RARE AND BEAUTIFUL.

Matamata Record, Volume XI, Issue 932, 28 June 1928, Page 4

RARE AND BEAUTIFUL.

MALTESE LACE CLOAK. The finest thing in the way of a work of art that has ever been on view at Matamata is the very rare and beautiful Maltese lace opera cloak which is the prize in the Roman Catholic Church monster raffle now under way. One of the foremost experts of the Dominion, Josephine Kennedy, of Auckland, reports as follows on the cloak:—

“ With reference to the Maltese Lace Opera Cloak, which you have submitted to me for valuation, I have much pleasure in giving you my candid opinion on and valuation of said article.

“It is a perfect specimen of PURE MALTESE of MOST EXQUISITE DESIGN and finished workmanship, which would in the ordinary Lace Market be easily valued at £SOO. In making the estimate I have gone carefully into the time and material; the design and the perfection of the weaving of the various panels, .borders and collar into a garment of unique beauty. The most skilled Pillow-lace workers have, undoubtedly been employed in its manufacture, and though Maltese Lace of this quality has been obtainable with ease in the Mediterranean countries, it is of rare occurrence that a piece of that size and quality reaches the open market. Hence its value as a Museum Specimen more than as an article of dress. There have been heirlooms, robes, shawls, and cloaks fashioned in the various Maltese .itelliers, but usually only by Special Command in the use of the Royal Families, and now that Pillow-lace making as a peasant art is becoming a rare industry, the value of such a piece will increase greatly with its years: as Jace Maltese is one of the icngest-lived and the thread being PURE SILK, there is no question of its deterioration with age. Specimens of great antiquity are to be seen in most of the European Galleries; those in the Vatican Treasury being of just such quality as the specimen you have.

“ You ask me to give you my qualifications for judging Lace, etc. I have taken no offence, but I really thought that after my thirty odd years of experience I had been sufficiently known, at least, to the Australasian public. However, in answer to your question: “ I studied at the Great School of Art Lace-Making at Mountrath, Ireland. There I studied the Gi*eat Irish, Flemish and Italian Lace. Some years ago (to be exact in 1913) when there was a question of housing a valuable lace collection loaned by several owners in New Zealand, I was deputed by the Librarian, Mr. John Barr, and a select committee, consisting of Miss Ellen Melville and Miss Elsie Morton with Mr. J. Macky of the city council, to visit the Lace Collections in the Melbourne and Sydney Museums with a view to comparing and valuing the Auckland Specimens for the purpose of insurance. Later I had been enabled to see the collection of laces in the various Galleries in London, Paris, Florence, Rome and Lausanne, as also in the Boston Technological Museum and the Metropolitan Galleries in New York, whilst a special interest in Church laces led me to make continued investigations in the magnificent examples to be seen in all the great convents in the above and other cities.” , v The cloak is now on view in Mr. J. Cummings’ window.*