WOMAN’S WORLD

Southland Times, Issue 18963, 9 June 1923, Page 14 (Supplement)

WOMAN’S WORLD

AT PORTOFINO. A TOW MAKING LACE. VISIT TO PICTURESQUE SPOT. To reach Portofino one hires th? least disreputable of the bedraggled litth gigs drawn by a bow-legged pony that adorn the station of Santa Margherita Ligure. Common humanity suggests that despite the jaunty pheasant feather set between the ears, the jingling bell, and the driver’s efforts with his fur-trimmed whip, one’s steed feels ready to drop, but experience proves that in spite of its jaded aspect it is capable of a steady jog-trot thirty miles, a day and that it is the vehicle that gives out, not the pony. The funeral crawl mechanically ends in a dead stop—yet again the harness has broken. “Per Bacco! Already!” says the driver, and pulls out of his pocket several nicely regulated lengths of string. Whilst one is being tied together there is time to admire the piratical aspect and perfect rhythm of the fishermen unloading their boat, and to appreciate the effect of a couple of amphibious looking fellows asleep on the sea wall, who, if they fell over, would undoubtedly continue their slumbers floating in unconscious serenity with the jelly-fish. Upwards one’s eye encounters gaily coloured farmhouses, embowered in vineyards and olive trees, higher still the wooded pinnacles of Portofino Kulm, against whose ramparts a fleet of snowy clouds is anchored. Across the gleaming waters glitters the coast-line of Rapallo, Chiavari, and distant Sestri. Lace-making absorbs the entire energies of Portofino, and undoubtedly adds to the picturesqueness of the village. One meets it in the most unexpected nooks and corners, in the cavernous recess of the general shop, mingling cheerfully with festoons of sausage and sacks of maccheroni, under the arches of the porticos, and at each street door. The workers, from miniature women of six to wrinkled dames of eighty, sit before the three-legged stands that hold the pillows on which their work is produced, and on every side one hears the click of the wooden bobbins. During the winter and autumn season the village is literally strewn with lace; stalls laden with every imaginable species of feminine garment are set up at every streetcorner, gorgeous bedspreads float from the porticos, and exquisite tea-cloths are pegged out wholesale against the walls on a background of hideous red paper, whilst soft voices and ingratiating smiles invite one to succumb to temptation. Several kinds of lace are made in Portofino, the most popular including the fashionable filet, antique, Byzantine, and Venetian. The original Portofino point is not unlike torchon in appearance, and is very effective when made into larger pieces such as shawls, scarves, table and toilet sets. Byzantine can always be distinguished by a characteristic knot that is very intriguing, whilst Venetian is after the style of the familiar Venetian point. This last is perhaps the most charming of the varieties, and consists of an interesting pattern of crolls, fruit, or fabulous anima’s united by fine bare. One of the