Point lace

“ Point Appliqué.—Point lace whose design is separate from the net ground, to which it is afterward applied. At the present time the net ground is usually machine-made. The word "point," however, in this connection, is of variable application, sometimes signifying Point Appliqué, and sometimes denoting lace, whether pillow or needle-point; that is, worked in sprays and laid upon a machine-net ground. ”

“ Brussels point à l'aiguille, point de gaze, is the most filmy and delicate of all point lace. Its forms are not accentuated by a raised outline of button-hole stitching, as in point d'Alençon and point d'Argentan, but are simply outlined by a thread. The execution is more open and slight than in early lace, and part of the toilé is made is close, part in open stitch, to give an appearance of shading. The style of the designs is naturalistic. (Plate LII.)
"Point Duchesse" is a bobbin lace of fine quality, in which the sprigs resemble Honiton lace united by "brides." Duchesse is a modern name. ”

“ The French, as a nation, have always been foremost in seizing upon new ideas and adapting them to their own artistic requirements. In this instance the result was admirable, and it gave to the world, not the finest lace, as it was impossible to surpass the earliest Venetian Point laces, but certainly the next lace in order of merit, "Point d'Alençon." The chief characteristic of the lace is the fine, clear ground, the stiff Cordonnet outlining the pattern, and the exquisite patterns in the "jours" or fillings. ”

“ 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 word "Bar" is applied to the many stitches used to connect the various parts of point lace, and the beauty of the work depends greatly upon the class of bar selected and its suitability to the lace stitches used.
Nos. 31 and 32.—Raleigh Bars.—These bars are much used in making Battenburg lace and are very effective. They are worked over a foundation or net-work of coarse thread, and are twisted in places so that they will more easily fall into the desired form. ”

“ Pillow lace may be easily distinguished from Point lace, as in the former the ground, or réseau, is made of plaited threads. That of Point lace is composed of threads made by the use of the button{38}hole stitch only, or, in the case of Alençon point, the mesh is worked in a special manner. The later laces, i.e., those made during the last hundred years, have frequently a ground of machine lace, and thus, strictly speaking, are not lace at all, but only embroideries or appliqués. The machine-made ground can be distinguished by sense of touch alone. ”

“ Mezzo Punto, or mixed Venetian guipure, was a mixed point lace, of which the scrolls and flowers were outlined in pillow-lace, or by a tape, and the designs filled in with needle fillings, and connected by pearled brides on a coarse needle-made réseau. This variety of lace was sometimes made of silk. In point de Venise, flat or raised, the pattern is always connected by an irregular network of pearled brides. Real brides connecting the flowers here and there hardly ever occur; and the number of picots attached to one single branch of the bride network never exceeds two. ”

“ 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. ”

“ This lace is a mixture of hand and machine lace, the ground being of the best machine net, the flowers and sprays frequently needle made, the various fillings being composed of a variety of designs, and the shading often being produced in the needle-darning as in modern Ghent and Limerick. Point de Gaze is costly, but it has the reputation of appearing "worth its money" to which few other laces of the present day can aspire. ”

“ Point d'Irlande.—A coarse, machine-made imitation of real Venetian point lace. It is popular for dress trimmings, and is manufactured in a great variety of widths in cotton and silk. It has no net ground, the patterns being united by brides.
Point de Milan.—A guipure lace with a small mesh ground, and the pattern distinguished by striking scroll designs. The flowers in the pattern of hand-made Point de Milan are flat, and have the appearance of having been wrought in close-woven linen. ”

“ In hand-made lace the two principal classes are the needle-point and bobbin, or pillow-made, lace. Needle-point lace is worked upon loose threads laid upon a previously drawn pattern, but which have no point of contact with one another and no coherency until the needlework binds them together. This work is done with a needle and single thread. As we have said, the pattern is first drawn, usually upon parchment; a piece of heavy linen is stitched to the parchment for the purpose of holding it straight ”

“ A very handsome point lace set is here illustrated, and may be easily followed by an expert lace-maker; but it will be wiser for the novice to obtain a pattern or design of the shape and size desired, from a professional lace-maker. Point de Grecque, point de Bruxelles, point de Venise, Sorrento bars, and rosettes and rings are all employed in carrying out this design. As elsewhere mentioned, any fine stitch preferred may be used for filling-in purposes when those suggested or marked out upon a design are not admired. ”

“ This was the old convent lace of Italy, called “Greek lace.” Point laces are lace made with a needle on a parchment pattern. The principal are the ancient laces of Italy, Spain, and Portugal; and the modern point d’Alençon of France. Pillow laces are made by the weaving, twisting, and plaiting of the threads with bobbins on a cushion; such are Mechlin, Lille, Valenciennes, Honiton, Buckingham, and many manufactories in France. Brussels lace is both point and pillow. The thread is scarcely visible for fineness, and costs 240l. per pound. ”

“ The rest of her garments are trimmed with gold and silver lace and passementerie.
In the succeeding reign lace of a geometric design shows itself on the ruffs of the richest people.{148} Pictures in the National Portrait Gallery show many exquisite examples of the beautiful Reticella of Venice, which must have been very costly to the purchaser, as twenty-five yards or more of this fine lace were required to edge a ruff.
It was in the reign of James I. and his consort, Anne of Denmark, that Flanders lace and the expensive Point laces of Italy first became widely popular. ”

“ Renaissance lace is made by basting a flat braid on a given pattern and filling the spaces between with simple lace stitches. Point lace is made of very fine plain braid with much finer thread and more elaborate stitches. ”

“ Much of the Genoa lace was worked in what we term "mixed lace," the design being woven on the pillow, and the ground and fillings worked in with the needle either in a network or by brides and picots. A much inferior kind is made with a woven braid or tape, the turns of the pattern being made in twisted or puckered braid, much after the style of the handmade Point lace made in England some thirty years ago. ”

“ Not all people know the difference between point lace which is made with the needle, and pillow lace which is made with the bobbins—but much of the beautiful point lace of the present day is made with the needle, and its beauty stands a favorable comparison with the more costly pillow lace. ”

“ Fond. Identical with champ, entoilage, and treille. The groundwork of needle-point or bobbin lace as distinct from the toilé or pattern which it surrounds and supports. Grounds are divided into fonds claires, brides claires, and brides ornées. The fond claires include the Réseau or net-patterned grounds. Fond de Neige is also known as Œil de Perdrix.
Fond Simple. Sometimes called Point de Lille; is the purest, lightest, and most transparent of all grounds. The sides of the meshes are not partly plaited as in Brussels and Mechlin, nor wholly plaited as in Valenciennes and Chioggia ”

“ In making the flowers of Alençon point, the workwoman, using a needle and fine thread, makes the buttonhole-stitch from left to right, and, when she has reached the end of the flower, throws back the thread from the point of departure and works again from left to right along the thread. As a result, the work is characterized by a closeness, firmness and evenness not equaled in any other point lace. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 lace is formed by crossing or intertwining these bobbins.
Hand-made lace is of two kinds, point and pillow. Point means a needle-work lace made on a parchment pattern, also a particular kind of stitch. ”

“ Point de Paris.—Originally a narrow pillow lace, resembling Brussels. The term is now generally applied to a machine-made cotton lace of simple pattern and inferior quality. In its making a design whose figures, such as flowers and leaves, are outlined with a heavy thread, is worked upon a net ground. Point de Paris is distinguished by the net, which is hexagonal in form. ”

“ The writer saw at Chantilly an aged lace-maker employed in making a lace ground of hair on the pillow, used, she was informed, by wig-makers to give the parting of the hair; but the fabric must be identical with the point tresse sent by the mother of Darnley to the Queen of Scots. Point tresse, when made out of the hair of aged people, is occasionally to be met with on the Continent, where, from its rarity, it fetches a high price. ”

“ No matter how fine, that she wears every day!”
So I ventured again, “Wear your crimson brocade.”
(Second turn-up of nose) . “That’s too dark by a shade.”
“Your blue silk.” “That’s too heavy.” “Your pink—” “That’s too light.”
“Wear tulle over satin.” “I can’t endure white.”
“Your rose-coloured, then, the best of the batch.”
[219] “I haven’t a thread of point lace to match.”
“Your brown moire-antique.” “Yes, and look like a Quaker.”
“The pearl-coloured—” “I would, but that plaguy dressmaker
Has had it a week.” “Then that exquisite lilac,
In which you would melt the heart of a Shylock.” ”

“ The most common lace is the Point Applique, in which the sprays, groups, and borders on the design are made separately by hand on the pillow, and are afterwards applied by tiny stitchings to the machine-made net. ”

“ An attempt was made by Napoleon I. to revive it, but its glories had passed, and the hands of the workers had lost their cunning, the result being known as the worst type of lace, stiff and ugly in design and coarse of execution.
"Point d'Argentan."
This lace is practically the same as Alençon with a variation of ground, which, to the uninitiated, appears coarse. A magnifying glass, however, will speedily dispel this illusion. The ground in itself is a marvellous piece of work, each of the sides of the mesh being covered with ten buttonhole stitches. ”

“ You know a piece of good lace when you see it. You know the difference between delicate, cobwebby Venetian or Irish Point made by hand and the coarser lace done on a machine. Your taste has been trained by observation and comparison. ”

“ The lace made in the school is no longer confined, as in the origin it was, to Burano point, but laces of almost any design or model are now undertaken—point de Burano, point d'Alençon, point de Bruxelles, point d'Angleterre, point d'Argentan, rose point de Venise, Italian punto in aria, and Italian punto tagliato a fogliami. The school has been enriched by gifts of antique lace, and Queen Margherita gave the school permission to copy two magnificent specimens of Ecclesiastical lace—now Crown property—that had formerly belonged to Cardinal de Retz, and Pope Clement VII. (Rezzonico) . ”

“ About this lace most authorities dispute, some stoutly advocating its claims to be French lace entirely and others averring that it was made in imitation of the Point d'Alençon by the Genoese. Be this as it may, the lace known as Point d'Argentella is exceptionally fine even amongst other fine laces, and is noted most specially for the fine "jours" which form an essential part of the pattern, every effort apparently being made to give extra scope for their employment. The specimen illustrated shows some of these "jours" having the characteristic mayflower, lozenge, and dotted patterns. ”

“ A lace known for certain to be of Spanish origin is a coarse pillow guipure made in white thread and also of gold and silver. It is a loosely made fabric consisting of three cordonnets, the center one being the coarsest, united by finer threads running in and out across them, and with brides to join {70}the parts of the pattern and keep them in shape. It is well known that large quantities of lace that have the characteristics of raised Venetian Point were used in Spain, both for court dresses and church purposes, such as the ornamentation of vestments and altars. ”