ORIGIN OF LACE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 13 January 1938, Page 4

ORIGIN OF LACE

EUROPE’S GU T TO BEAUTY Although there is evidence that lacy fabrics existed in a very remote period, it was not until the close of the Middle Ages that lace, as we know it to-day. was first made in Europe. Then it was mostly worn by men, who used it for iufTs. cufTs, cravats, and similar pur- ! poses, states a writer in the Melbourne j “Age.” 1 Italy, where point lace originated,

was especially renowned for its manu- , 1 facture in the sixteenth and seventeenth |' centuries. Modern hand-made work may be more artistically designed, but it cannot otherwise be compared with the wonderful lace produced in Venice. Genoa, and Milan in those early days. As the trade developed, the lace-mak-ing districts of Italy, Spain. France, and Belgium vied with one another in pro- : ducing lovelier designs of exclusive j pattern. The result was that the vari- ji ous designs became associated with the towns in which they were originated, and laces achieved fame under such |

names as Alencon, Cluny, Filet, Valenciennes. and Honiton Pillow. £3,500 FROCK The modern lace-making machine, which has been described as one of the wonders of the commercial world (60 pieces of lace ai e often mat • on it simultaneously *, is a development of , much earlier models. In 1764 a Not- ! tingham man decided that he could produce on his stocking machine a fabric similar to the lac"; on his good wife’s cap. His success paved the way for the

elaborate machines which followed. Later, a Lyons man, who invented a device for the manufacture of flowered nets and laces, was mobbed, and nearly lost his life when he first tried to introduce it into general use. Although some machine-made laces are so beautifully finished that only an expert can detect them from handmade work, the latter still commands high prices all over the world. A lace dress exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1867 was valued at £3.500. Forty women toiled hard for seven long years to make it!