FINE LACE WITH AN HISTORICAL INTEREST.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16904, 1 December 1922, Page 10

FINE LACE WITH AN HISTORICAL INTEREST.

Some- of the lace formerly belonging to the collection of the Empress Eugenie of France was shown recently iu London at the “ Ivensington Lace School.” It consisted mostly of a move modern kind, contemporary with her reign, with the exception of a few old pieces of point d’Aiencon which are supposed to have belonged to Queen Marie Antoinette of France, but were not of any very great importance. Empress Eugenie and Princess Pauline Metteraich, the wife of the Austrian Ambassador at the Court of France in Napoleon’s time, became fast friends and shared among other artistic tastes that for lace, and it is said they often exchanged specimens of it.' In tins collection there were specimens of rose point. Malines (sometimes called Mechlin), from the earliest to tho latest kind, point do gaze and Brussels made on the pillow and applique on machine-made ground. Point d’Aleijcon, point d’Angleterre, Valenciennes, and the exquisite rich Swiss and French embroidery on delicate lawn which looks so charming in combination with Valenciennes . ox' Mechlin, the designs of these two kinds of laco suiting it so well. Of this kind there was, as a “ piece de resistance,” the pillow' and cover for the cot ol the Prince Imperial, both of which bear in the middle the monogram NE surmounted by the imperial crown. There were also handkerchiefs adorned in the same way, eolfy’Tß various? shapes, and d’oylevs reported to have b<?en worked out by the Empress herself out of all kinds of small specimens of lace and embroidery. The Valenciennes. lace was quite the finest in the collection. T w O CTiA«F*WS OF LACE-^ATtrrvo. The making of lace consists of two dulses, viz., the needlepoint and pillow varieties. However, sonic later Belgian

and Brussels varieties are known as ‘ mixed ” laces, the pattern being worked with the needle and the ground round it on the pillow. To the first, named category belong more the needle point lace of Italy and the exquisite hand-made laces of France. To the latter belong the early Macrame, the Genoese and Milanese lace of Italy; Valenciennes. Lille, and Chantilly (which is mostly made in black silk) among the French laces, and among the Belgian laces Malines or Mechlin, and Brussels. The Empress Eugenie brought the Spanish Blonde (made first of naturalcoloured floss silk, from which it took its name and which was imported from China), into vogue, as it- reminded her of the Spanish mantilla. Later on this lace was mad© at Chantilly for the Empress in white and black silk iu a gossamer-like tissue, but there is very little of tho white now in existence,, as it was very perishable and could not be cleaned. In France at the time it was called ‘‘ Napoleon 31 on de.”, The Engli sh 1 aces of Honito a Buckinghamshire, and Bedfordshire resemble in design those of Malines, but being of coarser thread have a rougher appearance. It is easy to distinguish pillow-lace from point-lace as the ground of the former is made of plaited threads and of the latter of buttonhole stitch only. Yet in the case of Point cVAlencon made on the pillow the ground is three turns of the thread, both horizontally and vertically forming an absolutely round mesh. The laces made during the last hundred years have often a machine-made ground, and the pattern is applique and might therefore almost- come nude i the category of embroidery. The machine-made ground can easily be detached. as it feels harsh to the touch even if much used or cleaned, whereas the pillow-made remains always soft, and has a silk-like feeling to the touch. THE DESIGN OF POINT D’ALENCON. An interesting fact about Point d’Alcncon is that its design was worked over horsehair in buttonhole stitch, making it lather heavy on the fine ground-mesh, and, in cleaning the lace suffered a good deal not only from this heavy design but from the curling of the horsehair, in the water ; thus, when the lace was stretched out- to be got up, the design tore the fine ground. This explains the reason why there are few fine and well preserved examples in existence. Valenciennes lace was named after the town in Flanders, which later became by treaty in 1668 a French town. The lace being in its design of purely Flemish origin, formed a rival in its early stages to some of the finest old Flemish kinds. It existed and still exists in two kinds, known as “ real ” (Vraie) and “ false ” (Fausse), the former being made in the town and the latter outside it. It ought to be mentioned here that all these kinds of laces are now imitated by machinery, but they look less graceful in their pattern, being more regular and stiffer, qualities always denoting the inartistic propensities of the machine. They are also harsher to the touch. However, for decorative purposes of the home, such as trimming blinds, casement curtains and the lingerie of the bedroom, if the right kind and pattern are chosen, thev are more sendeeable, on account of their greater durability than the antique ones.