Lace cap

“ The newspapers crowd with losses of lace, and rarer—finds. [993]
They give us, however, no clue to the home manufacture. "A pasteboard box full of laced linen, and a little portmanteau with some white and grey Bone lace," [994] 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. ”

“ Lace-making implies the production of ornament and fabric concurrently. Without a pattern or design the fabric of lace cannot be made.
The publication of patterns for needlepoint and pillow laces dates from about the middle of the 16th century. Before that period lace described such articles as cords and narrow braids of plaited and twisted threads, used not only to fasten shoes, sleeves and corsets together, but also in a decorative manner to braid the hair, to wind round hats, and to be sewn as trimmings upon costumes. ”

“ Real Flanders lace thread even now, spun with the help of machinery, costs £70, and is nothing like so durable as the old{108} threads. When we consider that lace to be known as "Old Lace" must be two hundred or three hundred years old, we can understand the strength of this fairy thread, which was like a spider's web in filminess and yet durable enough to last centuries of wear, and remain as a lasting memorial of its beauty. ”

“ No linen or netting [34] being used the worker had to construct her lace—in aria—out of nothing, and a splendid opening it gave, as we shall now see, for invention and for execution. This punto in aria, worked into points, was extensively used for personal adornment: these points gave the name of pizzi to lace, a name which still survives in Italy as comprehensive of all lace, as the name dentelle is in France. ”

“ The makers of the best laces would sit nearest the light, and so on in order of merit.
A "down" in Northamptonshire is the parchment {391}pattern, generally about twelve inches long. In Buckinghamshire they have two "eachs" ten inches long, and putting one in front of the other, so work round the pillow, which to many commends itself as a better plan than having one "down" and moving the lace back on reaching the end of the "down." The pillow is a hard round cushion, stuffed with straw and well hammered to make it hard for the bobbins to rattle on. ”

“ As early as the fifteenth century the countrywomen from the mountains of the Vélay 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. ”

“ 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." [987] "The manufacture of linen," [988] 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."
The days of Puritan simplicity were at an end.
"Instead of homespun coifs were seen
Good pinners edged with Colberteen." [989]
The laced cravat succeeded the falling collar. ”

“ As in Germany, Lacis and Cutworke form the only hand-made lace known, the people contenting themselves with these varieties and using coloured threads to further decorate them. Their laces may be called merely Russian embroideries. Peter the Great did much to found a lace school,{137} but only gold laces were made, of a barbaric character. Recently an attempt has been made to imitate the Venetian laces, with very fair results, but the character is very stiff and mechanical, going back to the primitive forms of Reticella rather than the elegancies of Italian Point. ”

“ Ave Maria.—A narrow lace used for edging. (See Dieppe lace.)
Baby.—A narrow lace used for edging, and made principally in the English counties of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire. These laces are ordinarily of simple design and specially employed in adorning infants' caps. Though this fashion went out in Great Britain, the ladies of America held to the trimmed infants' caps until the breaking out of the Civil War, and up to that date large quantities of this lace were exported to America. ”

“ Point d'Alençon 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 horsehair is that it shrinks in washing and draws up the flower from the ground. ”

“ The essential feature of the fabric now recognised as lace lies in its being wrought independently of any visible foundation such [vii] as linen or net; it is essentially a textile ornamentation depending upon special design, which can be rendered, so far as needle-point lace is concerned, by variations of the buttonhole stitch—the "punto a festone" in Italy, and "point noué" in France—which is distinctively a looping, and not a whipping or weaving, stitch; and so far as bobbin-made lace is concerned, by twisting and plaiting threads together. ”

“ The pattern is surrounded by a heavy thread, and composed of a close stitch worked between the meshes of a coarse net ground. This lace somewhat resembles Dalecarlian lace. In the eighteenth century fine pillow lace was also made in these provinces. The celebrated industry of Offida in the Marche has sunk into artistic degradation. ”

“ Many 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. ”

“ But interesting discoveries are rare, and the body of our knowledge of lace history so far is meager.
However, we are interested primarily, not in the ancient origins of the two great lace groups, nor in early passementeries and filets and their processes, but in the [28] marvelous efflorescence of the lace art of the Western Europe of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, and in its still lovely expression of to-day. ”

“ The style of Wadstena lace changed with the times and fashion of the national costume. Those made at present are of the single or double ground, both black and white, fine, but wanting in firmness. They also make much dentelle torchon, of the lozenge pattern, for trimming the bed-linen they so elaborately embroider in drawn-work. ”

“ Brotherton, of Leith, seems to have made a discovery which was but a prelude to the bobbin net. It is thus described in the Weekly Magazine of 1772:—"A new invention has lately been discovered by Mr. Brotherton, in Leith, for working black silk lace or white thread lace on a loom, to imitate any pattern whatever, and the lace done in this way looks fully as well as if sewed, and comes much cheaper. It is done any breadth, from three inches to three-quarters of a yard wide." ”

“ Lace in pictures has, in the first place, been interpreted by the painter, and no pencil or brush can show more than the general effect. The stitches in the toilé, or ground of needle-point lace, amount sometimes to several thousand in every square inch; and the almost incredible fineness of the twists in the réseau of pillow laces makes identification very difficult, unless it is founded on observation of actual portions of the fabric. ”

“ The Honiton laces made since the introduction of machine-made net is especially poor. Flower sprigs and sprays are made separately on the pillow, and afterwards applied to the machine-made ground. These are, as a rule, flowers and foliage treated naturalistically, and are heavy and close in design. These are often very sparingly applied over a wide expanse of net in order to make as much lace with as little trouble as possible. ”

“ Border of needle-point lace, called punto in relievo or rose-point. Birds and serpents occur in the design and each portion of the pattern is outlined by a thick cordonnet worked in buttonhole stitch, punto à festone. This thick cordonnet is also used to denote the scales of the serpent and to accentuate the features of the birds, the narrow braid at the top of the lace is bobbin-made, the edging is of very fine needle-point called punto avorio. ”

“ Ladies can easily prick them from the illustration. To prick from lace itself it is necessary to keep the lace in proper position and to place a pin in every pinhole along the outlines, to mark any crossed threads by a pinhole, and to show where lerd or lead-works occur by the same means. ”

“ Modern real lace is artistic, even superior, but compared with such few specimens as have come down to us of the work of the lacemakers of old, its deficiency, particularly in the matter of the fineness of the execution and thread, is at once apparent. Hand-made lace is to-day produced all over the world; commercially its production is confined to France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy and England, where large quantities are still produced. ”

“ Constant improvement in processes, however, has in some laces made the resemblance to the hand-made product so close that even experts can hardly recognize the difference. If it were asked how the imitation lace can be distinguished from needle-point, the answer is that it is not made with looped stitches like the latter, nor has it the effect of plaited threads, as in pillow lace. Again, the toilé of machine-made lace is often found to be ribbed, and this lace is very generally made of cotton instead of the linen thread with which old needle-point and pillow lace is made. ”

“ A successful effort has also been made to re-establish the industry in the island of Burano near Venice, and pillow and needlepoint lace of good design is made there.
At present the chief sources of hand-made lace are France, Belgium, Ireland and England.
France is faithful to her traditions in maintaining a lively and graceful taste in lace-making. Fashion of late years has called for ampler and more boldly effective laces, readily produced with both braids and cords and far less intricate needle or pillow work than was required for the dainty and smaller laces of earlier date. ”

“ In 1753 prizes were awarded for 14 pairs of curious needlework point ruffles.
[1103]
One society confers a prize of ten guineas upon a "gentlewoman for an improvement in manufacture by finishing a piece of lace in a very elegant manner with knitting-needles."
[1104]
The lace of the three counties is practically equal—that is, it is all made in a similar fashion, and the same patterns are met with in each county. The "point" or "net" ground is met with in all, and worked level with the pattern in the same way with bobbins. ”

“ The rage for lace is undiminished. It is adapted to so many purposes—vails, falls, flounces, shawl-berthes, collars, ruffles, habit-shirts, &c., that every variety of costume has lace as an important material in trimming. It forms a part of the head-dress, accompanies the gown, surrounds the waist, falls from the shoulders; light as feathers, rich as velvet, it is at once an article of luxury and ornament—a garment and a jewel.
Embroidery, following the example of lace, is coming more and more into favor; sleeves, collars, petticoats, and handkerchiefs are literally loaded with it, abroad ”

“ The author “tells us in ‘The lace book’ in a concise form, all that is interesting in the history of the evolution and production of lace in the countries which have given the world the finest examples of this delicate fabric. This handsome volume is illustrated with engravings from famous pictures of distinguished personages, showing how lace was employed in costume at different times; well-chosen, full-size examples are also given of the various kinds of lace; and an index endows the collector and connoisseur with a book of reference.”—Nation. ”

“ 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. [232] Indeed, by the sumptuary laws of the Republic, the richest costume allowed to the ladies was black velvet trimmed with their home-made point.
The femmes bourgeoises still edge their aprons with point lace, and some of the elder women wear square linen veils trimmed with coarse lace. ”

“ 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 8th, 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. ”

“ Now look here, Young Lady, I don't doubt but this lace is great stuff. You say so, and I haven't seen man, woman or child on this side of the Atlantic knows as much as you do. I'm mighty grateful for the lace—don't you forget that, but just the same—well, now I'll tell you. I have a very special reason for wanting something a little livelier than lace. ”