ALENCON.--A fine, needle-point lace, so called from Alencon, a French city,
in which its manufacture was first begun. It is the only French lace not
made upon the pillow, the work being done entirely by hand, with a fine
needle, upon a parchment pattern in small pieces. The pieces are afterward
united by invisible seams. There are usually twelve processes, including
the design employed in the production of a piece of this kind of lace, and
each of these processes is executed by a special workwoman; but in 1855, at
Bayeux, in France, a departure was made from the old custom of assigning a
special branch of the work to each lacemaker, and the fabric was made
through all its processes by one worker.
The design is engraved upon a copper plate and then printed off upon pieces
of green parchment of a specified length. After the pattern is pricked upon
the parchment, which is stitched to a piece of coarse linen folded double,
the pattern is then formed in outline by guiding two flat threads along the
edge by the thumb of the left hand, and, in order to fix it, minute
stitches are made with another thread and needle through the holes of the
parchment. After the outline is finished it is given to another worker to
make the ground, which is chiefly of two kinds: bride, consisting of
uniting threads which serve to join together the flowers of the lace, and
reseau, which is worked backward and forward from the footing to the picot.
There was also another ground called Argentella, consisting of
buttonhole-stitched skeleton hexagons.
In making the flowers of Alencon 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 {25} along the thread. As a
result, the work is characterized by a closeness, firmness and evenness not
equaled in any other point lace.
When the work is completed the threads which bind lace, linen and parchment
together are carefully cut, and the difficult task of uniting the pieces
together remains to be done. This is accomplished by means of what is
called the "assemblage" stitch, instead of the "point de raccroc," where
the pieces are united by a fresh row of stitches.
Another way of uniting the pieces, which is used at Alencon, is by a seam
which follows as far as possible the outlines of the pattern so as to be
invisible. A steel instrument, called a picot, is then passed into each
flower so as to give it a more finished appearance.
Alencon point is of a durability which no other lace can rival. A
peculiarity in its manufacture is, that it is the only lace in which
horsehair is inserted along the edge to give increased strength to the
cordonnet, a practice originating in the necessity of making the point
stand up when the tall headdresses formerly worn by women were exposed to
the wind.
Formerly Alencon point, notwithstanding its beauty of construction, could
not vie with Brussels lace as regards the excellence of floral design, but
this inferiority has now been removed by the production of exquisite copies
of natural flowers, mingled with grasses and ferns. Alencon point is now
made not only at the seat of its original manufacture, but at Bayeux, at
Burano, near Venice, and at Brussels.
Bayeux can boast of one of the finest examples of this lace ever made. It
was exhibited in 1867, and consisted of a dress of two flounces, in which
the pattern, flowers and foliage were most harmoniously wrought and
relieved by shaded tints, which give to the lace the relief of a picture.
The price of the dress was $17,000, and it took forty women seven years to
finish it.
The city of Alencon had on exhibition at Paris, in 1899, a piece of {26}
lace of exquisite description, that had taken 16,500 working days to
complete.
ALLOVER.--Lace of any kind which is eighteen inches or more in width, and
used for yokes, flouncings and entire costumes.
ANTIQUE.--A pillow lace, hand-made from heavy linen thread, and
characterized by an exceedingly open, coarse, square mesh. It is mainly
used for curtains, bed sets and draperies.
ANTWERP.--A pillow lace made at Antwerp, resembling early Alencon, and
whose chief characteristic is the representation of a pot or vase of
flowers with which it is always decorated. The pot or vase varies much in
size and details. It is usually grounded with a coarse "Fond Champ."
APPLICATION.--A lace made by sewing flowers or sprigs, which may be either
needle-point or bobbin-made, upon a bobbin-lace ground. One variety of
Brussels lace affords the best example of Application.
APPLIQUE.--The same as Application lace.
ARGENTAN.--A needle-point lace, usually considered indistinguishable from
Alencon, but which is different in some respects, its marked peculiarity
being that the reseau ground is not made of single threads only, but the
sides of each mesh are worked over with the buttonhole stitch. Argentan is
often distinguished from Alencon lace by a larger and more striking
pattern, and in some instances it is especially known by its hexagonally
arranged brides. It is called after Argentan, a town near Alencon, and the
lace was made there under the same direction.
ARRAS.--A white pillow lace, so called from Arras, in France, the city of
its original manufacture. It is simple and almost uniform in design, very
strong and firm to the touch, and comparatively cheap in price. It is made
on a lisle ground. The older and finer patterns of Arras lace reached their
climax of excellence during the first Empire, between 1804 and 1812, but
since then they have gone out of fashion. {27}
[Illustration: Real Duchesse.]
[Illustration: Real Irish Crochet.]
{28}
AURILLAC.--A pillow or bobbin lace, made at Aurillac, in France. In the
early period of its manufacture it was a close-woven fabric, resembling the
guipure of Genoa and Flanders, but later it resembled English point. The
laces of Aurillac ended with the Revolution.
AUVERGNE.--A pillow lace made at the French city of Auvergne and the
surrounding district.