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* * * * *
HISTORY OF LACE
[Illustration: ANNE, DAUGHTER OF SIR PETER VANLORE, KT.,
FIRST WIFE OF SIR CHARLES CÆSAR, KT., ABOUT 1614.
The lace is probably Flemish, Sir Peter having come from Utrecht.
From the picture the property of her descendant, Captain Cottrell-Dormer.]
_Frontispiece._
HISTORY OF LACE
BY
MRS. BURY PALLISER
ENTIRELY REVISED, RE-WRITTEN, AND ENLARGED
UNDER THE EDITORSHIP OF
M. JOURDAIN AND ALICE DRYDEN
WITH 266 ILLUSTRATIONS
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1902
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W.
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION
Nearly thirty years have elapsed since the third edition of the HISTORY OF
LACE was published. As it is still the classical work on the subject, and
many developments in the Art have taken place since 1875, it seemed
desirable that a new and revised edition should be brought out.
The present Revisers have fully felt the responsibility of correcting
anything the late Mrs. Palliser wrote; they have therefore altered as
little of the text as possible, except where modern research has shown a
statement to be faulty.
The chapters on Spain, Alençon and Argentan, and the Introductory chapter
on Needlework, have been almost entirely rewritten. Much new matter has
been added to Italy, England and Ireland, and the notices of Cretan and
Sicilian lace, among others, are new. The original wood-cuts have been
preserved with their designations as in the 1875 edition, which differ
materially from the first two editions. Nearly a hundred new illustrations
have been added, and several portraits to show different fashions of
wearing lace.
The Revisers wish to record their grateful thanks to those who have
assisted them with information or lace for illustration; especially to Mrs.
Hulton, Count Marcello and Cavaliere Michelangelo Jesurum in Venice,
Contessa di Brazza and Contessa Cavazza in Italy, M. Destrée in Brussels,
Mr. Arthur Blackborne, Salviati & Co., and the Director of the Victoria and
Albert Museum in London.
M. JOURDAIN.
ALICE DRYDEN.
_London, September, 1901._
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I.--NEEDLEWORK 1
II.--CUT-WORK 14
III.--LACE 26
IV.--ITALY.--VENICE--MILAN ("Milano la Grande")--FLORENCE--THE
ABRUZZI--ROMAGNA--NAPLES--GENOA ("Genova La Superba")--
CANTU--SICILY 45
V.--GREECE--CRETE--TURKEY--MALTA 82
VI.--SPAIN--PORTUGAL 90
VII.--FLANDERS--BRUSSELS (BRABANT)--MECHLIN--ANTWERP--FLANDERS
(WEST)--FLANDERS (EAST)--HAINAULT 109
VIII.--FRANCE TO LOUIS XIV. 139
IX.--LOUIS XIV. 150
X.--LOUIS XIV.--_continued_ 161
XI.--LOUIS XV. 171
XII.--LOUIS XVI. TO THE EMPIRE 179
XIII.--THE LACE MANUFACTURES OF FRANCE--ALENÇON (Dép. Orne),
NORMANDY 188
XIV.--ARGENTAN (Dép. Orne) 202
XV.--ISLE DE FRANCE.--PARIS (Dép. Seine)--CHANTILLY (Dép. Oise) 209
XVI.--NORMANDY--SEINE INFÉRIEURE--CALVADOS--BRETAGNE 216
XVII.--VALENCIENNES (Dép. du Nord)--LILLE (Dép. du Nord)--ARRAS
(Artois) (Dép. Pas-de-Calais)--BAILLEUL (Dép. du Nord) 230
XVIII.--AUVERGNE AND VÉLAY--LE PUY (Dép. Haute-Loire)--AURILLAC
AND MURAT (Dép. Cantal) 242
XIX.--LIMOUSIN--LORRAINE--CHAMPAGNE--BURGUNDY--LYONNOIS--
ORLÉANOIS--BERRY--POITOU 250
XX.--HOLLAND, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY--
HOLLAND--SAXONY--GERMANY (NORTH AND SOUTH)--SWITZERLAND 258
XXI.--DENMARK--SWEDEN--RUSSIA 272
XXII.--ENGLAND TO QUEEN ELIZABETH 285
XXIII.--QUEEN ELIZABETH 299
XXIV.--JAMES I. TO THE RESTORATION.--JAMES I.--CHARLES I.--
THE COMMONWEALTH 315
XXV.--CHARLES II. TO THE HOUSE OF HANOVER.--CHARLES II.--
JAMES II.--WILLIAM III.--QUEEN ANNE 335
XXVI.--GEORGE I.--GEORGE II. 351
XXVII.--SMUGGLING 358
XXVIII.--GEORGE III. 363
XXIX.--THE LACE MANUFACTURES OF ENGLAND 371
XXX.--BEDFORDSHIRE--BUCKINGHAMSHIRE--NORTHAMPTONSHIRE--SUFFOLK 375
XXXI.--WILTSHIRE AND DORSETSHIRE 395
XXXII.--DEVONSHIRE--HONITON--TROLLY LACE--JAPAN 399
XXXIII.--SCOTLAND 418
XXXIV.--LACE MANUFACTURES OF SCOTLAND 428
XXXV.--IRELAND 435
XXXVI.--BOBBIN NET AND MACHINE-MADE LACE--BOBBIN NET--FRANCE--
BELGIUM--MACHINERY LACE 447
APPENDIX 459
GLOSSARY OF TERMS 503
INDEX 507
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
ANNE, DAUGHTER OF SIR PETER VANLORE, KT. _Frontispiece_
Gold Lace found in a barrow Fig. 1 4
ARGENTAN.--CIRCULAR BOBBIN RÉSEAU; VENETIAN NEEDLEPOINT PLATE I 12
ITALIAN BOBBIN RÉSEAU; SIX-POINTED STAR-MESHED BOBBIN
RÉSEAU; BRUSSELS BOBBIN RÉSEAU; FOND CHANT OF CHANTILLY
AND POINT DE PARIS; DETAILS OF BOBBIN RÉSEAU AND TOILE;
DETAILS OF NEEDLE RÉSEAU AND BUTTONHOLE STITCHES PLATE II 14
Point Coupé Fig. 2 18
ALTAR OR TABLE-CLOTH OF FINE LINEN (PROBABLY ITALIAN) PLATE III 18
Laces Fig. 3 19
Elizabethan Sampler " 5 22
Impresa of Queen Margaret of Navarre " 4 23
Spider-work Figs. 6, 7 24
FAN MADE AT BURANO PLATE IV 24
ITALIAN PUNTO REALE " V 24
Grande Dantelle au Point devant l'Aiguille Fig. 8 28
Petite Dantelle Figs. 9-12 29
Passement au Fuseau Figs. 13, 14 30
Passement au Fuseau Fig. 15 31
Merletti a Piombini " 16 31
ITALIAN.--MODERN REPRODUCTION AT BURANO PLATE VI 32
HERALDIC (CARNIVAL LACE) " VII 32
Old Mechlin Fig. 17 35
ITALIAN, VENETIAN, FLAT NEEDLE-POINT LACE PLATE VIII 36
PORTION OF A BAND OF NEEDLE-POINT LACE " IX 36
Guipure Fig. 18 39
Tape Guipure " 19 40
ITALIAN.--POINT DE VENISE À LA ROSE PLATE X 44
ITALIAN.--POINT PLAT DE VENISE " XI 46
ITALIAN.--POINT DE VENISE À RÉSEAU " XII 48
Mermaid Lace Fig. 20 50
Reticella " 21 50
Punto a Gropo " 22 52
Gros Point de Venise " 23 52
Punto a Maglia " 24 53
Punto Tirato " 25 54
Point de Venise à Bredes Picotées " 26 54
Venise Point " 27 55
Gros Point de Venise " 28 56
Point de Venise " 29 56
Point Plat de Venise " 30 56
Point de Venise à Réseau " 31 58
Burano Point " 32 60
ITALIAN.--MODERN POINT DE BURANO PLATE XIII 60
ITALIAN.--MODERN REPRODUCTION AT BURANO " XIV 62
ITALIAN.--MILANESE, BOBBIN-MADE " XV 64
Reticella from Milan Fig. 33 65
ITALIAN.--VENETIAN, NEEDLE-MADE PLATE XVI 66
ITALIAN.--MILANESE, BOBBIN-MADE " XVII 66
Unfinished Drawn-work Fig. 34 69
CUSHION MADE AT THE SCHOOL PLATE XVIII 70
ITALY.--GROUP OF WORKERS AT BRAZZA SCHOOL " XIX 70
Genoa Point, Bobbin-made Fig. 35 74
Lace Pattern found in the Church at Santa Margherita " 36 76
ITALIAN.--BOBBIN TAPE WITH NEEDLE-MADE RÉSEAU PLATE XX 76
ITALIAN, GENOESE.--BORDER " XXI 76
Parchment Pattern used to cover a Book Fig. 37 77
Fringed Macramé " 38 80
ITALIAN.--OLD PEASANT LACES, BOBBIN-MADE PLATES XXII, XXIII 80
ITALIAN.--MODERN PEASANT LACE PLATE XXIV 80
Silk Gimp Lace Fig. 39 84
SICILIAN.--OLD DRAWN-WORK PLATE XXV 84
SOUTH ITALIAN " XXVI 84
Reticella, or Greek Lace Fig. 40 85
Loubeaux de Verdale " 41 88
ITALIAN, RAPALLO--MODERN PEASANT LACE PLATE XXVII 88
MALTESE.--MODERN BOBBIN-MADE " XXVIII 88
Bobbin Lace (Ceylon) Fig. 42 89
The Work Room (16th century engraving) " 43 91
Unfinished Work of a Spanish Nun " 44 94
SPANISH.--MODERN THREAD BOBBIN LACE PLATE XXIX 94
SPANISH, BLONDE.--WHITE SILK DARNING ON MACHINE NET " XXX 94
Unfinished Work of a Spanish Nun Fig. 45 95
" " " " 46 96
Old Spanish Pillow Lace " 47 100
PORTRAIT, DUCHESSE DE MONTPENSIER PLATE XXXI 100
JEWISH " XXXII 104
SPANISH " XXXIII 104
Bobbin Lace (Madeira) Fig. 48 106
" (Brazil) " 49 107
SPANISH.--PILLOW-MADE 19TH CENTURY PLATE XXXIV 108
PARAGUAY.--"NAUDUTI" " XXXV 108
Lace-making Fig. 50 110
FLEMISH.--PORTION OF BED-COVER PLATE XXXVI 110
Cap of Emperor Charles V. Fig. 51 112
Isabella Clara Eugenia, Daughter of Philip II. " 52 112
Mary, Queen of Hungary, Cuff " 53 113
Belgian Lace School " 54 114
Old Flemish Bobbin Lace " 55 114
Old Flemish.--Trolle Kant " 56 115
BRUSSELS.--POINT D'ANGLETERRE À BRIDES PLATE XXXVII 116
FLEMISH.--TAPE LACE, BOBBIN-MADE " XXXVIII 116
Brussels Needle-Point Fig. 57 118
" " " 58 120
Brussels.--Point à l'Aiguille " 58A 120
Old Brussels.--Point d'Angleterre " 59 122
" " " " 60 124
MECHLIN, 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY PLATE XXXIX 126
Mechlin.--Period Louis XVI. Fig. 61 127
Mechlin, formerly belonging to H.M. Queen Charlotte " 62 128
MECHLIN.--THREE SPECIMENS FROM VICTORIA AND ALBERT
MUSEUM PLATE XL 128
A Lady of Antwerp Fig. 63 130
Antwerp Pot Lace " 64 130
Valenciennes Lace of Ypres " 65 132
FLEMISH.--FLAT SPANISH BOBBIN LACE PLATE XLI 132
FLEMISH.--GUIPURE DE FLANDRE " XLII 134
BELGIAN.--BOBBIN-MADE, BINCHE " XLIII 136
" " MARCHE " XLIV 136
DRAWN AND EMBROIDERED MUSLIN, FLEMISH " XLV 136
RUFF, EDGED WITH LACE " XLVI 142
BRUSSELS.--FLOUNCE, BOBBIN-MADE " XLVII 144
Cinq-Mars.--M. de Versailles Fig. 66 145
" .--After his portrait by Le Wain " 67 146
Lace Rose and Garter " 68 147
Young Lady's Apron, time of Henry III " 69 148
BRUSSELS.--BOBBIN-MADE, PERIOD LOUIS XIV. PLATE XLVIII 150
" .--POINT D'ANGLETERRE À RÉSEAU " XLIX 150
Anne of Austria Fig. 70 151
A Courtier of the Regency " 71 152
Canons of Louis XIV " 72 154
Chateau de Louvai " 73 156
CHENILLE RUN ON A BOBBIN-GROUND PLATE L 156
BRUSSELS.--BOBBIN-MADE " LI 156
Le Grand Bébé Fig. 74 162
Louvois, 1691 " 75 163
Madame de Maintenon " 76 164
Lady in Morning déshabille " 77 165
Le Grand Dauphin en Steinkerque " 78 168
Madame du Lude en Steinkerque " 79 168
Madame Palatine " 80 169
BRUSSELS.--MODERN POINT DE GAZE PLATE LII 170
Madame Sophie de France, 1782 Fig. 81 175
Madame Adélaide de France " 82 176
MADAME LOUISE DE FRANCE PLATE LIII 176
Madame Thérèse Fig. 83 177
Marie-Antoinette " 84 179
Madame Adélaide de France " 85 182
FRENCH.--BORDER OF POINT PLAT DE FRANCE PLATE LIV 188
Colbert, + 1683 Fig. 86 189
Venice Point " 87 191
FRENCH.--POINT D'ALENÇON PLATE LV 192
Argentella, or Point d'Alençon à Réseau Rosacé Fig. 88 194
Bed made for Napoleon I. " 89 197
Alençon Point à Petites Bredes " 90 200
Point d'Alençon, Louis XV. " 91 200
POINT D'ALENÇON. FLOUNCE PLATE LVI 202-3
Point d'Argentan Fig. 92 204
" " . Grande Bride ground " 93 206
FRENCH.--POINT D'ARGENTAN, 18TH CENTURY PLATE LVII 208
Point de Paris Fig. 94 210
Point de France " 95 210
FRENCH (OR DUTCH).--VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM PLATE LVIII 212
Chantilly Fig. 96 214
Cauchoise " 97 217
FRENCH, CHANTILLY.--FLOUNCE PLATE LIX 218
FRENCH, LE PUY.--BLACK SILK GUIPURE " LX 218
Petit Poussin, Dieppe Fig. 98 219
Ave Maria, Dieppe " 99 220
Point de Dieppe " 100 221
Dentelle à la Vierge " 101 222
Duc de Peuthièvre " 102 223
FRENCH.--BLONDE MALE, IN SPANISH STYLE PLATE LXI 226
Modern Black Lace of Bayeux Fig. 103 227
Point Colbert " 104 228
Valenciennes, 1650-1780 " 105 230
" Period, Louis XIV. " 106 232
" 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY PLATE LXII 232
" Fig. 107 234
Valenciennes Lappet " 108 234
Lille " 109 236
" " 110 238
Arras " 111 240
FRENCH, CAMBRAI PLATES LXIII, LXIV 246
FRENCH, LE PUY PLATE LXV 246
Point de Bourgogne Fig. 112 256
WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE PLATE LXVI 258
Dutch Bobbin Lace Fig. 113 260
Tomb of Barbara Uttmann " 114 261
Barbara Uttmann " 114A 262
SWISS, NEUCHATEL PLATE LXVII 264
GERMAN, NUREMBERG " LXVIII 264
ENGLISH, BUCKS " LXIX 264
HUNGARIAN.--BOBBIN LACE " LXX 268
AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN " LXXI 268
Shirt Collar of Christian IV. Fig. 115 273
Tönder Lace, Drawn Muslin " 116 274
RUSSIAN--NEEDLEPOINT; GERMAN--SAXON PLATE LXXII 276
RUSSIAN, OLD BOBBIN-MADE " LXXIII 276
RUSSIAN, BOBBIN-MADE IN THREAD PLATE LXXIV 280
Dalecarlian Lace Fig. 117 281
Collar of Gustavus Adolphus " 118 282
Russia, Bobbin-made, 19th Century " 119 284
CAP, FLEMISH OR GERMAN PLATE XXV 288
Fisher, Bishop of Rochester Fig. 120 292
ENGLISH.--CUTWORK AND NEEDLE-POINT PLATE LXXVI 292
ENGLISH.--DEVONSHIRE "TROLLY." " LXXVII 292
Fisher, Bishop of Rochester Fig. 121 293
MARIE DE LORRAINE PLATE LXXVIII 298
Queen Elizabeth's Smock Fig. 122 308
Christening Caps, Needle-made Brussels Figs. 123, 124 309
MARY SIDNEY, COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE PLATE LXXIX 316
HENRY WROTHESLEY, THIRD EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON " LXXX 320
Monument of Princess Sophia Fig. 125 321
" " " Mary " 126 322
Mary, Countess of Pembroke " 127 323
ELIZABETH, PRINCESS PALATINE PLATE LXXXI 326
Falling Collar of the 17th Century Fig. 128 327
Boots, Cuffs Figs. 129, 130 328
English Needle-made Lace Fig. 131 328
JAMES HARRINGTON PLATE LXXXII 332
JAMES, THE OLD PRETENDER, AND HIS SISTER, PRINCESS
LOUISA PLATE LXXXIII 344
JOHN LAW, THE PARIS BANKER " LXXXIV 352
Ripon Fig. 132 373
ENGLISH, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, BOBBIN LACE PLATE LXXXV 374
Buckinghamshire Trolly Fig. 133 381
" Point " 134 382
" " " 135 383
ENGLISH, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, BOBBIN LACE PLATE LXXXVI 384
Old Flemish Fig. 136 385
Old Brussels " 137 385
"Run" Lace, Newport Pagnell " 138 386
English Point, Northampton " 139 386
"Baby" Lace, Northampton " 140 387
" " Beds " 141 387
" " Bucks " 142 387
Wire Ground, Northampton " 143 388
Valenciennes " " 144 388
Regency Point, Bedford " 145 389
Insertion, " " 146 389
Plaited Lace, " " 147 392
Raised Plait, " " 148 393
ENGLISH, SUFFOLK, BOBBIN LACE PLATE LXXXVII 394
English Needle-made Lace Fig. 149 396
HONITON WITH THE VRAI RÉSEAU PLATE LXXXVIII 402
Bone Lace from Cap, Devonshire Fig. 150 404
Monument of Bishop Stafford, Exeter Cathedral " 151 406
Monument of Lady Doddridge " " " 152 407
Honiton, sewn on plain pillow ground " 153 408
Old Devonshire " 154 408
Honiton Guipure " 155 410
Honeysuckle, Sprig of Modern Honiton " 156 411
Old Devonshire Point " 157 412
Lappet made by the late Mrs. Treadwin of Exeter " 158 412
Venetian Relief in Point " 159 414
ENGLISH.--DEVONSHIRE. FAN MADE AT BEER FOR THE PARIS
EXHIBITION, 1900 PLATE LXXXIX 416
Sir Alexander Gibson Fig. 160 424
Scotch, Hamilton " 161 431
IRISH, YOUGHAL PLATE XC 436
IRISH, CARRICKMACROSS " XCI 442
IRISH, LIMERICK LACE " XCII 442
IRISH, CROCHET LACE " XCIII 446
Arms of the Framework Knitters' Company Fig. 162 447
The Lagetta, or Lace-bark Tree " 163 456
Metre P. Quinty Figs. 164, 165 460
Pattern Book, Augsburg " 166, 167 462
Augsburg Fig. 168 463
Le Pompe, 1559 " 169 473
Manner of Pricking Pattern " 170 486
Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1605 " 171 492
Monogram " 172 492
"Bavari," from "Ornamento nobile" of Lucretia Romana " 173 498
{1}HISTORY OF LACE.
CHAPTER I.
NEEDLEWORK.
"As ladies wont
To finger the fine needle and nyse thread."--_Faerie Queene._
The art of lace-making has from the earliest times been so interwoven with
the art of needlework that it would be impossible to enter on the subject
of the present work without giving some mention of the latter.
With the Egyptians the art of embroidery was general, and at Beni Hassan
figures are represented making a sort of net--"they that work in flax, and
they that weave network."[1] Examples of elaborate netting have been found
in Egyptian tombs, and mummy wrappings are ornamented with drawn-work,
cut-work, and other open ornamentation. The outer tunics of the robes of
state of important personages appear to be fashioned of network darned
round the hem with gold and silver and coloured silks. Amasis, King of
Egypt, according to Herodotus,[2] sent to Athene of Lindus a corslet with
figures interwoven with gold and cotton, and to judge from a passage of
Ezekiel, the Egyptians even embroidered the sails of their galleys which
they exported to Tyre.[3]
{2}The Jewish embroiderers, even in early times, seem to have carried their
art to a high standard of execution. The curtains of the Tabernacle were of
"fine twined linen wrought with needlework, and blue, and purple, and
scarlet, with cherubims of cunning work."[4] Again, the robe of the ephod
was of gold and blue and purple and scarlet, and fine twined linen, and in
Isaiah we have mention of women's cauls and nets of checker-work. Aholiab
is specially recorded as a cunning workman, and chief embroiderer in blue,
and in purple, and in scarlet, and in fine linen,[5] and the description of
the virtuous woman in the Proverbs, who "layeth her hands to the spindle"
and clotheth herself in tapestry, and that of the king's daughter in the
Psalms, who shall be "brought unto the king in a raiment of needlework,"
all plainly show how much the art was appreciated amongst the Jews.[6]
Finally Josephus, in his _Wars of the Jews_, mentions the veil presented to
the Temple by Herod (B.C. 19), a Babylonian curtain fifty cubits high, and
sixteen broad, embroidered in blue and red, "of marvellous texture,
representing the universe, the stars, and the elements."
In the English Bible, _lace_ is frequently mentioned, but its meaning must
be qualified by the reserve due to the use of such a word in James I.'s
time. It is pretty evident that the translators used it to indicate a small
cord, since lace for decoration would be more commonly known at that time
as _purls_, _points_, or _cut-works_.[7]
"Of lace amongst the Greeks we seem to have no evidence. Upon the
well-known red and black vases are all kinds of figures clad in costumes
which are bordered with ornamental patterns, but these were painted upon,
woven into, or embroidered upon the fabric. They were not lace. Many
centuries elapsed before a marked and elaborately ornamental character
infused itself into twisted, plaited, or looped thread-work. During such a
period the fashion of ornamenting borders of costumes and hangings existed,
and underwent a few phases, as, for instance, in the Elgin marbles, where
crimped {3}edges appear along the flowing Grecian dresses." Embroidered
garments, cloaks, veils and cauls, and networks of gold are frequently
mentioned in Homer and other early authors.[8]
The countries of the Euphrates were renowned in classical times for the
beauty of their embroidered and painted stuffs which they manufactured.[9]
Nothing has come down to us of these Babylonian times, of which Greek and
Latin writers extolled the magnificence; but we may form some idea, from
the statues and figures engraved on cylinders, of what the weavers and
embroiderers of this ancient time were capable.[10] A fine stone in the
British Museum is engraved with the figure of a Babylonian king,
Merodach-Idin-Abkey, in embroidered robes, which speak of the art as
practised eleven hundred years B.C.[11] Josephus writes that the veils
given by Herod for the Temple were of Babylonian work ([Greek: peplos
babylônios])--the women excelling, according to Apollonius, in executing
designs of varied colours.
The Sidonian women brought by Paris to Troy embroidered veils of such rich
work that Hecuba deemed them worthy of being offered to Athene; and Lucan
speaks of the Sidonian veil worn by Cleopatra at a feast in her Alexandrine
palace, in honour of Cæsar.[12]
Phrygia was also renowned for its needlework, and from the shores of
Phrygia Asiatic and Babylonian embroideries were shipped to Greece and
Italy. The _toga picta_, worked with Phrygian embroidery, was worn by Roman
generals at their triumphs and by the consuls when they celebrated the
games; hence embroidery itself is styled "Phrygian,"[13] {4}and the Romans
knew it under no other name (_opus Phrygianum_).[14]
Gold needles and other working implements have been discovered in
Scandinavian tumuli. In the _London Chronicle_ of 1767 will be found a
curious account of the opening of a Scandinavian barrow near Wareham, in
Dorsetshire. Within the hollow trunk of an oak were discovered many bones
wrapped in a covering of deerskins neatly sewn together. There were also
the remains of a piece of gold lace, four inches long and two and a half
broad. This lace was black and much decayed, of the old lozenge
pattern,[15] that most ancient and universal of all designs, again found
depicted on the coats of ancient Danes, where the borders are edged with an
open or net-work of the same pattern.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.
GOLD LACE FOUND IN A BARROW.]
Passing to the first ages of the Christian era, we find the pontifical
ornaments, the altar and liturgical cloths, and the draperies then in
common use for hanging between the colonnades and porches of churches all
worked with holy images and histories from the Holy Writ. Rich men chose
sacred subjects to be embroidered on their dress, and one senator wore 600
figures worked upon his robes of state. Asterius, Bishop of Amasus,
thunders against those Christians "who wore the Gospels upon their backs
instead of in their hearts."[16]
In the Middle Ages spinning and needlework were the occupation of women of
all degrees. As early as the sixth {5}century the nuns in the diocese of
St. Césaire, Bishop of Arles, were forbidden to embroider robes enriched
with paintings, flowers, and precious stones. This prohibition, however,
was not general. Near Ely, an Anglo-Saxon lady brought together a number of
maidens to work for the monastery, and in the seventh century an Abbess of
Bourges, St. Eustadiole, made vestments and enriched the altar with the
work of her nuns. At the beginning of the ninth century St. Viborade, of
St. Gall, worked coverings for the sacred books of the monastery, for it
was the custom then to wrap in silk and carry in a linen cloth the Gospels
used for the offices of the Church.[17] Judith of Bavaria, mother of
Charles the Bold, stood sponsor for the Queen of Harold, King of Denmark,
who came to Ingelheim to be baptised with all his family, and gave her a
robe she had worked with her own hands and studded with precious stones.
"Berthe aux grands pieds," the mother of Charlemagne, was celebrated for
her skill in needlework,[18]
"à ouvrer si com je vous dirai
N'avoit meillor ouvriere de Tours jusqu'à Cambrai;"
while Charlemagne[19]--
"Ses filles fist bien doctriner,
Et aprendre keudre et filer."
Queen Adelhaïs, wife of Hugh Capet (987-996), presented to the Church of
St. Martin at Tours a cope, on the back of which she had embroidered the
Deity, surrounded by seraphim and cherubim, the front being worked with an
Adoration of the Lamb of God.[20]
Long before the Conquest, Anglo-Saxon women were skilled with the needle,
and gorgeous are the accounts of the gold-starred and scarlet-embroidered
tunics and violet sacks worked by the nuns. St. Dunstan himself designed
the ornaments of a stole worked by the hands of a noble Anglo-Saxon lady,
Ethelwynne, and sat daily in her bower with her maidens, directing the
work. The four daughters of {6}Edward the Elder are all praised for their
needle's skill. Their father, says William of Malmesbury, had caused them
in childhood "to give their whole attention to letters, and afterwards
employed them in the labours of the distaff and the needle." In 800
Denbert, Bishop of Durham, granted the lease of a farm of 200 acres for
life to an embroideress named Eanswitha for the charge of scouring,
repairing, and renewing the vestments of the priests of his diocese.[21]
The Anglo-Saxon Godric, Sheriff of Buckingham, granted to Alcuid half a
hide of land as long as he should be sheriff on condition she taught his
daughter the art of embroidery. In the tenth century Ælfleda, a high-born
Saxon lady, offered to the church at Ely a curtain on which she had wrought
the deeds of her husband, Brithnoth, slain by the Danes; and Edgitha, Queen
of Edward the Confessor, was "perfect mistress of her needle."
The famous Bayeux Tapestry or embroidery, said to have been worked by
Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror, is of great historical
interest.[22] It is, according to the chroniclers, "Une tente très longue
et estroite de telle a broderies de ymages et escriptaux faisant
représentation du Conquest de l'Angleterre"; a needle-wrought epic of the
Norman Conquest, worked on a narrow band of stout linen over 200 feet long,
and containing 1,255 figures worked on worsted threads.[23] Mr. Fowke gives
the Abbé Rue's doubts as to the accepted period of the Bayeux tapestry,
which he assigns to the Empress Matilda. Mr. Collingwood Bruce is of
opinion that the work is coeval with the events it records, as the
primitive furniture, buildings, etc., are all of the eleventh century. That
the tapestry is not found in any catalogue before 1369 is only a piece of
presumptive evidence against the earlier date, and must be weighed with the
internal evidence in its favour.
After the Battle of Hastings William of Normandy, on {7}his first
appearance in public, clad himself in a richly-wrought cloak of Anglo-Saxon
embroidery, and his secretary, William of Poictiers, states that "the
English women are eminently skilful with the needle and in weaving."
The excellence of the English work was maintained as time went on, and a
proof of this is found in an anecdote preserved by Matthew of Paris.[24]
"About this time (1246) the Lord Pope (Innocent IV.) having observed the
ecclesiastical ornaments of some Englishmen, such as choristers' copes and
mitres, were embroidered in gold thread after a very desirable fashion,
asked where these works were made, and received in answer, in England.
'Then,' said the Pope, 'England is surely a garden of delights for us. It
is truly a never-failing spring, and there, where many things abound, much
may be extracted.' Accordingly, the same Lord Pope sent sacred and sealed
briefs to nearly all the abbots of the Cistercian order established in
England, requesting them to have forthwith forwarded to him those
embroideries in gold which he preferred to all others, and with which he
wished to adorn his chasuble and choral cope, as if these objects cost them
nothing," an order which, adds the chronicler, "was sufficiently pleasing
to the merchants, but the cause of many persons detesting him for his
covetousness."
Perhaps the finest examples of the _opus anglicanum_ extant are the cope
and maniple of St. Cuthbert, taken from his coffin in the Cathedral of
Durham, and now preserved in the Chapter library. One side of the maniple
is of gold lace stitched on, worked apparently on a parchment pattern. The
Syon Monastery cope, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, is an invaluable
example of English needlework of the thirteenth century. "The greater
portion of its design is worked in a chain-stitch (modern tambour or
crochet), especially in the faces of the figures, where the stitch begins
in the centre, say, of a cheek, and is then worked in a spiral, thus
forming a series of circular lines. The texture so obtained is then, by
means of a hot, small and round-knobbed iron, pressed into indentations at
the centre of each spiral, and an effect of relief imparted to it. The
general {8}practice was to work the draperies in feather-stitch (_opus
plumarium_)."[25]
In the tenth century the art of pictorial embroidery had become universally
spread. The inventory of the Holy See (in 1293) mentions the embroideries
of Florence, Milan, Lucca, France, England, Germany, and Spain, and
throughout the Middle Ages embroidery was treated as a fine art, a serious
branch of painting.[26] In France the fashion continued, as in England, of
producing groups, figures and portraits, but a new development was given to
floral and elaborate arabesque ornament.[27]
It was the custom in feudal times[28] for knightly families to send their
daughters to the castles of their suzerain lords, there to be trained to
spin, weave and embroider under the eye of the lady châtelaine, a custom
which, in the more primitive countries, continued even to the French
Revolution. In the French romances these young ladies are termed
"chambrières," in our English, simply "the maidens." Great ladies prided
themselves upon the number of their attendants, and passed their mornings
at work, their labours beguiled by singing the "chansons à toile," as the
ballads written for those occasions were termed.[29]
{9}In the wardrobe accounts of our kings appear constant entries of working
materials purchased for the royal ladies.[30] There is preserved in the
cathedral at Prague an altar-cloth of embroidery and cut-work worked by
Anne of Bohemia, Queen of Richard II.
During the Wars of the Roses, when a duke of the blood royal is related to
have begged alms in the streets of the rich Flemish towns, ladies of rank,
more fortunate in their education, gained, like the French emigrants of
more modern days, their subsistence by the products of their needle.[31]
Without wishing to detract from the industry of mediæval ladies, it must be
owned that the swampy state of the country, the absence of all roads, save
those to be traversed in the fine season by pack-horses, and the deficiency
of all suitable outdoor amusement but that of hawking, caused them to while
away their time within doors the best way they could. Not twenty years
since, in the more remote provinces of France, a lady who quitted her house
daily would be remarked on. "Elle sort beaucoup," folks would say, as
though she were guilty of dissipation.
So queens and great ladies sewed on. We hear much of works of adornment,
more still of piety, when Katharine of Aragon appears on the scene. She had
learned much in her youth from her mother, Queen Isabella, and had probably
{10}assisted at those "trials" of needlework[32] established by that
virtuous queen among the Spanish ladies:--
"Her days did pass
In working with the needle curiously."[33]
It is recorded how, when Wolsey, with the papal legate Campeggio, going to
Bridewell, begged an audience of Queen Katharine, on the subject of her
divorce, they found her at work, like Penelope of old, with her maids, and
she came to them with a skein of red silk about her neck.[34]
Queen Mary Tudor is supposed, by her admirers, to have followed the example
of her illustrious mother, though all we find among the entries is a charge
"to working materials for Jane the Fole, one shilling."
No one would suspect Queen Elizabeth of solacing herself with the needle.
Every woman, however, had to make one shirt in her lifetime, and the "Lady
Elizabeth's grace," on the second anniversary of Prince Edward's birth,
when only six years of age, presented her brother with a cambric smock
wrought by her own hands.
The works of Scotland's Mary, who early studied all female accomplishments
under her governess, Lady Fleming, {11}are too well known to require
notice. In her letters are constant demands for silk and other working
materials wherewith to solace her long captivity. She had also studied
under Catherine de Médicis, herself an unrivalled needlewoman, who had
brought over in her train from Florence the designer for embroidery,
Frederick Vinciolo. Assembling her daughters, Claude, Elizabeth and
Margaret, with Mary Stuart, and her Guise cousins, "elle passoit," says
Brantôme, "fort son temps les apres-disnées à besogner apres ses ouvrages
de soye, où elle estoit tant parfaicte qu'il estoit possible."[35] The
ability of Reine Margot[36] is sung by Ronsard, who exalts her as imitating
Pallas in the art.[37]
Many of the great houses in England are storehouses of old needlework.
Hatfield, Penshurst, and Knole are all filled with the handiwork of their
ladies. The Countess of Shrewsbury, better known as "Building Bess," Bess
of Hardwick, found time to embroider furniture for her palaces, and her
samplar patterns hang to this day on their walls.
Needlework was the daily employment of the convent. As early as the
fourteenth century[38] it was termed "nun's work"; and even now, in
secluded parts of the kingdom, ancient lace is styled by that name.[39]
Nor does the occupation appear to have been solely {12}confined to women.
We find monks commended for their skill in embroidery,[40] and in the
frontispieces of some of the early pattern books of the sixteenth century,
men are represented working at frames, and these books are stated to have
been written "for the profit of men as well as of women."[41] Many were
composed by monks,[42] and in the library[43] of St. Geneviève at Paris,
are several works of this class, inherited from the monastery of that name.
As these books contain little or no letterpress, they could scarcely have
been collected by the monks unless with a view to using them.
At the dissolution of the monasteries, the ladies of the great Roman
Catholic families came to the rescue. Of the widow of the ill-fated Earl of
Arundel it is recorded: "Her gentlewomen and chambermaids she ever busied
in works ordained for the service of the Church. She permitted none to be
idle at any time."[44]
Instructions in the art of embroidery were now at a premium. The old nuns
had died out, and there were none to replace them.
Mrs. Hutchinson, in her _Memoirs_, enumerates, among the eight tutors she
had at seven years of age, one for needlework, while Hannah Senior, about
the same period, entered the service of the Earl of Thomond, to teach his
daughters the use of their needle, with the salary of £200 a year. The
money, however, was never paid; so she petitions the Privy Council for
leave to sue him.[45]
When, in 1614, the King of Siam applied to King James for an English wife,
a gentleman of "honourable parentage" offers his daughter, whom he
describes of excellent parts for "music, her needle, and good
discourse."[46] And these are the sole accomplishments he mentions. The
bishops, however, shocked at the proceeding, interfered, and put an end to
the projected alliance.
[Illustration: PLATE I.
ARGENTAN.--Showing buttonhole stitched réseau and "brides bouclées."
CIRCULAR BOBBIN RÉSEAU.--Variety of Mechlin.
VENETIAN NEEDLE-POINT. Portions of lace very much enlarged to show details
of stitches.]
[Illustration: VENETIAN NEEDLE-POINT.]
{13}No ecclesiastical objection, however, was made to the epitaph of
Catherine Sloper--she sleeps in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey, 1620:--
"Exquisite at her needle."
Till a very late date, we have ample record of the esteem in which this art
was held.
In the days of the Commonwealth, Mrs. Walker is described to have been as
well skilled in needlework "as if she had been brought up in a convent."
She kept, however, a gentlewoman for teaching her daughters.
Evelyn, again, praises the talent of his daughter, Mrs. Draper. "She had,"
writes he, "an extraordinary genius for whatever hands could do with a
needle."
The queen of Charles I. and the wives of the younger Stuarts seem to have
changed the simple habits of their royal predecessors, for when Queen Mary,
in her Dutch simplicity, sat for hours at the knotted fringe, her favourite
employment, Bishop Burnet, her biographer, adds, "It was a strange thing to
see a queen work for so many hours a day," and her homely habits formed a
never-ending subject of ridicule for the wit of Sir Charles Sedley.[47]
From the middle of the last century, or rather apparently from the French
Revolution, the more artistic style of needlework and embroidery fell into
decadence. The simplicity of male costume rendered it a less necessary
adjunct to female or, indeed, male education. However, two of the greatest
generals of the Republic, Hoche and Moreau, followed the employment of
embroidering satin waistcoats long after they had entered the military
service. We may look upon the art now as almost at an end.
{14}CHAPTER II.
CUT-WORK.
"These workes belong chiefly to gentlewomen to passe away their time in
vertuous exercises."
"Et lors, sous vos lacis à mille fenestrages
Raiseuls et poinct couppés et tous vos clairs ouvrages."
--_Jean Godard_, 1588.
It is from that open-work embroidery which in the sixteenth century came
into such universal use that we must derive the origin of lace, and, in
order to work out the subject, trace it through all its gradations.
This embroidery, though comprising a wide variety of decoration, went by
the general name of cut-work.
The fashion of adorning linen has prevailed from the earliest times. Either
the edges were worked with close embroidery--the threads drawn and
fashioned with a needle in various forms--or the ends of the cloth
unravelled and plaited with geometric precision.
To judge from the description of the linen grave-clothes of St.
Cuthbert,[48] as given by an eye-witness to his disinterment in the twelfth
century, they were ornamented in a manner similar to that we have
described. "There had been," says the chronicler, "put over him a sheet ...
this sheet had a fringe of linen thread of a finger's length; upon its
sides and ends were woven a border of projecting workmanship fabricated of
the thread itself, bearing the figures of birds and beasts so arranged that
between every two pairs there were interwoven among them the representation
of a branching tree which divides the figures. This tree, so tastefully
depicted, appears to be putting forth its leaves," etc. There can be no
doubt that this sheet, for many centuries preserved in the cathedral church
of Durham, was a specimen of cut-work, which, though later it came into
general use, was, at an early period of our history, alone used for
ecclesiastical purposes, and an art which was, till the dissolution of
monasteries, looked upon as a church secret.
[Illustration: PLATE II.
ITALIAN BOBBIN RÉSEAU.
SIX-POINTED STAR-MESHED BOBBIN RÉSEAU.--Variety of Valenciennes.
BRUSSELS BOBBIN RÉSEAU.
FOND CHANT OF CHANTILLY AND POINT DE PARIS.
Valenciennes. Lille. Toilé.
DETAILS OF BOBBIN RÉSEAU AND TOILÉ.
Alençon réseau.
DETAILS OF NEEDLE RÉSEAU AND BUTTONHOLE STITCHES.
Portions of lace very much enlarged to show details of stitches.]
_To face page 14._
{15}Though cut-work is mentioned in Hardyng's _Chronicle_,[49] when
describing the luxury in King Richard II.'s reign, he says:--
"Cut werke was greate both in court and townes,
Both in menes hoddis and also in their gownes,"
yet this oft-quoted passage, no more than that of Chaucer, in which he
again accuses the priests of wearing gowns of scarlet and green colours
ornamented with cut-work, can scarcely be received as evidence of this mode
of decoration being in general use. The royal wardrobe accounts of that day
contain no entries on the subject. It applies rather to the fashion of
cutting out[50] pieces of velvet or other materials, and sewing them down
to the garment with a braid like ladies' work of the present time. Such
garments were in general use, as the inventories of mediæval times fully
attest.
The linen shirt or smock was the special object of adornment, and on the
decoration of the collar and sleeves much time and ingenuity were expended.
In the ancient ballad of "Lord Thomas,"[51] the fair Annette cries:--
"My maids, gae to my dressing-room,
And dress me in my smock;
The one half is o' the Holland fine,
The other o' needlework."
Chaucer, too, does not disdain to describe the embroidery of a lady's
smock--
"White was her smocke, embrouded all before
And eke behynde, on her colar aboute,
Of cole blacke sylke, within and eke without."
The sums expended on the decoration of this most necessary article of dress
sadly excited the wrath of {16}Stubbes, who thus vents his indignation:
"These shirtes (sometymes it happeneth) are wrought throughout with
needlework of silke, and such like, and curiously stitched with open seame,
and many other knackes besides, more than I can describe; in so much, I
have heard of shirtes that have cost some ten shillynges, some twenty, some
forty, some five pounds, some twenty nobles, and (which is horrible to
heare) some ten pound a pece."[52]
Up to the time of Henry VIII. the shirt was "pynched" or plaited--
"Come nere with your shirtes bordered and displayed,
In foarme of surplois."[53]
These,[54] with handkerchiefs,[55] sheets, and pillow-beres,[56]
(pillow-cases), were embroidered with silks of various {17}colours, until
the fashion gradually gave place to cut-work, which, in its turn, was
superseded by lace.
The description of the widow of John Whitcomb, a wealthy clothier of
Newbury, in Henry VIII.'s reign, when she laid aside her weeds, is the
first notice we have of cutwork being in general use. "She came," says the
writer, "out of the kitchen in a fair train gown stuck full of silver pins,
having a white cap upon her head, with cuts of curious needlework, the same
an apron, white as the driven snow."
We are now arrived at the Renaissance, a period when so close a union
existed between the fine arts and manufactures; when the most trifling
object of luxury, instead of being consigned to the vulgar taste of the
mechanic, received from artists their most graceful inspirations.
Embroidery profited by the general impulse, and books of designs were
composed for that species which, under the general name of cut-work, formed
the great employment for the women of the day. The volume most generally
circulated, especially among the ladies of the French court, for whose use
it was designed, is that of the Venetian Vinciolo, to whom some say, we
know not on what authority, Catherine de Médicis granted, in 1585, the
exclusive privilege of making and selling the _collerettes gaudronnées_[57]
she had herself introduced. This work, which passed through many editions,
dating from 1587 to 1623, is entitled, "Les singuliers et nouveaux
pourtraicts et ouvrages de Lingerie. Servans de patrons à faire toutes
sortes de poincts, couppé, Lacis & autres. Dedié à la Royne. Nouvellement
inventez, au proffit et contentement des nobles Dames et Demoiselles &
autres gentils esprits, amateurs d'un tel art. Par le Seigneur Federic de
Vinciolo Venitien. A Paris. Par Jean le Clerc le jeune, etc., 1587."
Two little figures, representing ladies in the costume of the period, with
working-frames in their hands, decorate the title-page.[58]
The work is in two books: the first of Point Coupé, or {18}rich geometric
patterns, printed in white upon a black ground (Fig. 2); the second of
Lacis, or subjects in squares (Fig. 3), with counted stitches, like the
patterns for worsted-work of the present day--the designs, the seven
planets, Neptune, and various squares, borders, etc.
Vinciolo dedicates his book to Louise de Vaudemont, the neglected Queen of
Henry III., whose portrait, with that of the king, is added to the later
editions.
Various other pattern-books had already been published. The earliest
bearing a date is one printed at Cologne in 1527.[59]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.
POINT COUPÉ.--(Vinciolo.)]
These books are scarce; being designed for patterns, and traced with a
metal style, or pricked through, many perished in the using. They are much
sought after by the collector as among the early specimens of wood-block
printing. We give therefore in the Appendix a list of those we find
recorded, or of which we have seen copies, observing that the greater
number, though generally composed for one particular art, may be applied
indifferently to any kind of ornamental work.
PLATE III.
[Illustration: Altar or Table Cloth of fine linen embroidered with gold
thread, laid, and in satin stitches on both sides. The Cut out spaces are
filled with white thread needle-point lace. The edging is alternated of
white and gold thread needle-point lace. Probably Italian. Late sixteenth
century.--Victoria and Albert Museum.]
_To face page 18_
{19}Cut-work was made in several manners. The first consisted in arranging
a network of threads upon a small frame, crossing and interlacing them into
various complicated patterns. Beneath this network was gummed a piece of
fine cloth, called quintain,[60] from the town in Brittany where it was
made. Then, with a needle, the network was sewn to the quintain by edging
round those parts of the pattern that were to remain thick. The last
operation was to cut away the superfluous cloth; hence the name of
cut-work.
[Illustration: Fig. 3.
LACIS.--(Vinciolo. _Edition_ 1588.)
Ce Pelican contient en longueur 70 mailles et en hauteur 65.]
{20}The author of the _Consolations aux Dames_, 1620, in addressing the
ladies, thus specially alludes to the custom of working on quintain:--
"Vous n'employiez les soirs et les matins
A façonner vos grotesques quaintains,
O folle erreur--O despence excessive."
Again, the pattern was made without any linen at all; threads, radiating at
equal distances from one common centre, served as a framework to others
which were united to them in squares, triangles, rosettes, and other
geometric forms, worked over with button-hole stitch (_point noué_),
forming in some parts open-work, in others a heavy compact embroidery. In
this class may be placed the old conventual cut-work of Italy, generally
termed Greek lace, and that of extraordinary fineness and beauty which is
assigned to Venice. Distinct from all these geometric combinations was the
lacis[61] of the sixteenth century, done on a network ground (_réseau_),
identical with the _opus araneum_ or spider-work of continental writers,
the "darned netting" or modern _filet brodé à reprises_ of the French
embroiderers.
The ground consisted of a network of square meshes, on which was worked the
pattern, sometimes cut out of linen and appliqué,[62] but more usually
darned with stitches like tapestry. This darning-work was easy of
execution, and the stitches being regulated by counting the meshes,[63]
effective geometric patterns could be produced. Altar-cloths, baptismal
napkins, as well as bed coverlets and table-cloths, were decorated with
these squares of net embroidery. In the Victoria and Albert Museum there
are several {21}gracefully-designed borders to silk table-covers in this
work, made both of white and coloured threads, and of silk of various
shades. The ground, as we learn from a poem on lacis, affixed to the
pattern-book of "Milour Mignerak,"[64] was made by beginning a single
stitch, and increasing a stitch on each side until the required size was
obtained. If a strip or long border was to be made, the netting was
continued to its prescribed length, and then finished off by reducing a
stitch on each side till it was decreased to one, as garden nets are made
at the present day.
This plain netted ground was called _réseau_, _rézel_, _rézeuil_,[65] and
was much used for bed-curtains, vallances, etc.
In the inventory of Mary Stuart, made at Fotheringay,[66] we find, "Le lict
d'ouvrage à rezel"; and again, under the care of Jane Kennethee, the
"Furniture of a bedd of network and Holland intermixed, not yet finished."
When the _réseau_ was decorated with a pattern, it was termed _lacis_, or
darned netting, the Italian _punto ricamato a maglia quadra_, and, combined
with _point-coupé_, was much used for bed-furniture. It appears to have
been much employed for church-work,[67] for the sacred emblems. The Lamb
and the Pelican are frequently represented.[68]
{22}In the inventory of Sir John Foskewe (modern Fortescue), Knight, time
of Henry VIII., we find in the hall, "A hanging of green saye, bordered
with darning."
Queen Mary Stuart, previous to the birth of James I. (1560), made a will,
which still exists,[69] with annotations in her own handwriting. After
disposing of her jewels and objects of value, she concludes by bequeathing
"tous mes ouvrages masches et collets aux 4 Maries, à Jean Stuart, et Marie
Sunderland, et toutes les filles";--"masches,"[70] with _punti a maglia_,
being among the numerous terms applied to this species of work.
These "ouvrages masches" were doubtless the work of Queen Mary and her
ladies. She had learned the art at the French court, where her
sister-in-law, Reine Margot, herself also a prisoner for many life-long
years, appears to have occupied herself in the same manner, for we find in
her accounts,[71] "Pour des moulles et esguilles pour faire rezeuil la
somme de iiii. L. tourn." And again, "Pour avoir monté une fraize neufve de
reseul la somme de X. sols tourn."
Catherine de Médicis had a bed draped with squares of reseuil or lacis, and
it is recorded that "the girls and servants of her household consumed much
time in making squares of reseuil." The inventory of her property and goods
includes a coffer containing three hundred and eighty-one of such squares
unmounted, whilst in another were found five hundred and thirty-eight
squares, some worked with rosettes or with blossoms, and others with
nosegays.[72]