation in France. We hear of Henrietta Maria sending ribbons, lace, and other fashions from England, in 1636, as a present to her sister-in-law, Anne of Austria; 68 while, in a letter dated 7th February 1636, the Countess of Leicester writes to her husband, then in France, who 66 W. Peacham, " Truth of the Times," "I like," says Evelyn, "the boucle 1638. better than the formal rose." — Tyrannus, Hamlet says there are or the Mode. 67 This proclamation is dated from " Two Provencal roses on my regal " our Honour of Hampton Court, 30th shoes." April, 1635." — Bymer's Foedera, t. xix. p. 690. " When roses in the gardens grow, 68 When Anne of Austria was suspected And not in ribbons on a shoe: of secret correspondence with Spain and Now ribbon-roses take such place. England, Kichelieu sent the chancellor That garden roses want their grace." to question the Abbessof the Val-de-Graee Friar Bacon 's Frophesie, 1604. with respect to the casket which had been CHARLES I. 295 had requested her to procure him some fine bone lace of English make :— " The present for the Queen of France I will be careful to provide, but it cannot be handsome for that proportion of money which you do mention ; for these bone laces, if they be good, are dear, and I will send the best, for the honor of my nation and my own credit. 1 ' Referring to the same demand, the countess again writes to her lord, 18th May 1637: — " Leicester House. — All my present for the Queen of France is provided, which I have done with great care and some trouble ; the expenses I cannot yet directly tell you, but I think it will be about 120Z., for the bone laces are extremely dear. I intend to send it by Monsieur Ruvigny, for most of the things are of new fashion, and I should keep them, they would be less acceptable, for what is new now will quickly grow common, such things being sent over almost every week." We can have no better evidence of the improvement in the English lace manufacture than these two letters. An act of 1638 for reforming abuses in the manufacture of lace, by which competent persons are appointed, whether natives or strangers, " who should be of the Church of England," can scarcely have been advantageous to the community. Lace, since the Reformation, had disappeared from the garment of the Church. In the search warrants made after Jesuits and priests of the Roman faith, it now occasionally peeps out. In an inventory of goods seized at the house of some Jesuit priests at Clerkenwell, in 1627, we find — "One faire Alb of cambric, with needle worke purles about the skirt, necke, and bandes." Smuggling, too, had appeared upon the scene. In 1621, information is laid how Nicholas Peeter, master of the " Grey- hound, of Apsom," had landed at Dover sundry packets of " cut- workes " and bone laces without paying the customs. 69 But the " Rebatocs, ribbands, cuffs, ruffs, falls, Scarfes, feathers, fans, maskes, muffs, luces, cauls," 70 of King Charles's court were soon to disperse at the now outbreak- ing revolution. The Herrn Maior Frau (Lady Mayoress), the secretly brought into the monastery. The lietta Maria as a present to the Queen. Abbess ("Vie de la Mere d'Arbouse ") " Galerie de l'Ancienne Cour," 1791. declared that this same casket came from 69 "State Papers, Dom." vol. cxxiii. the Queen of England, and that it only No. 65. contained lace, ribbons, and other trim- 70 " Ilhodon and Iris, a Pastoral," rnings of English fashion, sent by Hen- 1631. 296 111ST0UY OV LACK. noble English lady depicted by Hollar, 71 must now lay aside her whisk, edged with broad Laee of noodle point, and no longer hie to St. Martin's for Lace : 7 ' 2 she must content herself with a plain attire. " Sempstera with mil's and ouffs, and quoifs and caules, And lulls;' ' 3 must be dismissed. Smocks of three pounds a piece, 74 wrought smocks, 75 arc no longer worn by all — much less those " scam'd thro' with eutwork." 70 "Lace to her smocks, broad seaming laces," 7T which, groans one of the Puritan writers, " is horrible to think of." The ruff and cuffs of Flanders, gold lace cut work and silver lace of curie, 78 needle point, and fine gartering with blown roses, are now suppressed under Puritan rule. The " fop, " whom Henry Fitz-Geoffrey describes as having " An attractive lace And whalebone bodies for the better grace," must now think twice before he wears it. 80 The officer, whom the poor soldier apostrophises as shining — " One blaze of plate about you, which puts out Our eyes when we march 'gainst the sunne, and amies you Compleatly with your own gold lace, which is Laid on so thick, that your own trimmings doe Eender you engine proof, without more arms " — 81 79 71 " Ornatus Muliebris Anglicanus," lace." — Stryjpe. 1G45. 73 Taylor, " Whip of Pride," 1640. 72 "You must to the Pawn (Exchange) 74 In "Eastward Ho," 1605, proud to buy lawn, to St. Martin for lace." — Gertrude says: " Smocks of three pound Westward Ho, 1607. a smock, are to be born with all." "A copper lace called St. Martin's 75 "Bartholomew Fair," 1614. 76 " She shewed me gowns and head tires, Embroidered waistcoats, smocks scam'd thro' with cutworks." Beaumont and Fletcher, Four Flays in One, 1647. 77 " Who would ha' thought a woman so well harness'd, Or rather well caparison'd, indeed, That wears such petticoats, and lace to her smocks, Broad seaming laces." Ben Jonson, The Devil is an Ass, 1616. 78 A suite of russet "laced all over with silver curie lace." — Expenses of Bolt. Sidney, Earl of Leicester, temp. Chas. I. 79 " This comes of wearing Scarlet, gold lace and cutworks ; your fine gartering With your fine blown roces." The Devil is an Ass. 80 "Notes from Black Fryers." 81 Jasper Mayne, " Amorous War," 1659. THE COMMONWEALTH. '297 must no longer boast of " This shirt five times victorious I have fought under, And cut through squadrons of your curious Cut-work, As I will do through mine." 82 In the Roundhead army he will scarce deign to comb his cropped locks. All is now dingy, of a sad colour, soberly in character with the tone of the times. THE COMMONWEALTH. The rule of the Puritans was a sad time for lace-makers, as regards the middle and lower classes : every village festival, all amusement was put down, bride laces and Mayings — all were vanity. With respect to the upper classes, the Puritan ladies^ as well as the men of birth, had no fancy for exchanging the rich dress of the Stuart court for that of the Roundheads. Sir Thomas Fairfax, father of the general, is described as wearing a buff coat, richly ornamented with silver lace, his trunk hose trimmed with costly Flanders lace, his breastplate partly concealed by a falling collar of the same material. The foreign ambassadors of the parliament disdained the Puritan fashions. Lady Fanshaw describes her husband as wearing at the court of Madrid, on some state occasion, "his linen very fine, laced with very rich Flanders lace/' 83 Indeed, it was not till the arrival of the Spanish envoy, the first accredited to the Protectorate of Cromwell, that Harrison begged Colonel Hutchinson and Lord Warwick to set an example to other nations at the audience, and not appear in gold and silver lace. Colonel Hutchinson, though he saw no harm in a rich dress, yet not to appear offensive, came next day in a plain black suit, as did the other gentlemen, when, to the astonishment of all, Harrison appeared in a scarlet coat so laden with " clinquaint " and lace as to hide the material of which it was made, showing, remarks Mrs. Hutchinson, " his godly speeches were only made that he might appear braver above the rest in the eyes of the strangers." Nor did the mother of Cromwell lay aside these adornments. She wore a handkerchief of which the broad point lace alone could 82 " The Little French Lawyer." 83 " Memoirs." 298 IIISTOKY OV LACK. be seen, and her green velvel cardinal was edged with broad gold lace. 1 Croniwel] himself, when once in power, became more particular in his dress; and [f he Lived as a. Puritan, his body after death was more gorgeously attired than that of any deceased sovereign, with purple velvet, ermine, and the richest Flanders lace. 85 His effigy, carved by one Symonds, was (dad in a fine shirt of Holland, richly laced ; he wore hands and cuffs of the same materials, and his clothes were covered with gold lace. 86 The more we read the more we feel convinced that the dislike man i tested by the Puritan leaders to lace and other luxuries was but a political necessity, in order to follow the spirit of the age. As an illustration of this opinion we may cite that in the account of the disbursements of the Committee of Safety, 1660, a political jeu d'esprit which preceded the Restoration, we find entered for Lady Lambert — " Item, for seven new whisks lae'd with Flanders lace of the last Edition, each whisk is valued at fifty pound, 3507." Followed up by — " Six new Flanders lae'd smocks, 30 0Z." The whisk, as the gorget was now termed, was as great an object of extravagance to the women as was the falling band to the men. It continued in fashion during the reign of Charles II., and is often mentioned as lost or stolen among the advertisements in the public journals of the day. In the " Mercurius Publicus," May 8 , 1662, we find : " A cambric whisk with Flanders lace, about a quarter of a yard broad, and a lace turning up about an inch broad, with a stock in the neck, and a strap hanging down before, was lost between the new Palace and Whitehall. Reward 30s." Again, in the " Newes," June 20, 1664: " Lost, a Tiffany whisk, with a great lace down, and a little one up, large Flowers, and open Work, with a Roul for the head and Peak." 84 " The Cromwell Family." from the Abbey and hung out of* the 83 Sir Philip Warwick. 1(340. window at Whitehall, and then broken 86 At the Restoration, it was removed up and destroyed. ( 290 ) CHAPTER XXV. CHARLES IT. TO THE HOUSE OF HANOVER. CHARLES II. " The dangling knee-fringe, and the bib-cravat." Dryderij Prologue, 1674. The taste for luxury only required the restoration of the Stuarts to burst out in full vigour. The following year Charles II. issued a proclamation 1 enforcing the act of his father prohibiting the entry of foreign bone lace ; but, far from acting as he preached, he purchases Flanders lace at 18s. the yard, for the trimming of his fine lawn " collobium sindonis," 2 a sort of surplice worn during the ceremony of the anointment at the coronation. The hand- spinners of gold wire, thread lace, and spangles, of the City of London, no longer puritanically inclined, now speak out boldly. '* Having heard a report the Parliament intend to pass an Act against the wearing of their manufacture, they hope it in- tends the reform, not the destruction of their craft, for by it many thousands would be ruined. Let every person," say they, "be prohibited from wearing gold, silver, and thread lace — that will encourage the gentry to do so." 3 In 1662 is passed an act prohibiting the importation of foreign 1 1661. Nov. 20. " State Papers, Dom." a curious entry by the master of the Charles II. vol. xliv. P. R. O. great wardrobe : — " I doc hereby charge 2 u »ji () William Briers, for making the myself with 5000 Livres by me received in Colobium Sindonis of fine lawn luced the realm of France for gold and silver with tine Flanders lace, 33s. id. fringes by me there sold, belong to a rich " To Valentine Stmky, for 14 yards embroidered Bed of his said Majesty and a half of very fine Flanders lace for which at one shilling and sevenpencc a^ the same, at 18s. per yard, 12Z. 6s. 6d." — lib. English, Being the value of the Ex- Acc. of the E. of Sandwich, Master of the change at that time,' amounts to £395 G. W. for the Coronation of King 16s. Sd. Charles IL 23 April 1661. P. R. O. "(Signed) R. Montague. 3 In the G. W. A. for 29 and 30 occurs " May 28, 1678." 300 HISTORY OF LACE. bone lace, outworks, &c, Betting forth, "Whereas many poor children have attained great dexterity in the making thereof, the persons so employed have served most parts of the kingdom with bono Lace, and lor the carrying out of the same trade have caused much thread tobe broughl into the country, whereby the customs have been greatly advanced, until of Late large quantities of bone lace, cutwork, &c, were brought into the kingdom and sold contrary to the former Statutes and the proclamation of November last : all such bone lace is to be forfeited, and a penalty of 100/. paid by the offender." A This same act only occasioned the more smuggling- of lace from Flanders, for the lace made in England had never attained the beauty of Brussels, and indeed, wherever fine lace is mentioned at this period, it is always of foreign fabric. That Charles himself was of this opinion, there can be no doubt, for in the very same year he grants to one John Eaton a licence to import such quan- tities of lace," made beyond the seas, as may be for the wear of the Queen, our dear Mother the Queen, our dear brother James, Duke of York," and the rest of the royal family. The permission is softened down by the words, "And to the end the same may be patterns for the manufacture of these commodities here, notwith- standing the late Statute forbidding their importation." 5 Charles had evidently received his lessons in the school of Mazarin. As the galleries of the cardinal were filled with sculptures, paintings, and maiolica — rich produce of Italian art, as patterns for France, " per rnostra di fame in Francia " — so the king's " pilea nocturna," pillowberes, cravats, were trimmed with the points of Venice 6 and lace of Flanders, at the rate of b'OOZ. per annum, for the sake of improving the lace manufacture of England. The introduction of the flowing wig, with its long curls cover- ing the shoulders, gave a final blow to the falling band ; the ends floating and tied in front could alone be visible. In time they diminished in size, and the remains are still seen in the laced bands of the lawyer, when in full dress, and the homely bordered cambric 4 14 Car. II. c. 13. Statutes at large. (Teneatari) for 3 cravats '• de poynt de The acts of Charles II. date from the Venez," and 24s. per yard for 57 yards death of his father; so the year of the of narrow point, " tenia) poynt augustse," Kestoratian, 1660, is counted as the to trim his falling ruffles, " manicis ca- thirteenth of Ms reign. dentibus," &c— G. W. A. Car. IT. 24 5 1662. " State Papers, Dom." Charles & 25. II. vol. lv. No. 25. P. R. O. Later (1676-7) we find charged for 6 He pays 149?. to his laceman " un par manicarum, le poynt, 14Z." CHARLES IT. .'501 slips used by the clergy. The laced cravat now introduced con- tinued in fashion until about the year 1735. 7 It was at its height when Pepys writes in his diary : " Lord's Day, Oct. 19, 1662. Put on my new lace band, and so neat it is that I am resolved my great expense shall be lace bands, and it will set off anything else the more." The band was edged with the broadest lace. In the " Newes," 1663, January 7, we hnd : " Lost, a laced band, the lace a quarter of a yard deep, and the band marked in the stock with a B." Mrs. Pepys — more thrifty soul — " wears her green petticoat of Florence satin, with white and black gimp lace of her own putting on (making), which is very pretty." The custom, already common in France, of ladies making their own lace, excites the ire of the writer of " Britannia Languens," in his " Discourse upon Trade." 8 " The manfacture of linen," 9 he says, " was once the huswifery of English ladies, gentlewomen, and other women ; " now " the huswifery women of England employ themselves in making an ill sort of lace, which serves no national or natural necessity." 10 The days of Puritan simplicity were at an end. " Instead of homespun coifs were seen Good pinners edged with Colberteen." n The laced cravat succeeded the falling collar. Lace hand- kerchiefs 12 were the fashion, and " Gloves laced and trimmed as fine as Nell's." ,3 7 When it was replaced by a black is now settled at Hammersmith, over ribbon and a bow. against Lord Chief Justice Neville's 8 London, 1680. house, where such as are willing to be n Authors, however, disagree like the instructed will find her all days save rest of the world. In a tract called Tuesdays, on which day she will be " The Ancient Trades -Decayed Repaired spoken to at the Duke's Head, Hen- Again," by Sir Eoger L'Est range (1678), rietta Street, Co vent -Garden." we read : "Nay, if the materials used in a n Swift, " Baucis and Philemon." trade be not of the growth of England 12 "Intelligencer," 1665, June 5: "Lost, yet, if the trade be to employ the poor, six handkerchers wrapt up in a brown we should have it bought without money, paper, two laced, one point-laced set on and brought to us from beyond the seas tiffauy; the two laced ones had been where it is made as ' Bone lace.' " worn, the other four new." 10 As early as 20th September 1675, "London Gazette," 1672, Dec. 5-9: Mrs. Rebecca Croxton advertises in the "Lost, a lawn pocket handkercher with a " London Gazette," informing the world broad hem, laced round with a fine Point in general that she has " lately found out lace about four fingers broad, marked with a new way of making Point de Venise, an R in red silk." and has obtained a patent from his 13 Evelyn. It w r as the custom, at a Majesty for making the same; that she maiden assize, to present the judge with 802 111STOKY OP LACE. Laced aprons, which even found their way to the homes of the Anglican clergy, and appear advertised as "Stolon from the vicarage house at Amersham in Oxfordshire: An apron of needle- work lace, the middle being Network, another Apron laced with cut and slash laoo." 14 The newspapers crowd with losses of Lace, and rarer — finds. 15 They give us, however, no clue to the home manufacture. " A pasteboard box lull of laced linen, and a little portmanteau with some white and grey Bone lace," 1(; would seem to signify a lace much made two hundred years ago, of which we have ourselves seen specimens from Dalecarlia, a sort of guipure, upon which the pattern is formed by the introduction of an unbleached thread, which comes out in full relief — a fancy more curious than pretty. The petticoats of the ladies of King Charles's court have received due honour at the hands of Pepys, whose prying eyes seem to have been everywhere. On May 21 of the same year he so complacently admired himself in his new lace band, he writes down : " My wife and I to my Lord's lodging ; where she and I staid walking in White Hall Gardens. And in the Privy Garden saw the finest smocks and linnen petticoats of my Lady Castle- maine's, laced with rich lace at the bottom, that ever I saw ; and it did me good to look at them." Speaking of the ladies' attire of this age, Evelyn says : — " Another quilted white and red, With a broad Flanders lace below ; Four pairs of bas de soye shot through a pair of "laced gloves." Lord Camp- narrow Point about three ringers broad, bell, in 1850, at the Lincoln Lent assizer, and a pair of Point cuffs of the same, received from the sheriff a pair of white worn foul and never washt, was lost on gloves richly trimmed with Brussels Monday last." lace and embroidered, the city arms Ibid. 1677, Oct 22-25 : " Found in a embossed in frosted silver on the back. ditch, Four laced forehead cloths. One 14 " London Gazette," 1677, Jan. 28- laced Pinner, one laced Quoif, one pair 31; again, Oct. 4-8, in the same year: of laced ruffels. . . . Two point aprons " Stolen or lost out of the Petworth and other laced linen." waggon, a deal box directed to the Lady "Intelligencer," 1664, Oct. 3 : " Lost, Young of Burton in Sussex ; there was in A needle work point without a border, it a fine Point Apron, a suit of thin laced with a great part of the loups cut out, Night clothes," &c. and a quarter of it new loupt with the 15 "London Gazette," 1675, June needle. £5 reward." 14-17: " A right Point lace with a long 16 "London Gazette," 1677, Oct. muslina- neck laced at the ends with a 8-11. CHARLES II. 303 # With silver ; diamond buckles too, For garters, and as rich for shoe. Twice twelve day smocks of Holland fine, With cambric sleevt s rich Point to joyn (For she despises Oolbertine) ; Twelve more for night, all Flanders lao'd, Or else she'll think herself disgrae'd. The same her night gown must adorn, With two Point waistcoats for the morn ; Of pocket mouchoirs, nose to drain, A dozen laced, a dozen plain ; Three night gowns of rich Indian stuff; Four cushion-cloths are scarce enough Of Point and Flanders," 17 &c. It is difficult now to ascertain what description of lace was that styled Colbertine. 18 It is constantly alluded to by the writers of the period. Eanclle Holme (1688) styles it, " A kind of open lace with a square grounding." 19 Evelyn himself, in his " Fop's Dic- tionary " (1690), gives, " Colbertine, a lace resembling net-work of the fabric of Monsieur Colbert, superintendent of the French King's manufactures ;" and the " Ladies' Dictionary," 1694, repeats his definition. This is more incomprehensible still, point d'Alenqon being the lace that can be specially styled of " the fabric " of Colbert, and Colbertine appears to have been a coarse production. 20 Swift talks of knowing " The difference between Rich Flanders lace and Colbert een." 21 Congreve makes Lady Westport say — 22 " Go hang out an old Frisonier gorget with a yard of yellow Colberteen." And a traveller, in 1691, 23 speaking of Paris, writes : — " You shall see here the finer sort of people flaunting it in tawdry gauze or Colbertine, a parcel of coarse staring ribbons; but ten of their holy day habits shall not amount to what a citizen's wife of London wears on her head every day." 17 u Tyrannus, or the Mode," 1661. square and coarse, it had a fine edge, 18 It is written Colberteen, Colbertain, with a round mesh, on which the pattern Golbertain, Colbertine. was woven. It was an inferior lace and 19 Colberteen, a lace resembling net- in every-day wear." work, being of the manufacture of M. 21 " Cadenus and Vanessa." See also Colbert, a French statesman. Young, p. 111. 20 A writer, in " Notes and Queries," " " Way of the World." says: '• I recollect this lace worn as a * 23 " Six Weeks in France," 1691. ruffle fifty years ago. The ground was 3(H HISTORY OF LACE. JAMES II. "To know the age nvd pedigrees Of points of Flanders and Venise." Hudibras. The reigD of James II., short and troubled, brought but little change in the fashion of the day. ( 'harles II., in the last year of his reign, spends 20/. 12s. for a new cravat to be worn "on the birthday of his dear brother,' 24 and James expends 29/. upon one of Venice point to appear in on that of his queen. Frequent entries of lace for the attendants of the Chapel Royal form items in the royal wardrobe accounts. Ruffles, night-rails, and cravats of point d'Espagne and de Venise now figure in gazettes, 25 but " Flanders lace is still in high estimation/' writes somebody, in 16G8, "and even fans are made of it." Then James IF. fled, and years after we find him dying at Saint- Germain in — a laced nightcap. " This cap was called a 'toquet,' and put on when the king was in extremis, as a compliment to Louis XIV." "It was the court etiquette for all the Royals," writes Madame, in her " Memoirs," " to die with a nightcap on." The toquet of King James may still be seen by the curious, adorn- ing a wax model of the king's head, preserved as a relic in the Museum of Dunkirk. 26 Out of mingled gratitude, we suppose, for the hospitality she had received at the French court, and the protection of the angels, 24 Gt. W. A. Car. II. 35-36 = 1683-4. 20 A writer in the "Gentleman's 25 " Gazette," July 20, 1GS2. Lost, a Magazine " (October 1745) mentions: portmanteau full of women's clothes, "In the parlour of the monastery of among which are enumerated " two pairs English Benedictines at Paris, I was of Point d'Espagne ruffles, a laced night shown the mask of. the king's face, taken rail and waistcoat, a pair of Point de off immediately after he was dead, Venise ruffles, a black laced scarf," &c. — together with the fine laced nightcap he Malcolrrfs Anecdotes of London. died in." The cap at Dunkirk is trimmed The lace of James I I/a cravats and with Flemish lace (old Mechlin). It must ruffles are of point de Venise. have passed from Paris to the convent of " Sex prselant cravatts delacinia Vene- English Benedictines at Dunkirk, who tiarum " are charged 141Z., and 9 yards left that city in 1793. There is no record lace, for six more cravats, 45Z. how it became deposited in the Museum. 3 ,1. 10s. for the cravat of Venice lace Communicated by M. de la Forcade, Con- to wear on the day of his coronation, servator of the Museum, Dunkirk. &c. G. W. A Jac. If. 1685-6. WILLIAM TIT. 305 which, she writes, " I experienced once when I set fire to my lace night cornet, which was burned to the very head without singeing a single hair " — good Queen Mary of Modena, who shone so brightly in her days of adversity, died, " selon les regies," coeffed in like fashion. With this notice we finish the Saint-Germain reign of King James II. WILLIAM III. " Long wigs, Steinkirk cravats." Congreve, Love for Love. In 1 698, the English parliament passed another act " for rendering the laws more effectual for preventing the importation of foreign Bone lace, Loom lace, Needlework Point, and Outwork," 27 with a penalty of 20s. per yard, and forfeiture. This act caused such excitement among the convents and beguinages of Flanders that the government, at that time under the dominion of Spain, prohibited, by way of retaliation, the importation of English wool. In consequence of the general distress occasioned by this edict among the woolstaplers of England, the act prohibiting the im- portation of foreign lace into England was repealed, 28 so far as related to the Spanish Low Countries. England was the loser by this custom-house war. 29 Dress, after the Eevolution, partook of the stately sobriety of the house of Nassau, but lace was extensively worn. Queen Mary favoured that wonderful erection, already spoken of in our chapter on France, 30 the tower or fontange, more generally called, certainly not from its convenience, the " commode," with its piled tiers of lace and ribbon, and the long hanging pinners, celebrated by Prior in his " Tale of the Widow and her Cat :"— " He scratched the maid, he stole the cream, He tore her best lac'd pinner." Their Flanders lace heads, with the engageantes 31 or ruffles, and 27 9 & 10 Will. III. = 1697-8. 30 See p. 138. 28 11 & 12 Will. III. =1698-9. 31 See p. 139. 29 Smith's " Wealth of Nations." X 300 HISTOKY OF LACE. the dress covered with lace frills and Bounces — " every part of the garmenl in curl" caused a Lady, says the "Spectator/' to resemble "a Friesland hen." 32 Never yet were such sums expended on lace as in the days of William and Mary. The lace bill of the queen, signed by Lady Derby, mistress of the robes, for the year L694, amounts to the enormous sum of L918?. 33 Ajnong the most extravagant entries we find : — 21 yards of lace for 12 pillow beres, at 52 16 yards of lace for 2 toylights (toilets), 24 yards for 6 handkerchiefs, at 4/. 10s. 30 yards for 6 night shifts, at 62s. . 6 yards for 2 combing cloths, at 14/. 3-V yards for a do. do. at 17/. 3-1 do. at 14? An apron of lace .... £. s. d. s. 54 12 at 12/. 192 , , 108 . . 93 , 84 . , 53 2 6 . , 42 17 None of the lace furnished by Mr. Bampton, thread lace pro- vider and milliner to the court, for the queen's engageantes and ruffles, however, seems to have exceeded 5/. 10s. the yard. There is little new in this account. The lace is entered as scalloped, 34 ruffled, "loopt ;" lace "purle" 35 still lingers on ; catgut, too, ap- pears for the first time, 36 as well as raised point, 37 and needlework. 38 32 " Spectator," No. 129, 1711. " Lost, from behind a Hackney coach, Lombard Street, a grounded lace night rail." — London Gazette, 1695, Aug. 8. "Lost, two loopt lace Pinners and a pair of double laced ruffles, bundled up together."— Ibid. 1697, Jan. 6-10. "Taken out of two boxes in Mr. Drouth's waggon. . . six cards of piece lace looped and purled, scolopt heads to most of them ... a fine Flanders lace head and ruffles, groundwork set on a wier," kc.—Ibid. 1698, April 11-14. " Furbelows are not confined to scarfs, but they must have furbelow'd gowns and furbelow'd petticoats, and furbelow'd aprons ; and, as I have heard, furbelow'd smocks too." — Pleasant Art of Money- catching, 1730. 33 B. M. Add. MSS. No. 5751. 34 "Bought of John Bishop & Jer. Peirie, att y e Golden Ball, in Ludgate Hill, 26 April, 1693: " 3 yards 1/2 of Rich silver rufl'd scol- lop lace falbala, with a Rich broad silver Tire Orris at the head, at Is. Bd. a vard, 251. Qs. 6d. "8 yards of broad scollopped thread lace, at 25s. "3 yards rich Paigning (?) Lace, 48s. 8d., SI. 14s." 35 "9 1/2 Fine purle to set on the pin- ner, at 3s." 36 " 5 3/4 of fine broad cattgutt border, at 20s." 37 " 1 yard 7/16 Raised Point to put on the top of a pair of sleeves, at 30s." 38 " 8 yards of Broad Needlework Lace, at 30s." WILLIAM III. 307 The queen's pinners are mentioned as Mazzarined ; 39 some fashion named in honour of the once fair Hortense, who ended her exiled life in England. " What do you lack, ladies fair, Mazzarine hoods, Fontanges, girdles? " 40 King William himself, stern and morose in private life, early imbued with the Dutch taste for lace, exceeded, we may say, his wife in the extravagance of his lace bills; for though the lace account for 1690 is noted only at 1603Z., it increases annually until the year 1695-6, when the entries amount to the astonishing sum of 2459Z. 19s. 41 Among the items charged will be found — To six point cravats .... To eight do. for hunting 54 yds. for 6 barbing cloths . . 63 yds. for 6 combing cloths . 117 yds. of " scissse tenise " (cutwork) for trim- ming 12 pockethandfs. . . . 78 yds. for 24 cravats, at 81. 10s. . In this right royal account of expenditure we find mention of " cockscombe laciniae," of which the king consumes 341 yards. 42 What this may be, we cannot say, as it is described as " green and white ;" otherwise we might have supposed it some kind of Venice point, the little pearl-edged raised patterns of which are designated by Handle Holme as " cockscombs." More coquet than a woman, we find an exchange effected with Henry Furness, " Mercatori," of various laces, purchased for his handkerchiefs and razor cloths which, laid by during the two years of "lugubris " for his beloved consort, the queen — during which period he had used razor cloths with broad hems and no lace — had become " obsolete " — quite out of fashion. To effect this exchange the king pays the sum of 178Z. 12s. 6d., the lace purchased for the six new razor cloths £. s. d. 158 85 270 283 10 485 14 3 663 39 " 3 yards of lace to Mazzarine y e pin- Fair," 1720. ners, at 25s." 41 G. W. A. Will. III. 1688 to 1702. Probably the same as the French P. R. O. " campanner." See p. 104. 42 Ibid. vii. & viu. 40 The Milliner, in Shadwell's " Bury x 2 308 HISTOKY OF LACE. amounting to 2701. Id the same page we find him, now out of mourning, expending 499?, LOs, for Lace to trim his 24 new night- shirts, '• indusiis aocturnis." With such royal patronage, no wonder the Lace trade prospered, and that, within ten years of William's death, Defoe should quote the point Lace of Blandford as Belling at 30Z. the yard. We have 1 already told how the fashion of the laced Steinkirk found as much favour in England 43 as in France. Many people still possess, among their family relies, long oval-shaped brooches of topaz or Bristol stones, and wonder what they were used for. These old-fashioned articles of jewellery were worn to fasten (when not passed through the button-hole) the lace Steinkirk, so prevalent not only among the nobility, but worn by all classes. If the dialogue between Sir Nicholas Dainty and Major-General Blunt, as given in Shadwell's play, be correct, the volunteers of King William's day were not behind the military in elegance : — " Sir Nicholas. I must make great haste, I shall ne'er get my Points and Laces done up time enough. " Maj. Gen. B. What say'st, young fellow? Points and Laces for camps? " Sir Nich. Yes, Points and Laces ; why, I carry two laundresses on purpose. . . . Would you have a gentleman go undress'd in a camp ? Do you think I would see a camp if there were no dressing? Why, I have two campaign suits, one trimmed with Flanders lace, and the other with rich Point. " Maj. Gen. B. Campaign suits with lace and Point !" 44 43 " I hope your Lordship is pleased with your Steinkerk." Sir John Vanbrugh, The Bel apse. In Colley Cibber's "Careless Husband," Lady Easy takes the Steinkirk off her neck and lays it on Sir Charles's head when he is asleep. In "Love's Last Shift," by the same author (1695), the hero speaks of being " Strangled in my own Steinkerk." In " Love for Love," by Congreve, Sir Novelty enumerates the Steinkirk, the large button, with other fashions, as created by him " I have heard the Steenkirk arrived but two months ago." — Spectator, No. 129. The " modish spark " wears '■ a huge Steinkirk, twisted to the waist." — Pro- logue to First Tart of Don Quixote, 1 694. Frank Osbaldeston, in " Rob Roy," is deprived by the Highlanders of his cravat, " a Steinkirke richly laced." At Ham House was the portrait of a Countess of Dysart, temp. Anne, in three- cornered cocked hat, long coat, flapped waistcoat, and Mechlin Steinkirk. In the account book of Isabella, Duchess of Grafton, daughter of Lord Arlington, Evelyn's "sweet child" — her portrait hangs in Queen Mary's Room, Hampton Court — we have : " 1709. To a Stinkirk, 1Z. 12s. 3d." They appear to have been made of other stuffs than lace, for in the same account, 1708, we have entered : "To a green Steenkirk, II. Is. 6J." 44 a i' ne Volunteers, or the Stock Job- bers." WILLIAM III. 309 In Westminster Abbey, where, as somewhat disrespectfully say the Brothers Popplewell, 45 the images of William and Mary " Stand upright in a press, with their boslies made of wax, A globe and a wand in either hand and their robes upon their backs " — ■ the lace tucker and double sleeves of Queen Mary are of the finest raised Venice point, resembling Fig. 25, p. 43 ; King William likewise wears a rich lace cravat and ruffles. 46 We have already alluded to a memorandnm (carta d' informazione) given to the Venetian ambassadors about to proceed to England, 1696, in which they are directed to be provided with very handsome collars of the finest Venetian point. 47 Before concluding the subject of the lace-bearing heroes, we may as well state here that the English soldiers rivalled the cava- liers of France in the richness of their points till the extinction of hair- powder (the wearing of which in the army consumes, says some indignant writer, flour enough to feed (J 00,000 persons per annum), when the lace cravat was replaced by the now happily expiring stock. Speaking of these military dandies, writes the " World :" — " Nor can I behold the lace and the waste of finery in their clothing but in the same light as the silver plates and orna- ments on a coffin ; indeed I am apt to impute their going to battle so trimmed and adorned to the same reason a once fine lady painted her cheeks just before she expired, that she might not look frightful when she was dead. '' To war the troops advance, Adorned and trim like females for the dance. Down sinks Lothario, sent by one dire blow A well-dress' d hero to the shades below." As the justice's daughter says to her mamma, in Sheridan's " St. Patrick's Day :"— " Dear ; to think how the sweet fellows sleep on the ground, and fight in silk stockings and lace ruffles." Lace had now become an article worthy the attention of the 45 "The Tombs in Westminster Ab- Buckingham (the ''mad" Duchess bey," sung by the Brothers Popplewell. daughter of James II.) has also very fine Broadside, 1775. B. M. Roxburgh Coll. raised lace. 18 King Charles II. s lace is the same i: See page 45. as that of Queen Mary. The Duchess of 310 IUstoKV OF LACE. light-fingered gentry. The jewels worn by our great-grandmothers of the eighteenth century, though mounted in the most exquisite taste, were for the most pari false Bristol orAlencon "diamonds," paste, or" Strass." La. -con the other band, was a sure commodity and easily disposed of. At the robbery of Lady Anderson's house in Red Lion Square during afire, in L700, the family of George Eeneage, Esq., on a visit, are recorded to bave Lost — "Ahead with fine Loopl lace of very great value; a Flanders Lace hood; a pair n\' double ruffles and tuckers; two laced aprons, one point, the other Flanders lace ; and a large black lace scarf embroidered in gold." Again, at an opera row some years later, the number of caps, ruffles, and heads enumerated as stolen by the pickpockets is quite fabulous. So expert had they become that, when first the ladies took to wearing powdered wigs, they dexterously cut open the leather backs of the hack coaches and carried off wig, head and all, before the rifled occupant had the slightest idea of their attack. 48 To remedy the evil, the police request all ladies for the future to sit with their backs to the horses. 49 QUEEN ANNE. " Parley. — Oh, Sir, there's the prettiest fashion lately come over ! so airy, so French, and all that ! The Pinners are double ruffled with twelve plaits of a side, and open all from the face ; the hair is frizzled up all round head, and stands as stiff as a bodkin. Then the Favourites hang loose upon the temple with a languishing lock in the middle. Then the Caule is extremely wide, arid over all is a Cornet rais'd very high and all the Lappets behind." — Farquhar, Sir Harry Wildair. Queen Anne, though less extravagant than her sister, was scarcely more patriotic. The point purchased for her coronation, 50 though it cost but Ml. 13s. 9d., was of Flanders growth. The bill is made out to the royal laceman of King William's day, now Sir Henry Furnesse, knight and merchant. The queen, too, in her gratitude, conferred a pension of 1001. upon one Mrs. Abrahat, the royal clear-starcher ; " because," writes the Duchess of Marlborough, " she had washed the queen's heads for twenty pounds a year when she was a princess." 1? "Weekly Journal," March 1717. Master of the G. W., touching the Fu- 19 " The Modern Warrior," 1756. neral of William III. and Coronation of 50 " Ace. of Ralph, Earl of Montague, Queen Anne." P. E. O. QUEEN ANNE. 311 In 1706, Anne again repeals the acts which prohibit Flanders lace, with the clear understanding that nothing be construed into allowing the importation of lace made in " the dominions of the French King ; " 51 an edict in itself sufficient to bring the laces of France into the highest fashion. 52 " France," writes an essayist, " is the wardrobe of the world ; " nay, " the English have so great an esteem for the workmanship of the French refugees, that hardly a thing vends without a Gallic name. ba To these refugees from Alencon and elsewhere, expelled by the cruel edict of Louis XIV., we owe the visible improvement of our lace in the eighteenth century. Up to the present time we have had mention only of " Flanders lace " in general. In the reign of Queen Anne the points of '• Macklin " and Brussels are first noted down in the royal ward- robe accounts. In 1710, her majesty pays for 26 yards of fine edged Brussels lace 151Z. 54 "Mais, 1'appetit vient en mangeant." The bill of Margareta Jolly, for the year 1712, for the furnishing of Mechlin and Brussels lace alone, amounts to the somewhat extravagant sum of 1418Z. 14s. Taking the average price of the " Lace chanter on Ludgate Hill," articles of daily use were costly enough. "One Brussels head is valued at 401.; a grounded Brussels head, 30/.; one looped Brussels, 30Z." These objects, high as the price may seem, lasted a woman's life. People in the last century did not care for variety, they contented themselves with a few good articles; hence among the objects given in 1719, as necessary to a lady of fashion, we merely find : — £ A French point or Flanders head and ruffles . 80 A ditto handkerchief . . . .10 A black French laced hood ... 5 When the Princess Mary, daughter of George II., married, she s. d. 5 51 Statutes at large, Anne 5 & 6. exportation, the English, haviug now set 52 This edict greatly injured the lace up the same among themselves, such as trade of France. In the " Atlas Maritime bone lace." et Commercial" of 1727, it states: "I 53 " History of Trade," London, 1702. might mention several other articles of 54 "Pro 14 virgis lautpe Fimbr' Bruxell' French manufacture which, for want of a laciniaj et 12 virgis diet' laciniss pro market in England, where their chief con- Kegina3 persona, £151."— G. W. A. sumption was, are so much decayed and 1710-11. in a manner quite sunk. I mean as to 312 HISTORY OF LACE. had but tour fine laced Brussels heads, two loopt and two grounded, two extremely fine point ones, with ruffles and lappets, six French caps and ruffles. 56 Two point lace cravats wore considered as a full supply for any gentleman. Even young extravagant Lord Bedford, who, at eighteen years of age, found he could not spend less than G000Z. a year at Rome, when on the grand tour, only charges his mother, Rachel Lady Russell, with that number. 50 The high commode, 57 with its lace rising tier upon tier, which made the wits about town declare the ladies " carried Bow steeple upon their heads, " of a sudden collapsed in Queen Anne's reign. It had shot up to a most extravagant height, " insomuch that the female part of our species were much taller than the men. We appeared," says the " Spectator," 58 " as grasshoppers before them." 59 In 1711, Anne forbade the entry of gold and silver lace, 60 of which the consumption had become most preposterous, 61 under pain of forfeiture and the fine of 100?. Ladies wore even cherry- coloured stays trimmed with the forbidden fabric. 62 The point of Spain had the preference over thread lace for state garments, heads and ruffles excepted ; and as late as 1763, when the Dowager Lady Effingham was robbed of her coronation robes, among the wonderful finery detailed there is no mention of thread lace. The commerce of Flanders, notwithstanding the French taste, seemed now on a comfortable footing. " The Flanderkins, "writes the " British Merchant, "in 1713, " are gone off from wool, which w r e have got, to lace and linen. . . . We have learned better, I hope, by our unsuccessful attempt to prohibit the Flanders laces, which made the Flemings retaliate upon us, and lessened our 55 " Letters of the Countess of Hartford " looked liked a mad woman." to the Countess of Pomfret," 1740. 60 Statutes at large. 56 " Memoirs of Lady K. Russell." 61 Jn 1712, Mrs. Beale had stolen from „„,,,., , i i her " a green silk knit waistcoat with 3 - "My high commode, mv damask ., , ° .. _ „ ., , J * gold and silver flowers all over it, and „° ' , , „ « . , about 14 yards of gold and silver thick My lactd shoes of Spanish , r, „ , .f ,, , , J . „ lace on it; while another lady was w _ . _' _ „, . ,. -r, ,. robbed of " a scarlet cloth coat so overlaid IrUrfey, The Younq Maids Fortiori. .,v ,. . ., . . , , , . J *-" v with the same lace, it might have been of 58 No. 98, 1711. any other colour." — Malcolm's Anecdotes 59 After fifteen years' discontinuance it of the Manners and Customs of London in shot up again. Swift, on meeting the the Eighteenth Century. Duchess of Grafton, dining at Sir Thomas 62 "Post Boy," Nov. 15, 1709. Ar- Hanmer's, thus attired, declared she tides Lost. QUEEN ANNE. 313 exportation of woollen manufactures by several 100,000?. per annum." 63 Men looked upon lace as a necessary article to their wives' equipment. Addison declares that when the china mania first came in, women exchanged their Flanders lace for punch-bowls and mandarins, thus picking their husbands' pockets, who is often purchasing a huge china vase when he fancies that he is buying a fine head for his wife. 64 Indeed, they could scarcely grumble, as a good wig cost from forty to fifty guineas — to say nothing of their own lace ties and ruffles. Only an old antiquary like Sir Thomas Clayton could note down in his accounts : — " Lace and fal-lalls, 65 and a large looking-glass to see her old ugly face in — frivolous expenses to please my proud lady. " 63 "A Discourse on Trade," by John by it) should be taken off; but I don't Gary, merchant of Bristol, 1717. understand it to be yet done, and it may Again : " What injury was done by the prove an inevitable loss to the nation." Act 9-10 Will. III. for the more effectual 64 " Lover," No. 10, 1714. preventing of importation of foreign bone 65 The ornamental ribbons worn about lace, doth sufficiently appear by the pre- the dress : " His dress has bows, and fine amble to that made 10-12 of the same fallals." — Evelyn. Sometimes the term reign for repealing it three months after appears applied to the fontanges or the prohibition of our woollen manufac- commode. We read (1691) of " her tures in Flanders (which was occasioned three-storied Fladdal." 314 HISTOKV OF LACK. CHAPTEE XXVI. GEOKGE I. AND II. GEORGE I. " Wisdom with periwigs, with cassocks grace, Courage with swords, gentility with lace." Connoisseur. tl Les fols donuent cours aux modes; les sages n'affectent pas de s'en ecarter. Si ridicule (pie puisse etre certaine mode, il est eucorc plus ridicule de ts'en ecarter." Alleaume. The accession of the house of Hanover brought but little change either in the fashions or the fabrics. In 1717 the king published an edict regarding the hawking of lace, but the world was too much taken up with the old Pretender and the court of Saint- Germain ; the king, too, was often absent, preferring greatly his German dominions. We now hear a great deal of lace ruffles ; they were worn long and falling. Lord Bolingbroke, who enraged Queen Anne by his untidy dress — " she supposed, forsooth, he would some day come to court in his nightcap" — is described as having his cravat of point lace, and his hands hidden by exaggerated ruffles of the same material. In good old Jacobite times, these weeping ruffles served as well to conceal notes — " poulets " — passed from one wary politician to another, as they did the French sharpers to juggle and cheat at cards. Lace continued the mania of the day. " Since your fantastical geers came in with wires, ribbons, and laces, and your furbelows with three hundred yards in a gown and petticoat, there has not been a good housewife in the nation," 1 writes an indignant dra- matist. The lover was made to bribe the Abigail of his mistress " Tunhridge Wells," 1727. GEORGE I. 315 with a piece of Flanders lace 2 — an offering not to le resisted. Lace appeared at baptisms, 3 at marriages, as well as at burials, of which more hereafter — even at the Old Bailey, where one Miss Margaret Caroline Rudd, a beauty of the day, tried for forgery, quite moved her jurors to tears, and nigh gained her acquittal by the taste of her elegantly laced stomacher, the lace robings of her dress, and single lace flounce, her long pendulous ruffles, hanging from the elbow, heard, fluttering in her agitation, by the court ; but, in spite of these allurements, Margaret Caroline Ivudd was hanged. Every woman, Avrites Swift, 4 is " In choosing lace a critic nice. Knows to a groat the lowest price." Together, they " Of caps and ruffles hold the grave debate, As of their lives they would decide the fate." Again, he says : — " And when you are among yourselves, how naturally, after the first compliments, do you entertain yourselves with the price and choice of lace, apply your hands to each other's lappets and ruffles, as if the whole business of your life and the public concern depended on the cut of your petticoats. " 5 Even wise Mrs. Elizabeth Montague, who wrote epistles about the ancients, and, instead of going to a ball, sat at home and read 2 In "The Recruiting Officer" (1781), infant daughter of the last Duke and Lucy the maid says: "Indeed, Madam, Duchess of Ohandos. Cornwallis, Arch- the last bribe I had from the Captain bishop of Canterbury, officiated. The was only a small piece of Flanders lace baby, overwhelmed by whole mountains for a cap." Melinda answers: "Ay, of lace, lay in a dead faint. Her mother Flanders lace is a constant present from was so tender on the point of etiquette officers. . . . They every year bring over that she would not let the little incident a cargo of lace, to cheat the king of his trouble a ceremony at which a king and duty and his subjects of their honesty." queen were about to endow her child Again, Silvio, in the bill of costs he sends with the names of Georgiana Charlotte, in to the widow Zelinda, at the termina- As Cornwallis gave back the infant to tion of his unsuccessful suit, makes a her nurse, he remarked that it was the charge for "a piece of Flanders lace "to quietest baby he had ever held. Poor Mrs. Abigail, her woman. Addison, in victim of ceremony ! It was not quite " Guardian," No. 17, 1713. dead, but dying ; in a few unconscious 3 " In the next reign, George III. and hours it calmly slept away." — A Gossip Queen Charlotte often condescended to on Royal Christenings, Cornhill Maga- become sponsors to the children of the zine, April 1864. aristocracy. To one child their presence 4 "Furniture of a Woman's Mind." was fatal. In 1778 they ' stood' to the 5 " Dean Swift to a Young Lady." 316 fllSTOKY OF LACE. Sophocles, exclaims to her sister — "Surely your heroic spirit will prefer a beau's hand in Brussels lace to a stubborn Scasvola with- out an arm." No young lady of the nineteenth century wears, or should wear, lace previous to her marriage. In the reign of George II. etiquette was different, for we find the Duchess of Portland pre- senting Mrs. Montague, then a girl, with a lace head and ruffles. \\ rath fully do the satirists of the day rail against the ex- pense of " The powder, patches, nnd the pins, The ribbon, jewels, and thu rings, The lace, the paint, and warlike things That make up all their magazines," ° and the consequent distress of the lace merchants, to whom ladies are indebted for thousands. After a drawing-room, in which the fair population appeared in " borrowed," i. e. unpaid, lace, 7 one of the chief lacemen became well-nigh bankrupt. Duns besieged the houses of the great : — " By mercers, lacemen, mantua-makers press'd; But most for ready cash, for piny distress'd, Where can she turn ? " 8 The " Connoisseur," describing the reckless extravagance of one of these ladies, writes : — " The lady played till all her ready money was gone, staked her cap and lost it, afterwards, her handkerchief. He then staked both cap and handkerchief against her tucker, which, to his pique, she gained." When enumerating the various causes of suicide, he proposes " that an annual bill or report should be made out, giving the different causes which have led to the act." Among others, in his proposed " Bill of Suicide, " he gives French claret, French lace, French cooks, &c. The men, though scarcely coming up to the standard of Sir Courtly Nice, 9 who has all his bands and linen made in Holland and washed at Haarlem, were just as extravagant as the ladies. 6 Cowley. And this is many a lady's case 7 1731. " Simile for the Ladies, al- Who flaunts about in borrowed luding to the laces worn at the last lace." Birthday and not paid for." „ T ,, rr1 ,». , J * 8 Jenyns, "The Modern line Lady." " In Evening fair you ma}' behold 9 Crown, " Sir Courtly Nice, or It The Clouds are fringed with bor- Cannot Be," a Comedy, 1731. rowed gold, GEORGE II. 317 GEORGE II. " ' Plow well this ribband's glass becomes your face,' She cries in rapture ; ' then so sweet a lace ! How charmingly you look ! ' " Lady M. W. Montagu, Town Eclogues. For court and state occasions Brussels lace still held its sway. In the reign of George II. we read how at the drawing-room of 1735 fine escalloped Brussels laced heads, triple ditto laced ruffles, 10 lappets hooked up with diamond solitaires, found favour. At the next the ladies wore heads dressed English, i. e. bows of fine Brussels lace of exceeding rich patterns, with the same amount of laced ruffles and lappets. Gold flounces were also worn. Speaking of the passion for Brussels lace, Postlethwait indig- nantly observes : — " 'Tis but a few years since England expended upon foreign lace and linen not less than two millions yearly. As lace in particular is the manufacture of nuns, our British ladies may as well endow monasteries as wear Flanders lace, for these Popish nuns are maintained by Protestant contributions." n Patriotism, it would appear, did come into vogue in the year 173(j, when at the marriage of Frederick, Prince of Wales, the bride is described as wearing a night-dress of superb lace, the bridegroom a cap of similar material. All the lace worn by the court on this occasion is announced to have been of English ma- nufacture, with the exception of that of the Duke of Marlborough, who appeared in point d'Espagne. The bride, however, does not profit by this high example, for shortly after we read, in the "Memoirs of Madame Palatine," of the secretary of Sir Luke Schaub being drugged at Paris by an impostor, and robbed of some money sent to defray the purchase of some French lace ruffles for the Princess of Wales. It was of native-made lace, we may infer, Mrs. Delany writes in the same year : — "Thanks for your apron. Brussels nor Mechlin ever produced anything prettier." 10 "1748. Kumes of twelve pounds a grandmother's! that has been worn but yard." — Apology for Mrs. T. C. Philips, twice these forty years, and my mother 1748. told me cost almost four pounds when Lace, however, might be had at a more it was Dew, and reaches down hither.' " — reasonable rate : — Miss Lucy in Town, Fielding. " ' I have a fine lac'd suit of pinners,' n " Dictionary of Commerce," 1766. says Mrs. Thomas, ' that was my great 318 HISTORY OF LACK. It appears somewhat strange that patriotism, as regards native manufactures, should have received an impulse during the reign of thai most uninteresting though gallanl Little monarch, the second George of Brunswick. 13 But patriotism has its evils, for, writes an essayist, " some ladies now squander away all their money in fine Laces, because it sets a great many poor people to work." 13 Ten years previous to the death of King George II. was founded, with a view to correct the prevalent taste for foreign manufactures, 14 the Society of the Anti-Gallicans, who held their quarterly meetings, and distributed prizes for bone, point lace, and other articles of English manufacture. 15 This society, which continued in great activity for many years, proved most beneficial to the lace-making trade. It excited also a spirit of emulation among gentlewomen of the middle class, who w 7 ere glad in the course of the year to add to a small income by making the finer kinds of needle-point, which, on account of their elaborate workmanship, could be produced only in foreign con- vents, or by persons whose maintenance did not entirely depend upon the work of their hands. Towards the year 1756, certain changes in the fashion of the day now again mark the period, for — " Dress still varying, most to form confined, Shifts like the sands, the sport of every wind." 12 He was a martinet about his own Wales, at Hampton Court Palace, dress, for his biographer relates during u The laws regarding the introduction the last illness of Queen Caroline (1737), of lace during this reign continued much though the king was "visibly affected," the same until 1749, when the royal remembering he had to meet the foreign assent was given to an act preventing ministers next day, he gave particular the importation or wear of gold, silver, and directions to his pages "to see that new thread lace manufactured in foreign ruffles were sewn on his old shirt sleeves, parts. whereby he might wear a decent air in 1S In the meeting of Nov. 10, 1752, the eyes of the representatives of foreign at the " Crown, behind the Royal Ex- majesty." change," the Hon. Edward Vernon, grand 13 " By a list of linen furnished to the president, in the chair, it was agr< ed Princesses Louisa and Mary, we find that the following premiums should be their night-dresses were trimmed with awarded: "For the best pair of men's lace at 10s. per yard, and while their needlework ruffles, to be produced to the Royal Highnesses were in bibs, they had committee in the first week of May next, six suits of broad lace for aprons at from five guineas; to the second, three 50Z. to 60?. each suit."— Corr. of the guineas; to the third, two guineas And Countess of Suffolk, Lady of the Bed- for the best pair of English bone lace for chamber to Queen Caroline. ladies' lappets, to be produced to the Observe also the lace-trimmed aprons, committee in August next, fifteen guineas ; ruffles, tuckers, &c, in the pretty picture to the second, ten guineas ; to the third, of the family of Frederick, Piince of five guineas," — Gentleman's Magazine. GEORGE II. 319 " Long lappets, the horse-shoe cap, the Brussels head, and the prudish mob pinned under the chin, have all had their day," says the " Connoisseur," in 1754. Now we have first mention of lace cardinals ; trollopies or slammerkins 16 come in at the same period, with treble ruffles to the cuffs ; writers talk, too, of a " gentle dame in blonde lace," blonde being as yet a newly in- troduced manufacture. Though history may only be all false, 17 as Sir Robert Walpole said to that "cynic in lace ruffles," his son Horace, yet the news- papers are to be depended upon for the fashion of the day, or, as Lady Mary would say, " for what new whim adorns the ruffle." 18 The lace apron, 19 worn since the days of Queen Elizabeth, continued to hold its own till the end of the eighteenth century, though some considered it an appendage scarcely consistent with the dignity of polite society. The anecdote of Beau Nash, who held these articles in the strongest aversion, has been often related. " He absolutely excluded," says his biographer, " all who ventured to appear at the Assembly Room, at Bath, so attired. I have known him at a ball night strip the Duchess of Queensberry, and throw her apron on one of the hinder benches among the ladies' women, observing that none but Abigails appeared in white aprons ; though that apron was of the costliest point, and cost two hundred guineas." 20 George II. did his best to promote the fabrics of his country, but at this period smuggling increased with fearful rapidity. It was a war to the knife between the revenue officer and society at large : all classes combined, town ladies of high degree, with waiting-maids and the common sailor, to avoid the obnoxious duties and cheat the government. To this subject we devote the following chapter. 16 Slammerkin, a sort of loose dress. 18 Lady M. W. Montagu, "Letter This ugly word, in course of time, was to Lord Harvey on the King's Birth- used as an adjective, to signify un- day." tidy. The author recollects to have ,. ,, m , , . , , ., t j ■ i ,, t, , 19 "The working apron, too, from heard it so applied m her vouth. Fortu- „ x , * h ranee nately it is now obsolete. „..,. „ ' . . 17 an u. j v j. j. * xi j. With all its trim appurtenance. 17 "Don tread history to me, for that »*■"■,■■*-■,.,. Mundus Muliebris jife read to him in his last illness. of Bath," London, 1702 I know to be false," said Sir K. Walpole to his son Horace, when he offered to 20 Goldsmith, " Life of Richard Nash, 320 U1STOKY OF LACK. CHAPTER XXVII. SMUGGLING. " May that mistaken taste bo starv'd to reason, That does not think French fashions — English treason. Souse their cook's talent, and cut short their tailors ; Wear your own laco ; eat beef like Vernon's sailors." Aaron Hill, 1754. We have had occasional mention of this kindly looked upon offence, in the carrying out of which many a reckless seaman paid the penalty of his life in the latter part of the eighteenth century. From 1700 downwards, though the edicts prohibiting the entry of Flanders lace were repealed, the points of France, Spain, and Venice, with other fabrics of note, were still excluded from the ports. (Coloured Plate XIV.) " England," writes Anderson, 1 " brings home in a smuggling way from France much fine lace and other prohibited fopperies." Prohibition went for nothing ; foreign lace ladies would have, and if they could not smuggle it themselves, the smuggler brought it to them. It was not till 1751 that the customs appear to have used undue severity as regards the entries, prying into people's houses, and exercising a surveillance of so strict a nature as to render the chance to evade their watchfulness a very madness on the part of all degrees. In short, there was not a female within ten miles of a seaport, writes an essayist, that was in possession of a Mechlin lace cap or pinner but they examined her title to it. Lord Chesterfield, whose opinion, that " dress is a very silly thing, but it is much more silly not to be dressed according to your station," was more than acted up to, referring to the strictness of the customs, writes to his son in 1751, when coming over on a 1764. To face page 320. SMUGGLING. 321 short visit : " Bring only two or three of your laced shirts, and the rest plain ones." The revenue officers made frequent visits to the tailors' shops and confiscated whatever articles they found of foreign manufacture. On the 19th January 1752, a considerable quantity of foreign lace, gold and silver, seized at a tailor's, who paid the penalty of 100/., was publicly burnt. 2 George III., who really from his coming to the throne endea- voured to protect English manufactures, ordered, in 1764, all the stuffs and laces worn at the marriage of his sister, the Princess Augusta, to the Duke of Brunswick, to be of English make. To this decree the nobility paid little attention. Three days previous to the marriage, a descent was made by the customs on the court milliner of the day, and nearly the whole of the clothes, silver, gold stuffs and lace, carried off, to the dismay of the modiste, as well as of the ladies thus deprived of their finery. The disgusted French milliner retired with a fortune of 11,000Z. to Versailles, where she purchased a villa, which, in base ingratitude to the English court, she called " La Folie des Dames Anglaises." In May of the same year, three wedding garments, together with a large seizure of French lace, weighing nearly 100 lbs., were burnt at Mr. Coxe's refinery, conformably to the act of parliament. The following birthday, warned by the foregoing mischances, the nobility appeared in clothes and laces entirely of British manu- facture. Every paper tells how lace and ruffles of great value, sold on the previous day, had been seized in a hackney coach, between St. Paul's and Covent Garden ; how a lady of rank was stopped in her chair, and relieved of French lace to a large amount ; or how a poor woman, carelessly picking a quartern loaf as she walked along, was arrested, and the loaf found to contain 200Z. worth of lace. Even ladies, when walking, had their black lace mittens cut off their hands, the officers supposing them to be of French manu- facture ; and lastly, a Turk's turban, of most Mameluke dimensions, was found, containing a stuffing of 901. worth of lace. Books, bottles, babies, false-bottomed boxes, umbrellas, daily poured out their treasures to the lynx-eyed officers. In May 1765, the lace-makers joined the procession of the silk- workers of Spitalfields to Westminster, bearing flags and banners, " Gentleman's Magazine." 322 HISTOKY OF LACE. to which were attached Long floating pieces of French Lace, demanding of the Lords redress, and the total exclusion of foreign goods. On receiving an answer that it was too Late, they must wait- till noxt session, the assemblage declared they would not be put off by promises; they broke the Duke of Bedford's palings on their way home, and threatened to burn the premises of Mr. Carr, an obnoxious draper. At the next levee they once more assembled before St. James's, but, finding the dresses of the nobility to be all of right English stuff, retired satisfied, without further clamour. The papers of the year 1761 teem with accounts of seizures made by the customs. Among the confiscated effects of a person of the highest quality are enumerated: "1G black a-la-mode cloaks, trimmed with lace ; 44 French lace caps ; 1 1 black laced handkerchiefs ; 6 lace hats ; 6 ditto aprons ; 10 pairs of ruffles ; 6 pairs of ladies' blonde ditto, and 25 gentlemen's. " Eleven yards of edging and 6 pairs of ruffles are extracted from the pocket of the footman. Everybody smuggled. A gentleman attached to the Spanish embassy is unloaded of 36 dozen shirts, with fine Dresden ruffles and jabots, and endless lace in pieces for ladies' wear. These articles had escaped the vigilance of the officers at Dover, but were seized on his arrival by the coach at Southwark. Though prime ministers in those days accepted bribes, the custom- house officers seem to have done their duty. 3 When the body of his grace the Duke of Devonshire was brought over from France, where he died, the officers, to the anger of his servants, not content with opening and searching the coffin, poked the corpse with a stick to ascertain if it was a real body ; but the trick of smuggling in coffins was too old to be attempted. Forty years before, when a deceased clergyman was conveyed from the Low Countries for interment, the body of the corpse was found to have disappeared, and to have been replaced by Flanders lace of immense value — the head and hands and feet alone remaining. This discovery did not, however, prevent the high sheriff of Westminister from running — and that successfully — 6000?. worth of French lace in the coffin of Bishop 3 " 1767. An officer of the customs lying off Iron Gate." — Annual Register. seized nearly 400Z. worth of Flanders "1772. 27,000 ells of French (Blois?) lace, artfully concealed in ihe hollow of lace were seized in the port of Leigh a ship's buoy, on hoard a French trader, alone." — Gentleman? s Magazine. SMUGGLING. 323 Atterbuiy, 4 when his body was brought over from Calais for interment. One of the greatest frauds on record against the custom-house authorities, however, was perpetrated by a man named John Wilkes, who, on one occasion, as he afterwards boasted, when apprehended on another charge, brought from Calais to Dover 1(J00Z. worth of lace wrapped round the limbs of a corpse ! A woman for years made a trade of taking forty or fifty females across from Dover to Calais, who on their return journey wore upon their heads bonnets trimmed with the most elaborate and valuable lace. Of course the custom-house officers could not legally stop her, and after a time she retired upon a fortune. All were not equally successful, however, for in the reign of George II. we read about one Ann Warner being sentenced to ten years' penal servi- tude for smuggling laces, hidden in the insides of Normandy poultry, which she professed to be bringing to the English market. Towards the close of the French war, in the present century, smuggling of lace again became more rife than ever. It was in vain the authorities stopped the travelling carriages on their road from seaport towns to London, rifled the baggage of the unfortunate passengers by the mail at Rochester and Canterbury ; they were generally outwitted, though spies in the pay of the customs were ever on the watch. The writer has in her possession a Brussels veil of great beauty, which narrowly escaped seizure. It belonged to a lady who was in the habit of accompanying her husband, for many years member for one of the Cinque Ports. The day after the election she was about to leave for London, somewhat nervous as to the fate of a Brussels veil she had purchased of a smuggler for a hundred guineas; when, at a dinner party, it was announced that Lady Ellenborough, wife of the Lord Chief Justice, had been stopped near Dover, and a large quantity of valuable lace seized concealed in the lining of her carriage. Dismayed at the news, the lady imparted her trouble to a gentleman at her side, wTro immediately offered to take charge of the lace and convey it to London, remark- ing that " no one would suspect him, as he was a bachelor." Turning round suddenly, she observed one of the hired waiters to 4 The turbulent bishop of Rochester, who was arraigned for his Jacobite intrigues, and died in exile at Paris, 1731. Y 2 324 HISToiJY OF LACE, smile, and at once settling him to be a s]>v, she loudly accepted the offer; but that night, before going to bed, secretly caused the veil to be sewn up in the waistcoat of the newly elected M.P., in Buch a manner that i( filled the hollow of his back. Next morning they started, and reached London in safety, while her friend, who remained two days later, was stopped, and underwent a rigorous but unsuccessful examination from the custom-house officers. The free trade principles of the nineteenth century have put a more effectual stop to smuggling than all the activity of revenue officers, spies, and informers, or even laws framed for the punish- ment of the offenders. ( 325 ; CHAPTEE XXVIII. GEOPvGE III. " In clothes, cheap handsomeness doth bear the bell, Wisdome's a trimmer thing than shop e'er gave. Say not then, This with that lace will do well ; But, This with my discretion will be brave. Much curiousnesse is a perpetual wooing, Nothing with labour, fully long a doing." Herbert, The Church Porch. In 1700 commences the reign of George III. The king was patriotic, and did his best to encourage the fabrics of his country. From the year 1761, various acts were passed for the benefit of the lace-makers : the last, that of 1806, "increases the duties on foreign laces." * Queen Charlotte, on her first landing in England, wore, in compliment to the subjects of her royal consort, a fly cap richly trimmed with lappets of British lace, and a dress of similar manu- facture. The Englishman, however, regardless of the Anti-Gallicans, preferred his " Macklin " and his Brussels to all the finest pro- ductions of Devonshire or Newport Pagnel. Buffies, 2 according to the fashion of Tavistock Street and St. James's, in May 1773, still continued long, dipped in the sauce alike by clown and cavalier. 3 " The beau, A critic styled in point of dress, Harangues on fashion, point, and lace." A man was known by his " points ; he collected lace, as, in these more athletic days, a gentleman prides himself on his 1 If imported in smaller quantities 2 " Let the ruffle grace his hand, than twelve yards, the duty imposed was Ruffle, pride of Gallic land." 21. per yard. The Beau, ,1755. 3 " And dip your wristbands (For cuffs you've none) as comely in the sauce As any courtier." Beaumont and Fletcher. 326 HISTORY OF LACK. pointers or his horses. We read in the journals of the time how on the day after Lord George Gordon's riots, a report ran through London that the Ear] of Effingham, having joined the rioters, had been mortally wounded, and his body thrown into the Thames. He had boon recognised, folks declared, by his point lace ruffles. 4 Mr. Darner, Less known than his wife, the talented sculptor and friend of Borace Walpole, appeared three times a day in a new suit, and at his death r> left a wardrobe which sold for 15,000?. 6 Well might have boon said of him — " We sacrifice to dress, till household joys And comforts cease. Dress drains our cellars dry, And keeps our larder bare ; puts out our fires, And introduces hunger, frost, and woe, Where peace and hospitality might reign." 7 There was " no difference between the nobleman and city 'prentice, except that the latter was sometimes the greater beau," writes the " Female Spectator." 8 " His hands must be covered with fine Brussels lace." ° Our painters of the last century loved to adorn their portraits with the finest productions of Venice and Flanders ; modern artists consider such, decorations as far too much trouble. " Over the chimney-piece," writes one of the essayists, describing a citizen's country box, " was my friend's portrait, which was drawn bolt upright in a full-bottomed periwig, a laced cravat, with the fringed ends appearing through the button-hole (Steinkirk fashion). Indeed, one would almost wonder how and where people managed to afford so rich a selection of laces in their days,~did it not call to mind the demand of the Yicaress of Wakefield ' to have as many pearls and diamonds put into her picture as could be given for the money.' " Kuffles were equally worn by the ladies : — 10 " Frizzle your elbows with ruffles sixteen ; Furl off your lawn apron with flounces in rows." n 1 tie had retired to the country to be estimated at the same sum. out of the way. 7 Cowper. 5 August 1776. 8 1757. fi The wardrobe of George IV. was 9 " Monsieur a ta Mode," 1753. 10 " Let of ruffles many a row Guard your elbows white as snow." The Belle, 1755. " Gone to a lady of distinction with a Brussels head and ruffles." The Fool of Quality, 1766. 11 "Receipt for Modern Dress," 1753. GEORGE III. 327 Indeed, if we may judge by the intellectual conversation over- heard and accurately noted down by Miss Burney, 12 at Miss Monckton's (Lady Cork) party, court ruffles were inconvenient to wear : — " ' You can't think how I am encumbered with these nasty ruffles,' said Mrs. Hampden. " ' And I dined in them,' says the other. ' Only think ! ' " ' Oh ! ' answered Mrs. Hampden, ' it really puts me out of spirits.' " Both ladies were dressed for a party at Cumberland House, and ill at ease in the costume prescribed by etiquette. If this con- versation was considered worth noting down, we may be excused for repeating it. Our history of English lace is now drawing to a close ; but before quitting the subject, we must, however, make some allusion to the custom prevalent here, as in all countries, of using lace as a decoration to grave-clothes. In the chapter devoted to Greece, we have mentioned how much lace is still taken from the tombs of the Ionian Islands, washed, mended, or, more often, as a proof of its authenticity, sold in a most disgusting state to the purchaser. The custom was prevalent at Malta, as the lines of the dramatist testify : — " In her best habit, as the custom is, You know, in Malta, with all ceremonies She's buried in the family monument, I' the temple of St. John." 13 At Palermo you may see the mummies thus adorned in the celebrated catacombs of the Capuchin convent. 14 In Denmark, 15 Sweden, and the north of Europe, 16 the custom was general. The mass of lace in the tomb of the once fair Aurora Konigsmarck, at Quedlinburg, would in itself be a fortune. She sleeps clad in the richest point d'Angleterre, Malines, and guipure. 12 " Recollections of Madame d'Ar- tie of fine guipure ; not that lie was ever blay." interred — his body had been seized by 13 Beaumont and Fletcher, " The his creditors for debt, and there it still Knight of Malta." remains. 14 In coffins with glass tops. Some of . The author of " Letters from a Lady in th( m date from 1700. Kussia " (1775), describing the funeral of 15 In the vault of the Schleswig-Hol- a daughter of Prince MenzikofT, states stein family, at Sonderburg. she was dressed in a night-gown of silver 16 In the church of Revel lies the Due tissue, on her head a fine laced mob, and de Croy, a general of Charles XII., ar- a coronet; round her forehead, a ribbon rayed in full costume, with a rich flowing embroidered with her name and age, &e. 328 HISTORY OF LACK. Setting aside the jewels which still glitter around her parchment form, no daughter of Pharaoh was ever so richly swathed. 1 ' In Spain, it is related as the privilege of a grandee : all people of a lower rank are interred in tho habit of some religious order. 18 Taking the grave-clothes of St. Cuthbert as an example, we believe the same custom to have prevailed in England from the earliest times. 19 Mrs. Oldfield, the celebrated actress, who died in 1730, caused herself to be thus interred. The lines of Tope have long- since immortalised the story : — " Odious ! in woollen ! 'twould a saint provoke ! (Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke.) No, let a charming chintz and Brussels lace Wrap my cold limbs, and shade my lifeless face ; One would not, sure, be frightful when one's dead — And— Betty — give this cheek a little red." '• She was laid in her coffin," says her maid, " in a very fine Brussels lace head, a Holland shift with a tucker of double ruffles, and a pair of new kid gloves." Previous to her interment in West- minster Abbey, she lay in state in the Jerusalem Chamber. 20 For 17 Alluding to this custom of interring ladies of rank in full dress, Madame de Se'vigne writes to her daughter : — " Mon Dieu, ma chere enfant, que vos femmes sont sottes, vivantes et mortes ! Vous me faites horreur de cette fontan^e ; quelle profanation ! eel a sent le paganisme, ho ! cela me de'gouteroit bien de mourir en Provence ; it faudroit que du moins je fusse assure qu'onne m'iroit pas chercher une coeffeuse en meme temps qu'un plom- bier. Ah ! vraiment ! fi ! ne parlez plus decela."— Lettre 627. Paris, 13 Dec. 1688. 18 Laborde, " Itin. de l'Espagne." Again, the Due de Luynes says : " The Cure of St. Sulpice related to me the fashion in which the Duke of Alva, who died in Paris in 1739, was by his own will interred. A fchirt of the finest Hol- land, trimmed with new point lace, the finest to be had for money ; a new coat of Vardez cloth, embroidered in silver; a new wig ; his cane on the right, his sword on the left of his coffin." — Memo/res. 1 9 That grave-clothes were lace-trimmed we infer by the following strange an- nouncement in the "London Gazette" for August 12 to 15, 1678:— "Whereas decent and fashionable lace shifts and Dressings for the dead, made of woollen, have been presented to his Majesty by Amy Potter, widow (the first that put the making of such things in practice), and his Majesty well liking the same, hath upon her humble Petition, been graciously pleased to give her leave to insert this advertisement, that it may be known she now wholly applies herself in making both lace and plain of all sorts, at reasonable prices, and lives in Crane Court in the Old Change, near St. Paul's Church Yard." Again, in November of the same year, we find another advertise- ment : — " His Majesty, to increase the woollen manufacture and to encourage obedience to the late act for burying in woollen, has granted to Amy Potter the sole privilege of making all sorts of wool- len laces for the decent burial of the dead or otherwise, for fourteen years, being the first inventor thereof." 20 Betterton's " History of the English Stage." Her kindness to the poet Savage is well known. GEOKGE IK. 329 Mrs. Oldfield in her lifetime was a great judge of lace, and treasured a statuette of the Earl of Strafford, finely carved in ivory by Grin- ling Gibbons, more, it is supposed, for the beauty of its lace Van- dyke collar 21 than any other sentiment. In 1763, another instance is recorded in the " London Maga- zine," of a young lady buried in her wedding clothes, point lace tucker, handkerchief, ruffles, and apron ; also, a fine point lappet head. From this period, we happily hear no more of such extra- vagances. Passing from interments and shrouds to more lively matters we must quote the opinion of that Colossus of the last century, Dr. Johnson, who, instead of sticking to his Dictionary, was too apt to talk on matters of taste and art, of which he was no com- petent judge. " A Brussels trimming," declaims he to Mrs. Piozzi, " is like bread sauce ; it takes away the glow of colour from the gown, and gives you nothing instead of it : but sauce was invented to heighten the flavour of our food, and trimming is an ornament to the manteau or it is nothing." 22 A man whose culinary ideas did not soar higher than bread sauce could scarcely pronounce on the relative effect and beauty of point lace. If England had leant towards the products of France, in 1788, an Anglomania ran riot at Paris. Ladies wore a cap of mixed lace, English and French, which they styled the " Union of France and England." On the appearance of the French Revolution, the classic style of dress — its India muslins and transparent gauzes — caused the ancient points to fall into neglect. From this time dates the decline of the lace manufacture throughout Europe. Point still appeared at court and on state occasions, such as on the marriage of the Princess Caroline of Wales, 1795, but as an article of daily use, it gradually disappeared from the wardrobes of all classes. A scrupulous feeling also arose in ladies' minds as to the propriety of wearing articles of so costly a nature, forgetting how many thousands of women gained a livelihood by its manu- facture. Mrs. Hannah More, among the first, in her " Coelebs in Search of a Wife," alludes to the frivolity of the taste, when the little child exclaimed "at the beautiful lace with which the frock of another was trimmed, and which she was sure her mamma had 21 This seems to have been a speciality Gibbons, very masterly." — Hist, and of Gibbons; for we find among the trea- Antiquities of Twickenham. London, sures of Strawberry Hill : " A beautiful 1797. cravat, in imitation of lace, carved by 22 Mrs. Piozzi's " Memoirs.' 330 HISTORY OF LAOE. given her for being good," remarks, " A profitable and, doubtless, lasting and inseparable association was thus formed in the child's mind between lace and goodness." Whether in consequence of the French Revolution, or from the caprice of fashion, " real " lace worse off than the passements and points of L634, when in revolt— now underwent the most degrading vicissitudes. Indeed, so thoroughly was the taste for lace at this epoch gone by that in many families collections of great value were, at the death of their respective owners, handed over as rubbish to the waiting-maid. 23 Many ladies reeolleet in their youth to have tricked out their dolls in the finest Alencon point, which now would sell ai a price far beyond their purses. Among the few who, in England, unseduced by frippery blonde, never neglected to preserve their collections entire, was her late royal highness the Duchess of Gloucester, whose lace was esteemed among the most magnificent in Europe. When the taste of the age again turned towards the rich productions of the preceding centuries, much lace, both black and white, was found in the country farm-houses, preserved as remem- brances of deceased patrons by old family dependents. Sometimes the hoard had been forgotten, and was again routed out from old wardrobes and chests, where it had lain unheeded for years. Much was recovered from theatric wardrobes and the masquerade shops, and the church, no longer in its temporal glory, both in Italy, Spain, and Germany, gladly parted with what, to them, was of small value, compared with the high price given for it by amateurs. In Italy perhaps the fine fabrics of Milan, Genoa, and Venice, had fared best, from the custom which prevailed of sewing up family lace in rolls of linen to insure its preservation. After years of neglect, lace became a " mania." In England the literary ladies were the first to take it up. Sydney Lady Morgan and Lady Stepney quarrelled weekly on the respective 23 A lady, who had very fine old lace, Another collection of old lace met with bequeathed her " wardrobe and lace " to an equally melancholy fate. The maid, some young friends, who, going after her not liking to give it over to the legatees in deatli to take possession of their legacy, its coffee-coloured hue, sewed it carefully were surprised to find nothing but new together, and put it in a strong soap lye lace. On inquiring of the old faithful on the fire, to simmer all night. When Scotch servant what had become of the she took it out in the morning, it was old needle points, she said: "Deed it's reduced to a jelly. Medea's caldron had aw there, 'cept a wheen auld Dudds, not been more effectual ! black and ragged, I flinged on the fire." GE011GE III. 331 value and richness of their points. The former at one time commenced a history of lace, though what was the ultimate fate of the MS. the author is unable to state. The Countess of Bless- ington, at her death, left several chests filled with the finest antique lace of all descriptions. The " dames du grande monde," both in England and France, now began to wear lace. But, strange as it may seem, never at any period did they appear to so little advantage as during the counter-revolution of the lace period. Lace was the fashion, and wear it somehow they would ; though that somehow often gave them an appearance, as the French say, " du dernier ridicule," simply from an ignorance displayed in the manner of arranging it. That lace was old seemed sufficient to satisfy all parties. They covered their dresses with odds and ends of all fabrics, without attention either to date or texture. We recollect one English lady appearing at a ball given by the French embassy at Rome, boasting that she wore on the tablier of her dress every description of lace, from point coupe, of the sixteenth, to Alencon, of the eighteenth century. H. R. H. the Count of Syracuse was accustomed to say : " The English ladies buy a scrap of lace as a souvenir of every town they pass through, till they reach Naples, they sew it on their dresses, and make one grand toilette of the whole to honour our first ball at the Academia Nobile." The taste for lace has again become universal, and the quality now produced renders it within the reach of all classes of society ; and though by some the taste may be condemned, it gives employ- ment to thousands and ten thousands of women, who find it more profitable and better adapted to their strength than the field labour which forms the occupation of the women in agricultural districts. To these last, in a general point of view, the lace-maker of our southern counties, who works at home in her own cottage, is superior, both in education, refinement, and morality : — " Here the m edle plies its busy task ; The pattern grows, the well-depicted flower. Wrought patiently into the snowy lawn, Unfolds its bosom ; buds, and leaves, and sprig.--, And curling tendrils, gracefully dispos'd, Follow the nimble fingers of the fair — A wreath that cannot fade, of flowers that blow With most succ ss when all besides decay." - M Cowper, " The Winter Evening." BISTORT OF LACK. CHAPTER XXIX. THE LACE MANUFACTURES OF ENGLAND. " Yon cottager, who weaves at her own door, Pillow and bobbins all her little store ; Content though mean, and cheerful if not gay, Shuffling her threads about the livelong day : Just earns a scanty pittance, and at night Lies down secure, her heart and pocket light." Cowper. The bone lace manufactures of England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries appear to have extended over a much wider area than they occupy in the present day. From Cambridge to the adjacent counties of Northampton and Hertfordshire, by Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, and Oxfordshire, the trade spread over the southern counties of Wiltshire, Somersetshire, 1 Hamp- shire, and Dorset, to the more secluded valleys of Devon — the county which still sustains the ancient reputation of " English point " — terminating at Launceston, on the Cornish coast. Various offsets from these fabrics were established in Wales. 2 Bipon, 3 an isolated manufactory, represented the lace industry of 1 "Wells, bone lace and knitting stock- pattern, and carried it out for sale in the ings." — Anderson. country." 2 '"Launceston, where are two schools 3 At what period, and by whom, the for forty-eight children of both sexes. lace manufactory of Eipon was founded, The girls are taught to read, sew, and we have been unable to ascertain. It make bone lace, and they are to have was probably a relic of conventual days, their earnings for encouragement." — which, after having followed the fashion Magna Britannia, 1720. of each time, has now gradually died out. Welsh lace was made at Swansea, Pont- Twenty years since, broad trolly laces of Ardawe, Llanwrtyd, Dufynock, and French design and fair workmanship Brecon, but never of any beauty, some were fabricated in the old cathedral city; not unlike a coarse Valenciennes. " It where, in the poorer localities near the was much made and worn," said an aged Bond and Blossomgate, young women Wesleyan lady, " by our ' connexion,' and might be seen working their intricate as a child I had all my frocks and pina- patterns, with pillows, bubbins, and pins, fores trimmed with it. It was made in the Now, one old woman alone, says our cottages ; each lace-maker had her own informant, sustains the memory of the LACE MANUFACTURES OF ENGLAND. •>r,0 York; while the dependent islands of Man, 4 Wight, 5 and Jersey, 6 may be supposed to have derived their learning from the smugglers who frequented their coast, rather than from the teaching of the Protestant refugees 7 who sought an asylum on the peaceful shores of Britain. craffc, her produce a lace of a small lozenge-shaped pattern (Fig. 118), that earliest of all designs, and a narrow edging, known in local parlance by the name of " fourpenny spot." Ripon. 4 Till its annexation to the crown, the Isle of Man was the great smuggling depot for French laces. The traders then removed en masse to the Channel Isles, there to carry on their traffic. An idiot called " Peg t':e Fly," in Castletown, was some years since seen working at her pillow, on a summer's evening, the last lace-maker of the island. Isle of Man lace was a simple Valenciennes edging. 5 The so-called lace of the Isle of Wight has been honoured by the patronage of Her Majesty. The Princess Royal, re- ports the "Illustrated News" of May 1856, at the drawing-room, on her first presentation, wore a dress of Newport lace, her train trimmed with the same. The weariness of incarceration, when at Carisbrook, did not bring on the king any distaste for rich apparel. Among the charges of 1648, Sept. and Nov., we find a sum of nigh 8007. for suits and cloaks of black brocade tabby, black unshorn velvet, and black satin, all lined with plush and trimmed with rich bone lace. 6 Lace-making was never the staple manufacture of the Channel Islands ; stockings and garments of knitted wool afforded a livelihood to the natives. We have early mention of these articles in the inventories of James V. of .Scotland, and of Mary Stuart; also in those of Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth, in which last we find (Gt. Ward. Ace. 28 & 29) the charge of 20s. for a pair of "Ca- ligarum nexal/ de factum Garneseie " the upper part and " lez clocks " worked in silk. At ihe beginning of the present century, when the island was inundated with French refugees, lace-making was introduced, with much success, into the poor-house of St. Heliers. It formed the favourite occupation of the ladies of the island, some of whom still retain the patterns and pillows of their mothers. Of late years, many of the old raised points have been imitated in "Jersey cro.-het work." 7 The Puritans again, on their part, transferred the fabric to the other side of the Atlantic, where, says a writer of the last century, " very much fine lace was made in Long Island by the Protestant settlers." 334 HISTORY OF LACE. Many of these fabrics now belong to the past, consigned to oblivion even in the very counties where they once flourished. In describing, therefore, the lace manufactures of the United Kingdom, we shall confine ourselves to those which still remain, alluding only slightly to such as were once of note, and of which the existence is confirmed by the testimony of contemporary writers. The " women of the mystery of thread-working" would appear to have made lace in London,* and of their complaints and grievances our public records bear goodly evidence. Of the pro- ducts of their needle we know little or nothing. Various Flemings and Burgundians established themselves in the City ; and though the emigrants, for the most part, betook themselves to the adjoining counties, the craft, till the end of the eighteenth century, may be said to have held fair commerce in the capital. The London fabric can scarcely be looked upon as a staple trade in itself, mixed up as it was with lace-cleaning and lace-washing — an occupation first established by the ejected nuns. 9 Much point, too, was made by poor gentlewomen, as the records of the Anti-Gallican Society testify. " A strange infatuation, " says a writer of the last century, " prevailed in the capital for many years, among the class called demi-fashionables, of sending their daughters to convents in France for education, if that could be so termed which amounted to a learning to work in lace. The Re- volution, however, put an end to this practice." It is owing to this French education that the fine needle points were so extensively made in England ; though this occupation, however, did not seem to belong to any one county in particular ; for the reader who runs his eye over the proceedings of the Anti-Gallican Society will find prizes to have been awarded to gentlewomen from all parts — from the town of Leominster in Herefordshire to Broughton in Leicester- shire, or Stourton in Gloucester. 10 Needle point, in contradistinc- tion to bone lace, was an occupation confined to no special locality. (Coloured Plate XV.) In 17b'4, the attention of the nobility seems to have been first directed towards the employment of the indigent poor, and, 8 See p. 252. to five guinea? were awarded for n See p. 259. fourteen pairs of curious needlework 10 In 1753, prizes varying from two point ruffles. VJfcta LACE MANUFACTURES OF ENGLAND. 335 indeed, the better classes in the metropolis, in the making of bone lace and point ; and in 1775, sanctioned by the patronage of H. M. Queen Charlotte, the princesses, the Princess xVmelia, and various members of the aristocracy, an institution was formed in Mary- lebone Lane, and also in James Street, Westminster, "for employ- ing the female infants of the poor in the blonde and black silk lace- making and thread laces." More than 300 girls attended the school. " They gave," says the " Annual Register," " such a proof of their capacity that many who had not been there more than six months carried home to their parents from 5s. to 7s. a month, with expectation of getting more as they improve." From this time we hear no more of the making of lace, either point or bone, in the metropolis. 136 HISTORY OF LACE. CHAPTEE XXX. BEDFORDSHIRE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, AND NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. BEDFORDSHIRE. •' He wears a stuff whose 1 bread is coarse and round, But tiimm'd with curious lace." Herbert. It would be a difficult matter now to determine when and by whom lace-making was first introduced into the counties of Bed- fordshire and Buckingham. Authors, for the most part, have been glad to assign its introduction to the Flemings, 1 a nation to whose successive emigrations England owes much of her manu- facturing greatness. On the other hand, certain traditions handed down in the county villages of a good queen who protected their craft, the annual festival of the workers — in the palmy days of the trade a matter of great moment — combined with the residence of that unhappy queen, for the space of two years, at her jointure manor of Ampthill, 2 lead us rather to infer that the art of lace-working, as it then existed, was first imparted to the peasantry of Bedford- shire, as a means of subsistence, through the charity of Queen Katherine of Aragon. In our chapter devoted to needlework we have already alluded to the proficiency of this queen in all arts connected with the needle, to the " trials of needlework " esta- blished by her mother, Queen Isabella, at which she, as a girl, had 1 Wbo fled from the Alva persecutions, still to be found in the villages of Bcd- and settled, in 1568, first at Cranfield, fordsbire. in Bedfordshire, then at Buckingham, 2 She retired to Ampthill early in Stoney Stratford, and Newport Pagnel ; 1531, while her appeal to Rome w r as whence the manufacture extended gra- pending, and remained there till the dually over Oxford, Northampton, and summer of 1533. Cambridge. Many Flemish names are BEDFORDSHTKE. 337 assisted. It is related, also, that during her sojourn at Ampthill " she passed her time, when not at her devotions, with her gentle- women, working with her own hands something wrought in needlework, costly and artificially, which she intended for the honour of God to bestow on some of the churches." 3 " The country people," continues her contemporary, " began to love her exceedingly. They visited her out of pure respect, and she received the tokens of regard they daily showed her most sweetly and graciously." The love borne by the peasantry to the queen, the sympathy shown to her in her days of trouble and disgrace, most likely met with its reward ; and we believe Katherine to have taught them an art which, aided, no doubt, by the later introduction of the pillow and the improvements of the refugees, has now, for the space of nigh three centuries, been the staple employment of the female population of Bedfordshire and the adjoining counties. 4 To this very day — though, like all such festivals in the present utilitarian age, gradually dying out, the lace-makers still hold " Cattern's day," 5 the 25th November, as the holiday of their craft, kept, they say, " in memory of good Queen Katherine, who, when the trade was dull, burnt all her lace and ordered new to be made. The ladies of the court followed her example, and the fabric once more revived." "Ainsi s'ecrit l'histoire," as the French say ; and this garbled version may rest on as much foundation as most of the folk-lore current throughout the provinces. Speaking of Bedfordshire, Defoe writes: "Thro' the whole south part of this country, as far as the borders of Buckingham- shire and Hertfordshire, the people are taken up with the manu- facture of bone lace, in which they are wonderfully exercised and improved within these few years past," 6 — probably since the 3 Dr. Nicolas Harpsfield. Douay, 1622. and cake, which they called ' Cattern ' (In Latin.) cake. After tea, they danced and made Again we read that at Kimbolion merry, and finished the evening with a " she plied her needle, drank her potions, supper of boiled stuffed rabbits smothered and told her beads." — Duke of Man- with onion sauce." The custom of send- chester, Kimbolton Papers. ing about Cattern cakes was also ob- 4 Queen Katherine died 1536. served at Kettering, in Northamptou- • r> A lady from Ampthill writes : " The shire, but the lace trade there is nearly feast of St. Katherine is no longer kept. extinct. In the palmy days of the trade, both old 6 " Tour through the whole Island of and young used to subscribe a sum of Great Britain," by a Gentleman. 3 vols, money and enjoy a good cup of Bohea 1724-27. Several subsequent editions of Z 338 HISTORY OF LACE. arrival of the French settlers a Ida- the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. At the same period, the author of the "Magna Bri- tannia" 1 states that, at Woburn, "lace of a high price is made in considerable quantities." Savary and Peuchet both declare the town of Bedford alone to have contained 500 laoe^workers. The lace schools of Bedfordshire are far more considerable than those in Devonshire. Four or five may frequently be found in the same village, numbering from twenty to thirty children each, and they are considered sufficiently important to be visited by government inspectors. Their work is mostly purchased by large dealers, who make their arrangements with the instructress : the children are not bound for a term, as in the southern counties. Boys formerly attended the lace schools, bnt now they go at an early age to the fields. The wages of a lace-worker average a shilling a day ; under press of business, caused by the demand for some fashionable article, they sometimes rise to one shilling and sixpence. BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. Though the first establishment of the manufacture may have been in the sister county, the workers of Buckingham appear early to have gained the lion's share of public estimation for the produce of their pillows, and the manufacture flourished, till, suffering from the monopolies of James I., we read how in the year 1623, April 8th, a petition was addressed from Great Marlow to the high sheriff of Bucks, representing the distress of the people from " the bone-lace making being much decayed." 8 Three years later, 1626, Sir Henry Borlase founds and endows the free school of Great Marlow, for twenty-four boys, to read, write, and cast accounts ; and for twenty-four girls, " to knit, spin, and make bone lace;" and here at Great Marlow the trade Defoe were published, with additions, by New Survey of Great Britain, collected Eichardson the novelist, in 1732, '42, 'G2, and composed by an impartial hand, '69, and '78 : The last is " brought down by the Eev. Thos. Owen." Lond. to the present time by a gentleman of 1720-31. eminence in the literary world." 8 "State Papers, Dom." Jas. I. vol. cxlii. 7 " Magna Britannia et Hibernia, or a P. R. O. BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 339 flourished, all English, and even French authors, 9 citing its " manufactures de dentelles au fuseau " as the staple produce of the town and its surrounding villages, which said lace, however, they pronounce as " inferieure a celle de Flandre." During the seventeenth century the trade continued to advance, and Fuller testifies to its once more prosperous condition in Bucks, towards the year 1640. "No handicrafts of note," he writes, "(save what are common to other countries), are used therein, except any will instance in bone lace, much thereof being made about Owldney, in this county, though more, I believe, in Devon- shire, where we shall meet more properly therewith." 10 Olney, as it is now written, a small market town, for many years the resi- dence of Cowper, known by its twenty-four-arched bridge, now no more, "of wearisome but needful length," spanning the Ouse — Olney, together with its fellow towns of Newport Pagnel and Aylesbury, are much quoted by the authorities of the last century, though, as is too often the case in books of travels and statistics, one writer copies from another the information derived from a preceding author. Defoe, however, who really did solace the pains of pillory and ear-cropping by visiting each county in detail, quotes " Ouldney as possessing a considerable manufacture of bone lace ;" while a letter from the poet Cowper to the Eev. John Newton, in 1780, enclosing a petition to Lord Dartmouth in favour of the lace-makers, declares that " hundreds in this little town are upon the point of starving, and that the most unre- mitting industry is barely sufficient to keep them from it." A distress caused, we may infer, by some caprice of fashion. " The lace manufacture is still carried on," says Lysons, 11 (i to a great extent in and about Olney, where veils and other lace of the finer sort are made, and great fortunes are said to be acquired by the factors. Lace-making is in no part of the country so general as at Hanslape and in its immediate vicinity; but it prevails from fifteen to twenty miles round in every direction. At Hanslape not fewer than 800, out of a population of 1275, were employed in it in the year 1801. Children are there put to the lace schools at, or soon after, five years of age. At eleven or twelve years of age they are all able to maintain themselves without any assistance : both girls and boys are taught to make H Savary and Peuchet. io « Worthies," vol. i. p. 134. 11 " Magna Britannia," Daniel Samuel Lysons, 1806-22. z 2 and 340 HISTORY. OF LACK. it. and some men when grown up follow no other employment; others, when out of work, find it a good resource, and can earn as much as the generality of day labourers. The lace made in Hanslape is from sixpence to two guineas a yard in value. It is calculated that from 80007. to 9000Z. net profit is annually brought into tln> parish by the lace manufacture." The hone lace of Stoney Stratford l2 and Aylesbury are both quoted by Defoe, and the produce of the latter city is mentioned with praise. lie writes: "Many of the poor here are employed in making lace for edgings, not much inferior to those from Flanders ; but it is some pleasure to us to observe that the English are not the only nation in the world which admires foreign manufactures above its own, since the French, who give fashions to most nations, buy and sell the finest laces at Paris under the name of ' dentelles d' Anglcterrc,' or English laces." 13 But Newport Pagnel, whether from its more central position, or being of greater commercial importance, is the town which receives most praise from all contemporary authors. " This town," says the "Magna Britannia," in 1720, "is a sort of staple for bone lace, of which more is thought to be made here than any town in England ; that commodity is brought to as great perfection almost as in Flanders." " Newport Pagnel," writes Defoe, " carries on a great trade in bone lace, and this same manufacture employs all the neighbouring villages;" while Don Manuel Gonzales, in 1730, speaks of its lace as little inferior to that of Flanders, 14 which asseition he may probably have copied from previous writers. At one of the earliest meetings of the Anti-Gallican Society, 1752, Admiral Vernon in the chair, the first prize to the maker of the best piece of English bone lace was awarded to Mr. William Marriott, of Newport Pagnel, Bucks. The principal lace dealers in London were invited to give their opinion, and they allowed it to be the best ever made in England. Emboldened by this success, we read how, in 1761, Earl Temple, lord-lieutenant of Bucks, having been requested by Kichard Lowndes, Esq., one of 12 Describing the " lace and edgings " Don Manuel Gonzales, late Merchant of of the tradesman's wife, she has "from the City of Lisbon." "Some say Defoe Stoney Stratford the first, and Great wrote this book Mmself : it is evidently Marlow the last." — TJie Complete English from the pen of an Englishman." — Tradesman, Dan. Defoe, 1726. Lowndes? Bibliographer's Manual, Bohn's 13 Edition 17G2. edition. h "The Voyage to Great Britain of BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 341 the knights of the shire, on behalf of the lace-makers, to present to the king a pair of tine lace ruffles, made by Messrs. Milward and bo Company, at Newport Pagnel, in the same county, his majesty, after looking at them, and asking many questions respecting this branch of trade, was most graciously pleased to express himself that the inclination of his own heart naturally led him to set a 342 111ST0KY OF LACK. high value on every endeavour to further English manufactures, and whatever had such recommendation would be preferred by him to works of possibly higher perfection made in any other country. 15 From this period Newport Pagiel is cited as one of the most noted towns in the kingdom lor making bone lace. 16 At the end of the last century, the Revolution again drove Pier. 120. Buckinghamshire " point." many of the poorer French to seek refuge on our shores, as they had done a century before; and we find stated in the "Annual Eegister " of 1794 : " A number of ingenious French emigrants have found employment in Bucks, Bedfordshire, and the adjacent counties, in the manufacturing of lace, and it is expected through, the means of these artificers considerable improvements will be introduced into the method of making English lace." Fig. 119 (see p. 341) represents the Buckinghamshire trolly; the designation given to lace in which the pattern is outlined by a thicker thread. The bobbins that hold the trollv threads are 13 "Annual Register." * See "Britannia Depicta," by John O.sen, Gent. (Lond. 17b"4) r and others. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 343 longer and heavier than the others. Figs. 120 and 121 represent the ' ; point" ground, from the beauty of which the laces of the midland counties derived their reputation. Fig-. 121. Buckinghamshire " point." NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. The laces of Northampton do not appear to have attracted the notice of the writers of the last century so much as those of the sister counties. Anderson mentions that Kettering has " a considerable trade in lace ;" and Lysons, later, observes that lace is made at Cheney. Certainly, the productions of this county a century back were of exquisite beauty, as we can bear testimony from the specimens in a pattern book inherited by Mr. Cardwell, the well-known lace merchant of Northampton, from his predecessor in the trade, which we have had an opportunity of examining. We have also U4 HISTORY OF LACE. received examples from various localities in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and as there is much similarity in the products of the three counties, we shall, perhaps, bettor describe them by treating of them all collectively. The earliest English lace was naturally the old Flemish, the pattern wavy and graceful, the ground well executed. Fig. 122, Fig. 12-2. Cld Flemish. Newport Pagnel. which we select as an example, is a specimen we received, with many others, of old Newport Pagnel lace, given by Mrs. Bell, of that town, where her family has been established from time immemorial. Mrs. Bell herself can carry these laces back to the Fig, 123. Old Bru;-sels. Northampton. year 1780, when they were bequeathed to her father by an aged relative who had long been in the lace trade. The packets remain for the most part entire. The custom of "storing" lace was common among the country-people. Next in antiquity is Fig. 123, a lace of Flemish design, with the fine Brussels ground. This is among the Northamptonshire laces already alluded to. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 345 Many of the early patterns appear to have been run or worked in with the needle on the net ground (Fig. 124). In 1778, according to M'Culloch, 17 was introduced the " point " Fia:. 124. "Hun "lace. Newport Pagnel. ground, as it is locally termed, from which period dates the staple pillow lace trade of these counties. This ground is beautifully clear, the patterns well executed : we doubt if Fig. 125 could be Fig. 125. English 'point." Northampton. surpassed in beauty by lace of any foreign manufacture. Much of this point ground was made by men. Diet, of Coram crce." m HISTORY OF LACK. The principal branch of the lace trade was the making of " baby Lace," as those narrow laces wore called, most specially employed for the adorning of infants' caps (Figs. 126, 127, 128). The " point" ground was used, the patterns taken from those of Lille and Arras — hence the laces of Buckingham and Bedford- Fig, rifi. " Bdby " lace. Northampton. Fig. 127. Fig. 128. '• Baby " lace. Beds. " Baby " lace. Bucks. shire have often been styled " English Lille." Though the fashion in the mother-country has passed away, the American ladies still hold to the gorgeously trimmed infant's cap ; and till the break- ing out of the Civil War, large quantities of " baby lace " were exported to America, the finer sorts varying from five shillings to NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 347 seven shillings and sixpence a yard, still retaining their ancient name of " points." Many other descriptions of grounds were made. Wire (Fig. 129), double, and trolly, in every kind of quality and width. In the making of the finer sorts of edging as many as 200 threads would be employed. Fiir. 129. Wire ground. Northampton. On the breaking out of the war with France, the closing of our ports to French goods gave an impetus to the trade, and the manufacturers undertook to supply the English market with lace similar to that of Normandy and the sea-coast villages of France ; hence a sort of " fausse " Valenciennes, called the " French ground." But true Valenciennes was also fabricated so fine (Fig. 130) as to rival the products of French Hainault. It was Fig. 130. Valenciennes. Northampton. made in considerable quantities, until the expertness of the smuggler and the cessation of the war caused it to be laid aside. One-third of the lace-workers of Northampton were employed, previous to the introduction of machine-made net, in making quillings on the pillow. A " point " lace, with the "cloth" or "toile" on the edge, for many years was in fashion, and, in compliment to the prince, 348 1IIST0HY OP LACK. was Darned by the Loyal manufacturers " Regency point a durable and handsome lace. (Fig. 131.) It was Fig. LSI. lUgency point. Bedford. Towards the year 1830, insertions found their way to the public taste (Fig. 132). Fier. 132. Insertion, lied lord. The exhibition of 1851 gave a sudden impulse to the traders, and from that period the lace industry rapidly developed. At this time were introduced the Maltese guipures and the " plaited " laces, a variety grafted on the old Maltese (Fig. 333). Five years later appears the first specimen of the raised plait, now so thoroughly established in the market. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 349 The exhibition of 1852 showed an astonishing progress in both design and execution ; leaves in strict imitation of nature Fi£. 133. Plaited lace. Bedford. being mingled with the Oriental arabesque of the so-called Maltese (Fig. 134) in the fabrics of Bedfordshire, which may now be dis- Fi<* 134. Raised plait. Bedford. tinguished by this characteristic from those of her sister county. The Buckinghamshire stick to the old Maltese designs, their laces unrelieved by the introduction of either flowers or foliage. 350 HISTORY OF LACE. The imitations of the guipures of Malta and Le Tny unfit the lace-workers for the more delicate white laces with the Lille ground. Mr. Lester, of Bedford, is making most spirited endea- vours to sustain the old industry, and in the international ex- hibition of 1871 he produced a collection of specimens remarkable for their excellent workmanship, for the even "clothing" of the Leaves, and the firmness of the raised cord. Buckingham produces black lace of great beauty. Her lace- makers have also succeeded in making pieces of considerable width, showing great skill and artistic design. They formerly could only produce lace 8 inches wide ; some they exhibited measured 38 inches ; the English lace-makers having acquired the art of " line joining," a knowledge until of late confined to France and Belgium. But since this period the lace industry of Buckingham has to sustain a powerful competition in the narrow laces of Normandy and the " pi' ce goods " of Grammont. The number of lace-makers in the counties of Buckingham, North- ampton, Bedford, and Oxford, is estimated at 25,000. Pillow lace was also made to some extent in Derbyshire. ( 351 ) CHAPTER XXXL WILTSHIRE AND DORSETSHIRE. From Wiltshire and Dorset, counties in the last century renowned for their lace, the trade has now passed away ; a few workers may yet be found in the retired sea-side village of Charmouth, and these are diminishing fast. Of the Wiltshire manufactures we know but little, even from tradition, save that the art did once prevail. Peuchet alludes to it. When Sir Edward Hungerford attacked Wardour Castle, in Wiltshire, Lady Arundel, describing the destruction of the leaden pipes by the soldiers, says, " They cut up the pipe and sold it, as these men's wives in North Wiltshire do bone lace, at sixpence a yard." One Mary Hurdle, of Marlborough, in the time of Charles II., tells us in her " Memoirs " * that, being left an orphan, she was apprenticed by the chief magistrate to a maker of bone lace for eight years, and after that period of servitude she apprenticed herself for Rye years more. Again, at the time of the Great Plague, cautions are issued by the mayor of Marlborough to all parents and masters how they send their children and servants to school or abroad in making bone lace or otherwise, in any public house, place, or school used for that purpose. 2 In the proceedings of the Anti-G-allican Society it is recorded that the second prize for needle point ruffles was, in 1751, awarded to Mrs. Elizabeth Waterman, of the episcopal city of Salisbury. Such are the scanty notices we have been able to glean of the once flourishing lace trade in Wiltshire. Dorset, on the other hand, holds high her head in the annals 1 il The Conversion and Experience of the Rev. — Hughes, of that town." Mary Hurll', or Hurdle, of Marlborough, 2 Way lern's "History of Marlborough." a maker of bone lace in this town, by 352 HISTORY OF LACE. of Lace-making; three separate towns, in their day — Blandford, Sherborne, and Lyme Regis— disputing the palm of excellence for their productions. Of Blandford the earliest mention we find is in Owen's " Magna Britannia" of 1720, where he states: "The manufacture of this town was heretofore 'band-strings,' which wore once risen to a great price, hut now times hath brought both hands themselves and their strings out of use, and SO the inhabitants have turned their hands to making straw works and bono laee, which perhaps may come to nothing, if the tickle humour of fashionmongers take to wearing Flanders lace." Only four years later, Defoe writes of Blandford : — " This city is chiefly famous for making the finest bone lace in England, and where they showed us some so exquisitely fine as I think I never saw better in Flanders, France, or Italy, and which, they said, they rated above 301. sterling a yard ; but it is most certain that they make exceeding rich lace in this county, such as no part of England can equal." In the edition of 1762, Defoe adds, " This was the state and trade of the town when I was there in my first journey ; but on June 4, 1731, the whole town, except twenty-six houses, was consumed by fire, together with the church." Postlethwayt, 3 Hutchins, 4 Lysons, and Knight (" Imperial Cyclopaedia "), all tell the same story. Peuchet cites the Bland- ford laces as " comparables a celles qu'on fait en Flandre (excepte Bruxelles), en France et meme dans les Etats de Venise ; " and Anderson mentions Blandford as " a well-built town, surpassing all England in fine lace." More reliance is to be placed on the two last-named authorities than the former, who have evidently copied Defoe without troubling themselves to inquire more deeply into the matter. It is generally supposed that the trade gradually declined after the great fire of 1731, when it was replaced by the manufacture of buttons, and no record of its former existence can be found among the present inhabitants of the place. 5 3 "At Bland, on the Stour, between at 30/. per yard, till the beginning of this Salisbury and Dorchester, they made the century." — Hut chins'' Hist, of the County finest lace in England, valued at 30/. per of Dorset, 2nd edit. 1796. yard." — Universal Diet, of Trade and s What this celebrated point was, we Commerce, 1774. canuot ascertain. Two samplers sent to 4 "Much bone lace was made here, and us as Blandford point were of geometric the finest point in England, equal, if not pattern, resembling the sampler, Coloured superior, to that of Flanders, and valued Plate I , p. 19. SHERBORNE. 353 Fig. 135 represents a curious piece of lace, preserved as an O CO K heirloom in a family in Dorsetshire. It formerly belonged to her majesty Queen Charlotte, and, when purchased by the present 2 A 354 M1ST0KY OF LACE. owner, had a Label attached to it, " Queen Elizabeth's lace," with the tradition that it was made in commemoration of the defeat of the Spanish Armada. At this we beg to demur, as no similar lace was made at that period ; but we do not doubt its having been made in honour of that victory, for the building is decidedly old Tilbury Fort, familiar to all by the pencil of Stanfield. The lace is point d'Argentan, and was probably the handiwork of some English lady, sent as a present to Queen Charlotte. "Since 4 the Reformation the clothing trade declined," writes Defoe, of Sherborne. " Before 1700, making buttons, haberdashery wares, and bone laces employed a great many hands." Other authors, such as Anderson, declare, at a far later date, Sherborne to carry on a good trade in laee, and how, up to 1780, much blonde, both white and black, and of various colours, was made there, of which a supply was sent to all markets. The points of Lyme Kegis rivalled, in the last century, those of Honiton and Blandford, and when the trade of the last-named town passed away, Lyme and Honiton laces held their own, side by side, in the London market. The fabric of Lyme Kegis, for a period, came more before the public eye, for that old, deserted, and half forgotten mercantile city, in the eighteenth century, once more raised its head as a fashionable watering-place. Prizes were awarded by the Anti-Gallican Society 6 to its townswomen for ruffles of needle point and bone lace, and the reputation of the fabric reached even the court ; for when Queen Charlotte first set foot on English ground, she wore arhead and lappets of Dorset manufacture. Some years later, a splendid lace dress was made for her Majesty by the workers of Lyme. 7 The laces of Lyme, like all good articles, were expensive. A narrow piece set quite plain round a cap would cost four guineas, nor were five guineas a yard considered an exorbitant price. The making of such expensive lace being scarcely found remu- nerative, the trade gradually expired ; and when the order for the marriage lace of H. M. Queen Victoria reached the southern coun- ties, not one lace-maker was to be found to aid in the work in the once flourishing town of Lyme Kegis. d In 1752. 7 Robci Is' "Hist, of* Lyme Regis." ( 355 ) CHAPTER XXXII. DEVONSHIRE. " Bone lace and Cyder." Anderson. " At Ax minster, you may be furnished with fyne flax thread there spunne. At Honyton and Bradninch with bone lace much in request." — Westcote. HONITOK Lace-making is said to have been introduced into Devonshire by sundry Flemings who took refuge in England during the persecu- tions of the Duke of Alva (1567-73). Whether the art was first made known to the inhabitants of the county at that period, it is impossible now to say. We may rather infer that laces of silk and coarse thread were already manufactured in Devonshire, as elsewhere ; and that the Flemings, on their arrival, having introduced the fine thread, spun almost exclusively in their own country, from that period the trade of bone-lace making flourished in the southern as in the midland counties of England. Although the earliest known MS., 1 giving an account of the different towns of Devon, makes no mention of lace, we find from it that Mrs. Minifie, one of the earliest named lace-makers, was an Englishwoman. 2 Towards the latter end of the sixteenth century, various and, indeed, numerous patronymics of Flemish origin appear among the 1 Ker's " Synopsis," written about the 2 " She was a daughter of John Flay, year 1561. Two copies of this MS. exist, Vicar of Buckrell. near Honiton, who by one in the library of Sir Lawrence Palk, will, in 1614, bequeaths certain lands to at Halden House (Co. Devon), the other Jerom Minify (sic), son of Jerom Minify, in the British Museum. This MS. was of Burwash, Sussex, who married his only never printed, but served as an authority daughter." — Prince's Worthies of Devon, for Westcote and others. 1701. 2 a 2 356 BISTOBTZ OV LAOE. entries of the church registers still preserved at Honiton, 3 names all banded down to their descendants in the present generation, 4 and in these families the fabric has continued lor along Lapse of years. That the trade was already flourishing in the days of our first James, the oft cited brass Inscription, let into a raised tombstone near the wall of old Honiton church, fully testifies: — " Here lieth y'' Body of James Rodge, of Honiton, in y° County of Devonshire, Bone lace seller, who hath given unto the poor of Honiton P'ishe the benyfite of 100Z. for ever, who deceased y e ■_!7 July, A..D. 1()17, setatis sua? 50. Remember the Poore." If any credit may be attached to the folk-lore of the lace-making trade, this James Rodge 5 was a valet, who, escaping from Brussels, first brought over the secret of the finer stitches as used in the Flanders laces of that period, Having made his fortune at Honiton, he, in gratitude, bequeathed a sum of money to the poor of his adopted city. Westcote, too, who wrote about the year 1620, when noticing " Honitoun," says : — " Here is made abundance of bone lace, a pretty toy now greatly in request." 6 He does not speak of it as a new manufacture ; the trade had already taken root and flourished, for, including the above-mentioned Eodge, the three earliest bone- lace-makers of the seventeenth century on record all at their decease bequeathed sums of money for the benefit of their indigent townspeople, viz. Mrs. Minifie, 7 before mentioned, who died in 16 L7, and Thomas Humphrey of Honiton, laceman, who willed", in the year 1658, 201. towards the purchase of certain tenements, a notice of which benefaction is recorded on a painted board above the gallery in the old parish church. 3 Burd, Gencst, Raymunds, Brock, author by Mrs. Frank Aberdein, whose Couch, Gerard, Murck, Stocker, May- grandfather was for many years in the nard, Trump, Groot, &c. trade. Mrs. Treadwin, of Exeter, found 4 Up to a recent date, the Honiton an old lace-worker using a lace " Turn " lace-makers were mostly of Flemish for winding sticks, having the date 1678 origin. Mrs. Stocker, ob. 1769 ; Mr. J. rudely carved on the foot, showing how Stocker, -f 1783, and four daughters; the trade was continued in the same Mrs. Mary Stoi-ker, + 179- ; Mr. Gerard families from generation to generation. + 1799, and daughter; Mrs. LydiaMay- 5 Rodge, or Ridge, with all due defer- nard (of Anti-Gallican celebrity), + ence to Devonshire tradition, does not 1786; Mrs. Ann Brock, + 1815; Mrs. sound like a name of Flemish extraction. Elizabeth H-.imphrey, + 1790, whose (i '' View of Devon," T. Westcote. family had been in the lace manufacture 7 Her bequest is called ''Minifie's one hundred and fifty years and more. Gift." Tin"- above list has been furnished to the HONITON. 857 By this time English lace had advanced in public estimation. In the year 1660, a royal ordinance of France provided that a mark should be affixed to thread lace imported from England, as well as on that of Flanders ; and we have already told elsewhere 8 how the Earl of Leicester procures, through his countess, bone lace to a considerable amount, as a present to Queen Anne of Austria. Speaking of bone lace, writes Fuller in his " Worthies : " " Much of this is made in and about Honyton, and weekly returned to London Modern is the use thereof in England, and not exceeding the middle of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Let it not be condemned for a superfluous wearing because it doth neither hide, nor heat, seeing it doth adorn. Besides, though private persons pay for it, it stands the State in nothing ; not expensive of bullion like other lace, costing nothing save a little thread descanted on by art and industry. Hereby many children, who otherwise would be burthensome to the parish, prove beneficial to their parents. Yea, many lame in their limbs and impotent in their arms, if able in their fingers, gain a livelihood thereby ; not to say that it saveth some thousands of pounds yearly, formerly sent over seas to fetch lace from Flanders." Even in 1655, when the variety of points furnished matter for a letter from the members of the Baptist church assembled at Bridge water, the " Beleeven men," unwilling to injure so flourish- ing a commerce, merely censure " points and more laces than are required on garments," and these they desired might be proceeded against " with all sweetness and tenderness and long-suffering." 9 The conciliatory measures of the Puritans, maybe, affected the trade less than the doings of Lord Cambury and Lord Churchill's dragoons in the suppression of Monmouth's rebellion in 1680, by which time the lace-making art was carried on in many small country places in Devon. They pillaged the lace-makers right and left, and when quartered at Colyton, 10 these unruly soldiers 8 See p. 294. figures of Sir John and Lady Pole. 9 Church Book of the Baptist Chapel "Dame Elizabeth, daughter of Roger of Lyme Regis. How, merchant of London, ob. 1623," 10 Colyton and Ottery St. Mary were wears a splendid cape of three rows of "among the first. "Wherever the say or bone lace descending to the waist. Her serge f.ibric decayed, the lace tradeplanted c.tp is trimmed with the same material, itself. As this lace may be of Devonshire fabric, In the church of Colyton, under a fine we give a woodcut of the pattern canopied tomb, repose back to back, in (Fig. 136). most unsociable fashion, the recumbent Sundry Flemish names may still be 358 HISTORY OF LACK. broke into the bouse of one William Burd, a dealer in bone lace, and there stole merchandise to the amount of 325Z. 17s. 9c?. 11 '•The valuable manufactures of lace, for which the inhabitants of Devon have long been conspicuous, are extending now from Exmouth to Torbay," 12 writes Dei'oe in 1724. These must, how- ex er. have received a check as regards the export trade, for, says Savarv, who wrote about the same date: — "Depuis qu'on imite Les dentelles nominees point d'Angleterre en Flandre, Picardie et Champagne, on n'en tire plus de Londres pour la France." Great distress, too, is said to have existed among the Honiton lace-makers after the two great fires of 1756 and 17(57, which con- sumed a considerable part of their town. Three years previous to this calamity, among a number of premiums awarded by the Anti- Gallican Society 13 for the encouragement of our lace trade, the first prize of fifteen guineas is bestowed upon Mrs. Lydia Maynard, of Honiton, " in token of six pairs of ladies' lappets of unpre- cedented beauty, exhibited by her." About this time we read in Bowen's " Geography " 14 that at Honiton " the people are chiefly seeu above the shop-windoxvs of Colyton, Mnrch, Spiller, Rochett, Boatch, Kettel, similar to those of Honiton : Stocker, Woram, and others. Fig. 136. Monument of Lady Pole. + 1623. Colyton Church. 11 Don Manuel Gonzales mentions " bone lace " among the commodities of Devon. 12 The lace manufacture now extends along the coa.st, from the small watering- place of Seaton, by Beer, Branscombe, Salcombe, Sidmouth, and Oiler ton, to Exmouth, including the Vale of Honiton and the towns above mentioned. 13 1753. 14 " Complete System of Geography," Emanuel Bowen, 1747. This extract is repeated verbatim in " England's Gazetteer," by Philip Luck- ombe. London, 1790. HONITON. 359 employed in the manufactory of lace, the broadest sort that is made in England, of which great quantities are sent to London." " It acquired," says Lysons, " some years since, the name of Bath Brussels lace." To give a precise description of the earliest Devonshire lace would now be impossible. Though many heirlooms, carefully hoarded in the old Devonshire families, are supposed to be of native produce, the author has met with no specimen which can really be authenticated as of the old bone lace manufacture of the county. In Exeter Cathedral is the monument of Bishop Stafford. 15 His collar appears to be of a network, embroidered in patterns of graceful design (Fig. 137). Fi«\ 137. Monument of Bi&hop Stafford, Exeter Cathedral. In the same cathedral lies the recumbent effigy of Lady Doddridge, a member of the Bampfylde family, her cuffs and tucker adorned with geometric lace of simple pattern (Fig. 138). These, with the monument of Lady Pole, at Colyton, are the sole accredited examples, either in painting or sculpture, of lace-adorned figures that have come under the author's notice in the county. Honiton lace long preserved its Flemish character. Specimens Died 1398. ;wio HISTORY OF LACK. Fifif. 188. Monument of Lady Doddridge. + 1614. Exeter Cathedral. F'vz. 139. Ol'l Devonshire lace. HONITON 861 produced as the work of James Rodge, or his contemporaries, 5C 5 consist of large flowing guipure patterns, united by brides, and later worked in with the Brussels ground. 362 11IST0HY OF LACE. The Flemish character of Fig. 139 is unmistakable ; the design of the flower vase being that of Angleterre a bride. If really of English make, we should place its fabrication at the beginning of the last century, for it was long before the Devonshire lace-makers could rival in beauty the "cordonnet" of the Flemish workers. Fig. 140 is an example of the pattern worked into the reseau ground, the favourite design of the butterfly and the acorn, already familiar to us in the old point d' Angleterre of Fig. 52 (p. 99), and in the smock of Queen Elizabeth (Fig. 101), p. 27^). It is to its sprigs that Honitonowes its great reputation. Like the Brussels, they were made separately. At first they were worked in with the pillow, afterwards " applique " or sewn on a reseau ground. Fiff. 141. Old Honiton application. The pattern in Fig. 141 is sewn on the plain pillow ground, the making of which formed an extensive branch of the Honiton trade in the last century. This net was very beautiful and regular, but very expensive. It was made of the finest thread produced from Antwerp, the market price of which, in 1790, was 70Z. per pound ; 16 and an old lace-maker told the author her father had, during the war, paid a hundred guineas a pound to the smugglers for this highly prized and then almost unattainable commodity. Nor were the lace-worker's gains less remunerative. She would receive as much as eighteen shillings a yard for the work- 16 Mrs. Aberdein, of Honiton, informs us her father has often paid ninety-live guineas per pound for the thread at Antwerp. HONITON. 363 manship alone of a piece of this elaborate net, measuring scarce 2 inches in width ; 17 and one of the old lace-dealers showed Mrs. Tread win, some years since, a piece of ground, 18 inches square, for the making of which she had paid 15/., shortly before the establishment of the machine-net manufacture. 18 The price of the lace was proportionably high. A Honiton veil would often cost a hundred guineas. The invention of Heathcoat 19 dealt a fatal blow to the Honiton net-makers. A hopeless struggle ensued between manual labour and the results of science : human industry yielded to the pressure. Young women, in large numbers, forsook the pillow and went to service, and but few children were trained to succeed them. The lappet (Coloured Plate VI. p. 101) has been shown to the author, purchased from a Devonshire gentlewoman in reduced circumstances, to whose great-grandmother it had belonged, which she at once pronounced to be Brussels needle point; but it has been shown to four different lace-makers, who all recognise the open-work or " finishings " peculiar to the Honiton fabric, and claim it as English ; but it is of such decidedly Brussels character we have placed it under that head, with this explanation. To return to our history. For twenty years the lace trade suffered the greatest depression, 20 and the Honiton lace-workers, forsaking the designs of their forefathers, introduced a most hideous set of patterns, designed, as they said, " out of their own heads." " Turkey tails," " frying-pans," " bullocks' hearts," and the most senseless sprigs and borderings took the place of the graceful compositions of the old school ; not a leaf, not a flower, was copied from nature. Anxious to introduce a purer taste, Queen Adelaide, 17 The manner of payment was some- of this veil, though perfect in its workman- what Phoenician, reminding one of Queen ship, is of a much wider mesh than was Dido and her bargain. The lace ground made in the last days of the fabric. It was spread out on the counter, and the was the property of Mrs. Chick, worker herself desired to cover it with 18 The last specimen of " real " ground shillings ; and as many coins as found made in Devon was the marriage veil of place on her work, she carried away as the late Mrs. Mar wood Tucker, about the fruit of her labour. The author once forty years since. It was with the greatest calculated the cost, after this fashion, of difficulty workers could be procured to a small lace veil on real ground, said to make it. The price paid for the ground be one of the first ever fabricated : it was alone was 30 guineas. 19 1839. 12 inches wide and 30 long, and, making 20 In 1822, Lysons remarks that " some allowance for the shrinking caused by years ago the manufacture of Honiton em- washing, the value amounted to 201., ployed 2400 hands in the town and which proved to be exactly the sum neighbouring villages. They do not now originally paid for the veil. The ground employ 300." ;;«>! HISTORY OF LACK. to whom a petition had boon Bent on behalf of the distressed lace- makers, gave the order for a dross to bo made of Iloniton sprigs sown on machine not, and commanded that the flowers should all be copied from nature. The order was executed by Mrs. Davey, of Iloniton ; the skirl was encircled with a wreath of elegantly designed sprigs, tin 4 initial of each flower forming the name of her majesty. 21 The example of the amiable queen found few followers; and when, in the progress of time, the wedding laee was required for Inn- present majesty, it was Avith difficulty the nceessary number of workers could be obtained to make it. The work was executed in the small fishing hamlet of Beer, 22 and its environs. The dress cost 1000/. ; it was composed entirely of Honiton sprigs, connected on the pillow by a variety of open-work stitches. The bridal dresses of their royal highnesses the Princess Royal, the Princess Alice, and the Princess of Wales, were all of Honiton lace, the patterns consisted of the national flowers, the latter with prince's feathers, intermixed with ferns, and introduced with the most happy effect. The application of Honiton sprigs upon bobbin-net has been of late years almost entirely superseded by the modern guipure (Coloured Plate XVI.). The sprigs, when made, are tacked upon a piece of blue paper, and then united either on the pillow by " cut- works " or " purlings," or else joined with the needle by various stitches — lacet point, reseau, outwork, and button-hole stitch (the most effective of all) ; purling is made by the yard. The Honiton guipure has an original character almost unique. The large pieces surpass in richness and perfection the point duchesse of Belgium. The reliefs are embroidered with the greatest delicacy? and the beauty of the workmanship is exquisite ; and whereas the guipure applications of Belgium require to be whitened with lead, the Honiton workers give up their lace in all its original brilliancy and whiteness. 23 The fault in the Honiton lace has been its crowded and spiritless designs. The author's brother took much pains, during a residence at Sidrnouth, to procure for the lace-makers new patterns of flowers, Branscombe, have always been considered the best in the trade. 23 "Exposition Universelle de 1807; Rapport du Jury International, ' Den- ■ The workers of Beer, Axmouth, and telles,' par Felix Aubry." 21 Amaranth. Auricula. Daphne. JVY. Eglantine. Dahlia. ZlLAC. 2?glantine Plate XVI. Honitou guipure. To face page 364. HONITON. 363 insects, and other natural objects. The younger members of the community accepted with gratitude these new patterns, and one even reproduced a piece of a collar from Yecellio's book, in a manner most creditable to her ingenuity. In consequence of this movement, some gentlemen connected with the Bath and West of Fig. H2. Honeysuckle sprig of modern Honiton. England Society 24 proposed that an exhibition should take place at the annual agricultural show, held at Clifton, of Honiton lace, " designs strictly after nature. " Prizes to the amount of 1007. were given. Her Majesty the Queen expressed a desire that the articles exhibited should be sent to Windsor for her inspection, and graciously commanded that two flounces, with a corresponding length of trimming lace, after a design by Miss Cecilia Marryat, 24 For the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. Fisr, US. Lnppet made by Mrs. Treadwin, of Exeter. 1864. DEVONSHIRE. 367 should be made for her. The order was given to Mrs. Hay- man, of Sidmouth. Fig. 142 is one of the honeysuckle sprigs selected. The Honiton lace-makers show great aptitude in imitating the Brussels designs, and, through the skill and perseverance of Mrs. Tread win, have succeeded in reproducing the ancient laces in the most wonderful manner. Fig. 143 is a lappet in the Brussels style, and in the International Exhibition of 1874 Mrs. Treadwin 25 produced admirable specimens after the pillow-made lace of Genoa and Flanders, and also a most successful reproduction (Fig. 144) of the Venetian point in relief, thus opening to the lace-workers a new branch of industry, which will probably prove more remunerative than their own guipures. Much trolly 26 lace was made in Devonshire until thirty years back. Trolly lace, before its downfall, has been sold at live guineas the yard. 27 Unlike the Honiton, it was made of English thread, at first of a coarse quality ; the ground generally double, similar to that of the Flanders laces, from which country it doubtless derives its name. Trolly lace was not the work of women alone. In the flourish- ing days of its manufacture, every boy, until he had attained the age of fifteen, and was competent to work in the fields, attended the lace schools daily. A lace-maker of Sidmouth, now verging on forty-five, learned her craft at the village dame school, 28 in company with many boys. The men, especially the sailor returned from sea, would again resume the employment of their boyhood, in their hours of leisure, and the labourer, seated at his pillow on a summer's evening, would add to his weekly gains. Mrs. Treadwin recollects in her younger days some twenty-four men lace-makers in her native village of Woodbury, one of whom worked at his pillow so late as 1820. The writer's brother succeeded in finding out a man of sixty, dwelling in Salcombe parish, near Sidmouth, who had, in his day, been a lace-maker of some reputation. " I have made hundreds of yards in my time," he said, " both wide and narrow, but never 23 " Honiton Lace," by Mrs. Treadwin. The firmness and precision of the work London, 1874. " Honiton Lace-making," is most remarkable, aid of exceptional by Devonia. London, 1874. beauty. 26 We have this year seen at Paris 2: See p. 342. Mrs. Delany, in one ot the needle-made laces of Mademoiselle her leiters, dated 175f>, speaks of a Dngrenot, the best reproductions of the " trolly head." Ital'an reticella that have been executed. 2S Of Ollerton. BISTORT OF LACE, Fisr. 144. Venetian x>oint in relief, reproduced by Mrs. Treadwin. DEVONSHIRE. 369 worked regularly at my pillow after sixteen years of age." Delighted to exhibit the craft of his boyhood, he hunted out his patterns, and, setting to work, produced a piece of trolly edging, which soon found a place in the albums of sundry lace-collecting ladies, the last specimen of man-worked lace likely to be fabricated in the county of Devon. In Woodbury will be found a small colony of lace-makers who are employed in making Maltese or Greek lace, an industry intro- duced into Devon by order of her late majesty the queen dowager, on her return from Malta. The workers copy these coarse geo- metric laces with great facility and precision. Among the various cheap articles to which the Devonshire workers have of late directed their labours is the tape or braid lace. A good lace-maker easily gains her shilling a day, but in most parts of Devonshire the work is paid by the truck system ; many of the more respectable shops giving one half in money, the remaining sixpence to be taken out in tea or clothing, sold often considerably above their value. Other manufacturers — to their shame be it told — pay their workers altogether in grocery, and should the lace-maker, from illness or any other cause, require an advance in cash, she is compelled to give work to the value of fourteenpence for every shilling she receives. Some few houses, such as that of Mrs. Treadwin, of Exeter, and others of London, pay their workers in money. When we consider that well-nigh the whole female population of Devon is employed in lace-making, it is a matter of surprise that its staple manufacture should receive but little encourage- ment from the resident gentry of the county, and that (so different from the energy of the ladies of Ireland) not one should have been found to improve by her taste the artistic combination of the fabric. But the air is soft and balmy, and the inhabitants an apathetic generation, alone to be roused by famine, or some like calamity, from the natural somnolence of their existence. ' 2 B 370 HISTORY OF LAOE. CB AFTER XXXIII. SCOTLAND. l _ HISTORY OF LACK, •• mawsch," or " masch," as the pinking of silk and muslin istermed in Scotland, an advertisement of which accomplishment " done here " may frequently be seen in the shop-windows of the old town of Edinburgh. In flu 4 palace of Holyrbod is si ill exhibited a small basket lined with bine silk, and trimmed with a bone lace of rudely spun flax, run on with a ribbon of the same colour, recorded to be an offering sent by Queen Elizabeth to her cousin previous to the birth of her godchild. Antiquaries assert the story to be a fable. Whether the lace be of the time or not, as a work of art it is of no credit to any country. How Queen Mary, in her youth, was instructed in the arts of point coupe and lacis, according to the works of Vinciolo, has been already related. 10 Of her talents as a needlewoman there is ample proof in the numerous beds, screens, &c, treasured as relics in the houses of the nobles where she was held captive. She knitted head-dresses of gold " reseille," with cuffs and collars u en suite, 12 to say nothing of nightcaps, and sent them as presents to Eliza- beth, 13 all of which, we are told, the queen received most gra- ciously. Mary, in her early portraits as daupnine of France, wears no thread lace. Much fine gold embroidered with passa- ment enriches her dresses ; her sleeves are of gold reseuil. In those of a later date, like that taken when in Lochleven Castle, her veil is bordered with a narrow bone lace — as yet a rarity ; may be one of the same noted in the inventory of 1578, as " Fyve litell vaills of wovin rasour (reseau) of threde, ane meekle twa of thame, passmentit with perle and black silk." 14 10 Page 7. some such matter discovered, which was 11 Her lace ruffs Mary appears to have the cause why I did the more willingly had from France, as we may infer from a grant the passport." letter written by Walsingham, at Paris, 12 In 1575. to Burleigh, when the queen was captive 13 There wns some demur about receiv- at Sheffield Castle, 1578 : " I have of late irjg the nightcaps, for Elizabeth declared granted a passport to one that conveyeth " that great commotions had taken place a box of linen to the queen of Scots, who in the Privy Council, because she had leaveth not this town for three or four accepted the gifts of the Queen of Scots, days. I think your Lordship shall see They therefore remained for sometime in somewhat written on some of the linen the hands of La Mothe, the ambassador, contained in the same, that shall be worth but were finally accepted." — Miss Strick- the reading. Her Majesty, under colour land. of seeing the fashion of the ruffes, may 14 " Inventaire of our Soveraine Lord cause the several parcels of the linen to and his dearest moder, 1578." Record be held to the fire, whereby the writing Office, Edinburgh, may appear; for I judge there will be SCOTLAND. 373 When the Queen of Scots ascended the scaffold, " she wore on her head," writes Burleigh's reporter, " a dressing of lawn edged with bone lace," and "a vest of lawn fastened to her caul," edged with the same material. This lace-edged veil was long preserved as a relic in the exiled Stuart family, until Cardinal York be- queathed it to Sir John Cox Hippisley. Miss Pigott 15 de- scribes it of " transparent zephyr gauze, with a light check or plaid pattern interwoven with gold ; the form as that of a long scarf." 16 Sir John, when exhibiting the veil at Baden, had the indiscretion to throw it over the Queen of Bavaria's head. The queen shuddered at the omen, threw off the veil, and retired precipitately from the apartment, evidently in great alarm. " Cuttit out werk," collars of " hollie crisp," " quaiffs of woven thread," 17 " cornettes of layn (linen) sewit with cuttit out werk of gold,""wovin collars of threde," follow in quick succession. The " cuttit out werk " is mostly wrought in gold, silver, cramoisi, or black silk. 18 The queen's " to well claiths " are adorned in similar manner. 19 The Chartley Inventory of 1568 20 is rich in works of point coupe and reseuil, in which are portrayed with the needle figures of birds, fishes, beasts, and flowers, "couppes chascune en son carre." The queen exercised much ingenuity in her labours, vary- ing the pattern according to her taste. In the list are noted fifty- two specimens of flowers designed after nature, "tires au naturel ;" 124 birds ; as well as sixteen sorts of four-footed beasts, " entre 15 "Records of Life," by Miss H. Pigott. 18 " Ane rabbat of cuttit out weik aud 1839. gold and cramoisie silk with the handis 16 Similar to the New Year's gift of (cuffs) thereof. the Baroness Aletti to Queen Eliza- " Ane rabbat of cuttit out werk of gold beth : — and black silk. "A veil of lawn cutwork flourished "Ane rabbat of cuttit out werk with with silver and divers colours." — Nichols' purpure silk with the handis of the Royal Progresses. same." — Ibid. 17 " Twa quaiffs ane of layn and uther 19 " Twa towell claiths of holane claith of woving thread. sewitt with cuttit out werk and gold. " Ane quaiff of layn with twa cornettes " Four napkinnes of holane claith and sewitt with cuttit out werk of gold and cammaraye sewitt with cuttit out werk silver. of gold and silver and divers cullours of " Twa pair of cornettes of layn sewitt silk." — Ibid. with cuttit out werk of gold. 20 Published by Prince Labanoff. " Ane wovin collar of thread passe- " Recueil de Lettres de Marie Stuart," mentit with incarnit and blew silk and t. vii. p. 247. silver." — Iiiv. of 1578. 374 HISTORY OF LACK. lesquelles y ha unlyon assailant unsanglier ;" with fifty-two fishes, all of divers sorts —giving good proofs of the poor prisoner's industry. As to the designs alter nature, with all respect to the memory of Queen Mary, the lions, cocks, and fishes of the six- teenth century which have come under our notice require a student