Called by the people of the Riviera, filo del baccalà di Castellaro. Aloe fibre was formerly used for thread (Letter of Sig. C. G. Schiappapietra). It is also styled filo di freta in the Venetian sumptuary ordinances.
The Author has to express her grateful thanks to Signore Don Tommaso Torteroli, librarian to the city of Savona, and the author of an interesting pamphlet (Storia dei Merletti di Genova lavorati in Albissola, Sinigaglia, 1863), for specimens of the ancient laces of Albissola, and many other valuable communications.
A word of Arabic derivation, used for denoting a fringe for trimming, whether cotton, thread, or silk.
This custom of ornamenting the ends of the threads of linen was from the earliest times common, and is still occasionally met with both in the north and south of Europe. "At Bayonne they make the finest of linen, some of which is made open like network, and the thread is finer than hair" (Ingenious and Diverting Letters of a Lady's Travels in Spain, London, 1679).
There is a painting of the "Last Supper" at Hampton Court Palace, by Sebastian Ricci, in which the tablecloth is edged with cut-work; and in the great picture in the Louvre, by Paul Veronese, of the supper at the house of Simon the Canaanite, the ends of the tablecloth are likewise fringed and braided like the macramé.
Lace Schools in Italy.—At Coccolia, near Ravenna, Countess Pasolini founded a school on her property to teach and employ the peasant women and copy antique designs. Another more recently established school near Udine, in the province of Friuli, is under the direction of the Contessa di Brazza. Among charitable institutions which interest themselves in the lace industry are the Industrial School of SS. Ecce Homo at Naples, and San Ramiri at Pisa, which was originally founded by the Grand Dukes of Tuscany in the middle of the eighteenth century to teach weaving. This industry, and that of straw-plaiting, met with no success, and the school gradually developed into an industrial school in the modern sense. There are many schools on the same system in Florence, and one (San Pelegrino) at Bologna. At Sassari, in Sardinia, the deaf and dumb children in the great institution of the "Figlie di Maria" are taught to make net lace. Torchon and Brussels pillow lace is worked under the direction of the Sisters of Providence in the women's prison at Perugia.
Laborde, Glossaire. Paris, 1853.
Statute 2 Hen. VI., c. x., 1423.
Taglienti (1530) among his punti gives Ciprioto (an embroidery stitch).
Description de Raguse (Bib. Nat. MSS., F.Fr. 10,772).
Points de Raguse—first mentioned in an Edict of January, 1654, by which the king raises for his own profit one quarter of the value of the "passems, dentelles, points coupez de Flandres, pointinars, points de Venise, de Raguse, de Gênes," etc. (Recueil des Lois Françaises). Again, the Ordinance of August, 1665, establishes the points de France, "en la manière des points qui se font à Venise, Gênes, Raguse, et autres pays étrangers," recited in the Arrêt of Oct. 12th, 1666.—De Lamare, Traité de la Police.
See Venice.
In 1661.
See head of chapter.
In 1667.
See Appendix.
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Collections of Lace in the Victoria and Albert Museum, by the late Mrs. Bury Palliser. Third edition, revised and enlarged by A. S. Cole.
Edinburgh Advertiser, 1764.
There is no corroboration of Mrs. Palliser's statement above that lace was ever made in Malta; if so, it would have been of the Genoese geometrical kind, of which Lady Hamilton Chichester adapted the designs and evolved what is now known as Maltese lace by the aid of workers imported from Genoa. The Maltese cross has been introduced into the designs as a distinguishing mark.
"A lace of similar character (Maltese) has also been made successfully in the missionary schools at Madras" (Mrs. Palliser).
Lefébure, Embroidery and Lace.
In the Philippine Islands the natives work Manilla grass into a sort of drawn thread-work or tatting.
1756. Point d'Espagne hats.—Connoisseur.
Beckmann, in his History of Inventions, says that "It was a fashion to give the name of Spanish to all kinds of novelties, such as Spanish flies, Spanish wax, Spanish green, Spanish grass, Spanish seed, and others."
A. S. Cole. "Cantor Lectures on the Art of Lace-Making."
Livre Nouveau de Patrons and Fleurs des Patrons give various stitches to be executed "en fil d'or, d'argent, de soie, et d'autres." Both printed at Lyons. The first has no date; the second, 1549. Le Pompe, Venezia, 1559, has "diversi sorti di mostre per poter far, d'oro, di sete, di filo," etc.
"Not many years since, a family at Cadiz, of Jewish extraction, still enjoyed the monopoly of manufacturing gold and silver lace."—Letter from Spain, 1863. Merletto Polichrome, or parti-coloured lace, was also invented and perfected by the Jews, and was made in silk of various colours, representing fruit and flowers. This industry has been revived in Venice, and carried to great perfection.
Senor J. F. Riano. The Industrial Arts in Spain.—"Lace."
"Spain has 8,932 convents, containing 94,000 nuns and monks."—Townsend, J., Journey Through Spain in the Years 1786 and 1787.
The aloe thread is now used in Florence for sewing the straw-plait.
Barcelona, 1892, page 225, quoted by Signor J. F. Riano. Date of book 1592.
A. S. Cole, Ancient Needle-point and Pillow-Lace.
This ordinance even extended to foreign courts. We read in the Mercure Galant, 1679, of the Spanish ambassadress, "Elle etoit vestue de drap noir avec de la dentelle de soye; elle n'avait ni dentelle ni linge autour de sa gorge."
Mercure François.
They have also provided—
| "14 ruffs & 14 pairs of cuffs laced, at 20s. | £14 |
| For lacing 8 hats for the footmen with silver parchment lace, at 3s. | £1 4s." |
Extraordinary Expenses of his Highness to Spain, 1623. P. R. O.
Doctor Monçada, in 1660, and Osorio, in 1686, reckoned more than three millions of Spaniards who, though well dressed, wore no shirts.—Townsend's Spain.
Speaking of the apartment of Madame d'Aranda, Beckford writes: "Her bed was of the richest blue velvet, trimmed with point lace."
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 Cervantes' day. "Sanchica," writes Theresa Pança to her husband, the newly-appointed Governor of Baratava, "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 réseuil—"ouvrage de lacis ou réseuil."—Oudin. Trésor des Deux Langues Fr. et Esp. (1660).
As early as the Great Wardrobe Account of Queen Elizabeth, 1587, P. R. O., we have a charge for bobbin lace of Spanish silk, "cum uñ tag," for the mantle, 10s. 8d.
In a letter from Prestwick Eaton to Geo. Willingham, 1631, the writer sends 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, Car. I., P. R. O.
1697. Marriage of Mademoiselle and the King of Spain. The Queen, says the Mercure, wore "une mante de point d'Espagne d'or, neuf aunes de long." 1698. Fête at Versailles on the marriage of the Duc de Bourgogne. "La Duchesse de Bourgogne pourtoit un petit tablier de point d'Espagne de mille pistoles."—Galérie de l'ancienne Cour; ou Mém. des Règnes 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'Espagne, avec des nœuds d'épaule, et tout l'ajustement à proportion. Les moindres etaient de velours, avec des points d'Espagne d'or et d'argent."—Journal de Barbier, 1718-62.
1722. "J'ai vu en même 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 à ramage de points d'Espagne d'or."—Ibid.
1731. Speaking of her wedding-dress, Wilhelmina of Bayreuth, the witty sister of Frederick the Great, writes: "Ma robe étoit d'une étoffe d'or fort riche, avec un point d'Espagne d'or, et ma queue étoit de douze aunes de long."—Mémoires.
1751. Fête at Versailles on the birth of the Duc de Bourgogne. The coats of the "gens de cour, en étoffes d'or de grand prix ou en velours de tout couleurs, brodés d'or, ou garnis de point d'Espagne d'or."—Journal de Barbier.
Fenix de Cataluña, compendio desus Antiguas Grandezas y Medio para Renovarlas, Barcelona, 1683, p. 75.
In the reign of William and Mary, we find, in a lace-man'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, 1719, 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 Courant.
In 1740, the Countess of Pomfret, speaking of the Princess Mary's wedding clothes, writes: "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.
Marquis de la Gombardière, 1634, Nouveau Réglement Général des Finances, etc.
"Eighty children and grandchildren attended his funeral in defiance of the Edict of 19th Sept., 1664, and were heavily fined."—La France Protestante, par M. M. Haag. Paris, 1846-59.
Garderobe de S. A. S. Mgr. le Duc de Penthièvre. Arch. Nat. K. K. 390-1.
Lord Verulam on the treaty of commerce with the Emperor Maximilian.
Gentleman's Magazine, 1745.
Peyron, 1789.
Madrid, 1775.
Itinéraire de l'Espagne, Comte Alph. de Laborde, t. v.
Peuchet (Dictionnaire Universel de la Géographie Commerçante, An. vii. = 1799), speaking of Barcelona, says their laces are "façon de France," but inferior in beauty and quality. The fabrication is considerable, employing 2,000 women in the towns and villages east of Barcelona. They are sold in Castile, Andalusia, and principally in the Indies.
Madrid, 1788. Vol. ii, p. 149.
Ibid. Vol. xvii., p. 294.
"The manufacture of silk lace or blonde in Almagro occupies from 12,000 to 13,000 people" (Mrs. Palliser, 1869). Modern torchon laces are still made at Almagro to a very large extent (1901).
Madrid, 1788.
Madrid, 1797.
Senor Juan F. Riano, The Industrial Arts in Spain, "Lace" (London, 1879).
Theory of Commerce, from the Spanish of Don. Ger. de Ustariz (Lond., 1751).
When the holidays of the Roman Catholic church are deducted, the work-days of the people amount only to 260 in the course of the year—fifty less than in a Protestant country.
Ford, Handbook of Spain.
1869.
"Now there are only two kinds of lace made in Spain; 'encaje de blonda,' mantillas, scarves, lace-ties, etc., in white and black; these are manufactured in Barcelona, on long pillows stuffed with long straw quite hard, covered with yellow or light blue linen. The lace is worked on a cardboard pattern, and with 'fuseaux' like the French torchon lace, the only difference being that the pillow is long and narrow and without the revolving cylinder in the centre, so that when making a long piece, or lace by the yard, the pins have to be taken out when you get to the bottom of the pillow, and the work removed to the top and continued. The mantillas, etc., are worked by pieces; that is to say, the border, flowers, and large designs, and are afterwards joined by the veil stitch.
"The second is 'encaje de Almagro'—little children of six and seven years old are taught to make it."—Letter from Spain, 1901.
"On met de la dentelle brodée de couleur de points d'Espagne aux jupes"—Mercure Galant.
Recherches sur le Commerce, la Fabrication et l'Usage des Etoffes de Soie, etc., pendant le Moyen Age. Paris, 1839.
Taglienti, Venice, 1530.
Paris, 1546.
Pelegrin de Florence, Paris, 1530.
Magazin de Londres, 1749.
Mademoiselle Dumont, foundress of the point de France fabric, in the Rue St. Denis, quitted Paris after some years and retired to Portugal: whether she there introduced her art is more than the author can affirm.
It was probably a variety of point de Venise. A few years ago a specimen of point plat was exhibited in London with a Portuguese inscription and designs of figures in costumes of circ. 1600.
See Plate IX.
The bobbins from Peniche, one of the few places in Portugal where pillow-lace is still made, are remarkably pretty. They are of ivory, agreeably mellowed by time and constant handling, and their slender tapering shafts and bulbous ends are decorated simply but tastefully with soft-tinted staining. In size they are small, measuring from three and a quarter to three and a half inches long, and these proportions are extremely good. Another variety of Peniche bobbin is made of dark brown, boldly-grained wood. The lace-makers work on a long cylindrical cushion—the almofada—fastened to a high, basket-work stand, light enough to be easily moved from place to place.—R. E. Head, "Some Notes on Lace-Bobbins," The Reliquary, July, 1900.
The Queen, August, 1872.
"The places in Portugal where the lace industry is chiefly exercised are Peniche, Vianna do Castello, Setubal, a village in Algarve called Faro, and at the present time Lisbon, where, under the help and patronage of H. M. the Queen, a lace dépot has been instituted, in which I have worked for ten years, seeking to raise the Portuguese lace industry to an art. The designs being entirely my own original ones, I am trying to give them a character in unison with the general idea of the architecture throughout the country. I obtained gold medals for my work at the Exhibitions of 1894 at Antwerp and 1900 at Paris, besides others at Lisbon."—Letter from Dona Maria Bordallo Pinheiro, head of the Lace Industry Department at Lisbon, 1901.
"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" (1869).
Those in the collegiate church of St. Peter's, at Louvain, and in the church of St. Gomar, at Lierre (Antwerp Prov.).—Aubry.
Baron Reiffenberg, in Mémoires de l'Académie de Bruxelles. 1820.
Engraved by Collaert. Bib. Nat. Grav.
Louvain dans le passé et dans le présent, formation de la ville, événements memorables, territoire, topographie, institutions, monuments, œuvres d'art, page 330, by Edward van Even, published 1895.
M. de Barante.
It goes on: "For the maiden, seated at her work, plies her fingers rapidly, and flashes the smooth balls and thousand 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; and in this her amusement makes as much profit as the man earns by the sweat of his brow; and no maiden ever complains at even of the length of the day. The issue is a fine web, open to the air with many an aperture, which feeds the pride of the whole globe; which encircles with its fine border cloaks and tuckers, and shows grandly round the throats and hands of kings; and, what is more surprising, this web is of the lightness of a feather, which in its price is too heavy for our purses. Go, ye men, inflamed with the desire of the Golden Fleece, endure so many dangers by land, so many at sea, whilst the woman, remaining in her Brabantine home, prepares Phrygian fleeces by peaceful assiduity."—Jacobi Eyckii Antwerpiensis Urbium Belgicarum Centuria. Antw. 1651. 1 vol., 4to. Bib. Royale, Brussels.
Alençon excepted.
It is said to destroy the eyesight. "I was told by a gentleman well acquainted with Flanders," says McPherson, "that they were generally almost blind before thirty years of age."—History of Commerce, 1785.
Together with the cap is preserved a parchment with this inscription: "Gorro que perteneccio à Carlos Quinto, emperad. Guarda lo, hijo mio, es memoria de Juhan de Garnica." ("Cap which belonged to the Emperor Charles V. Keep it, my son, in remembrance of John de Garnica"). J. de Garnica was treasurer to Philip II.
Séguin, however, is of opinion that this cap belonged to one of Charles V.'s successors:—
"Ce bonnet ... a dû appartenir très certainement à un de ses successeurs (of Charles V.), à cause que ce bonnet se trouve coupé et encadré par un petit entre-deux de guipure au fuseau, façon point de Gênes, qui ne pouvait pas avoir été fait du temps de Charles Quint."—Séguin, La Dentelle.
Married, 1599, Albert, Archduke of Austria.
By Andrew Yarranton, Gent. London, 1677. A proposal to erect schools for teaching and improving the linen manufacture as they do "in Flanders and Holland, where little girls from six years old upwards learn to employ their fingers." Hadrianus Junius, a most learned 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.
An old term, still used in Scotland, for gossip, chatter.
These dogs were of large size, and able to carry from 22 to 26 lbs. They also conveyed tobacco. The Swiss dogs smuggle watches.
Black lace was also imported at this period from the Low Countries. Among the articles advertised as lost, in the Newsman of May 26th, 1664, is, "A black lute-string gown with a black Flanders lace."
Mercure Galant. 1678.
"Le corsage et les manches étaient bordés d'une blanche et légère dentelle, sortie à coup sûr des meilleures manufactures d'Angleterre."
We have, however, one entry in the Wardrobe Accounts of the Duc de Penthièvre: "1738. Onze aunes d'Angleterre de Flandre."
Mercure Galant. 1678.
"Deux paires de manchettes et une cravatte de point d'Angleterre."—Inventaire d'Anne d'Escoubleau, Baronne de Sourdis, veuve de François de Simiane. Arch. Nat. M. M. 802.
Inv. après le decès de Mgr. Mich. Philippine de la Vrillière, Patriarche, Archevêque de Bourges, 1694. Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 11,426.
"Une toilette et sa touaille avec un peignoir de point d'Angleterre."—Inv. de decès de Mademoiselle de Charollais. 1758. Arch. Nat.
Mrs. Calderwood's Journey through Holland and Belgium, 1756. Printed by the Maitland Club.
Flax is also cultivated solely for lace and cambric thread at St. Nicholas, Tournay, and Courtrai. The process of steeping (rouissage) principally takes place at Courtrai, the clearness of the waters of the Lys rendering them peculiarly fitted for the purpose. Savary states that fine thread was first spun at Mechlin.
It is often sold at £240 per lb., and in the Report of the French Exhibition of 1859 it is mentioned as high as £500 (25,000fr. the kilogramme). No wonder that so much thread is made by machinery, and that Scotch cotton thread is so generally used, except for the choicest laces. But machine-made thread has never attained the fineness of that made by hand. Of those in the Exhibition of 1862, the finest Lille was 800 leas (a technical term for a reel of 300 yards), the Brussels 600, the Manchester 700; whereas in Westphalia and Belgium hand-spun threads as fine as 800 to 1000 are spun for costly laces. The writer has seen specimens, in the Museum at Lille, equal to 1200 of machinery; but this industry is so poorly remunerated, that the number of skilful hand-spinners is fast diminishing.
Dictionnaire du Citoyen. 1761.
Comptes de Madame du Barry. Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 8157 and 8.
"Trois aubes de batiste garnies de grande dentelle de gros point d'Angleterre."—Inv. des Meubles, etc., de Louis, Duc d'Orléans, decedé 4 fev. 1752. (Son of the Regent.) Arch. Nat. X. 10,075.
"Deux aubes de point d'Angleterre servant à Messieurs les curez.
"Une autre aube à dentelle de gros point servant aussy à M. le curé."—Inventaire et Description de l'Argenterie, Vermeil Doré, Ornemens, Linge, etc., appartenant à l'Œuvre et Fabrique de l'église Saint-Merry à Paris. 1714. Arch. Nat. L.L. 859.
"Une coëffure à une pièce d'Angleterre bride et réseau."—Comptes de Madame du Barry.
"1 aune et quart d'Angleterre mêlé."—Ibid.
Mrs. Delany writes ("Corr.," vol. 2): The laces "I have pitched on for you are charming; it is grounded Brussels."
"Deux tours de gorge à raiseau, un tour de camisolle à bride."—1720. Inv. de la Duchesse de Bourbon. Arch. Nat. X. 10,062-4.
"Six peignoirs de toille fine garnis par en haut d'une vielle dentelle d'Angleterre à raiseau."—Inv. de decès de Monsieur Philippe petit fils de France, Duc d'Orléans, Regent du Royaume, decedé 2 décembre, 1723. Arch. Nat. X. 10,067.
The "fond écaillé" often occurs.
"Une coëffure à une pièce de point à l'écaille;
"Une paire de manchettes de cour de point à raizeau, et deux devants de corps de point à brides à écailles."—1761. Inv. de la Duchesse de Modène. Arch. Nat. X. 10,082.
"Deux barbes, rayon, et fond d'Angleterre superfin fond écaillé."—Comptes de Madame du Barry. See her Angleterre, Chap. XI. note 26.
To which machinery has added a third, the tulle or Brussels net.
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.
"Trois oreillers, l'un de toille blanche picquée garnis autour de chacun d'un point plat."—Inv. de la Duchesse de Modène.
Tableau de Paris, par S. Mercier. Amsterdam, 1782.
"Fashion." J. Warton.
Brussels lace-makers divide the plat into three parts, the "mat," the close part answering to the French toilé (Chapter III.); gaze au fuseau, in which small interstices appear, French grillé, and the jours, or open work.
The veil presented by the city of Brussels to the Empress Josephine was sold in 1816 by Eugene Beauharnais to Lady Jane Hamilton. It is described to have been of such ample dimensions that, when placed on Lady Jane's head—who was upwards of six feet high—it trained on the ground. The texture of the réseau was exquisitely fine. In each corner was the imperial crown and cypher, encircled with wreaths of flowers. This chef d'œuvre passed into the possession of Lady Jane's daughter, the Duchesse de Coigny.
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 réseau mélangé (point and plat), 12 metres long by 35 centimetres wide (13¼ yards by 14 inches)—
| Fr | . | |
| Cost of the plat | 1,885 | .75 |
| Needle-point | 5,000 | |
| Open-work, jours (fonnage) | 390 | |
| Appliqué (stricage) | 800 | |
| Ground (réseau) | 2,782 | |
| Footing (engrêlure) | 1 | .27 |
| Total | 10,859 | .02 |
| = £434 7 6 | ||
Equals £36 3s. 9d. the metre, and the selling price would be about £50 16s., which would make the flounces amount to £609 12s.
"Une paire de manchettes de dentelle de Malines brodée."
"Quatre bonnets de nuit garnis de Malines brodée."—Inv. de decès de Mademoiselle de Charollais. 1758.
Inv. de la Duchesse de Bourbon. 1720.
"1704. Deux fichus garnis de dentelle de Malines à bride ou rézeau.
"Une cravatte avec les manchettes de point de Malines à bride.
"Deux autres cravattes de dentelle de Malines à rézeau et trois paires de manchettes de pareille dentelle."—Inv. de Franç. Phelypeaux Loisel. Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 11,459.
Inv. de decès de Madame Anne, Palatine de Bavière, Princesse de Condé. 1723. Arch. de Nat. X. 10,065.
In the accounts of Madame du Barry, we have "Malines bâtarde à bordure."
Inv. après le decès de Mgr. le Maréchal de la Motte. Bib. Nat. MSS. F. Fr. 11,426. "Quatre paires de manchettes garnyes de passement tant de Venise, Gennes, et de Malines."
Voyage en Flandre. 1681.
B. M. Add. MSS. No. 5751.
Gr. Ward. Acc. P. R. O.
Ibid.
"On chamarre les jupes en quiles de dentelles plissées."—Mercure Galant. 1678.
"Un volant dentelle d'Angleterre plissée."—Extraordinaire du Mercure. Quartier d'Esté. 1678.
"1741. Une coiffure de nuit de Malines à raizeau campanée de deux pièces.
"Une paire de manches de Malines brodée a raizeau campanée, un tour de gorge, et une garniture de corset."—Inv. de Mademoiselle de Clermont.
"1761. Une paire de manches de Malines bridés non campanée, tour de gorge, et garniture de corset."—Inv. de la Duchesse de Modène.