the ground together.
7. Striqueuse, or appliqueuse (strikes), is charged with the sewing
(application) of the flowers upon the ground.
The pattern is designed by the head of the fabric, who, having cut the
parchment into pieces, hands it out ready pricked. The worker has no
reflections to make, no combinations to study. The whole responsibility
rests with the master, who selects the ground, chooses the thread, and
alone knows the effect to be produced by the whole.
The pattern of Brussels lace has always followed the fashion of the day.
The most ancient is in the Gothic style (_Gothique pur_), its architectural
ornaments resembling a pattern cut out in paper. This style was replaced by
the flowing lines which prevailed till the end of the last century. (Fig.
60.)
In its turn succeeded the _genre fleuri_ of the First Empire, an assemblage
of flowers, sprigs, columns, wreaths, and petits semés, such as spots,
crosses, stars, etc. In flowers, the palm and pyramidal forms predominated.
Under the Restoration the flowery style remained in fashion, but the palms
and pyramids became more rare. Since 1830 great changes have taken place in
the patterns, which every year become more elegant and more artistic.
[Illustration: Fig. 59.
OLD BRUSSELS. (Point d'Angleterre. Bobbin-made, circ. 1750.)
_To face page 122._]
{123}The lace industry of Brussels is now divided into two branches, the
making of detached sprigs, either point or pillow, for application upon the
net ground, and the modern _point à l'aiguille gazée_, also called point de
Venise, a needlework lace in which the flowers are made simultaneously with
the ground, by means of the same thread, as in the old Brussels. It is made
in small pieces, the joining concealed by small sprigs or leaves, after the
manner of the old point, the same lace-worker executing the whole strip
from beginning to end. Point gaze is now brought to the highest perfection,
and the specimens in the Paris Exhibition of 1867 were remarkable for the
precision of the work, the variety and richness of the "jours," and the
clearness of the ground.
_Brussels point à l'aiguille, point de gaze_, is the most filmy and
delicate of all point lace. Its forms are not accentuated by a raised
outline of button-hole stitching, as in point d'Alençon and point
d'Argentan, but are simply outlined by a thread. The execution is more open
and slight than in early lace, and part of the _toilé_ is made is close,
part in open stitch, to give an appearance of shading. The style of the
designs is naturalistic. (Plate LII.)
"Point Duchesse" is a bobbin lace of fine quality, in which the sprigs
resemble Honiton lace united by "brides." Duchesse is a modern name. The
work less resembles the old Brussels laces than the "Guipure de Flandre,"
made at Bruges in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which was much
used for cravats, being exceedingly rich and soft in effect. Bobbin lace is
sometimes named point Plat; the word point in this case signifies the fine
quality of the lace, and has nothing to do with the needle-point. Point
Plat appliqué is the name given to Belgian bobbin-made sprigs which are
afterwards applied to machine-made net. Bobbin lace is not now made in
Brussels itself.
Brussels was a favoured lace at the court of the First Empire.[351] When
Napoleon and the Empress Marie Louise made their first public entry into
the Belgian capital, they {124}gave large orders for albs of the richest
point, destined as a present for the Pope. The city, on its part, offered
to the Empress a collection of its finest lace, on vrai réseau, of
marvellous beauty; also a curtain of Brussels point, emblematic of the
birth of the King of Rome, with Cupids supporting the drapery of the
cradle. After the battle of Waterloo, Monsieur Troyaux, a manufacturer at
Brussels, stopped his lace fabric, and, having turned it into a hospital
for forty English soldiers, furnished them with linen, as well as other
necessaries, and the attendance of trained nurses. His humane conduct did
not go unrewarded; he received a decoration from his sovereign, while his
shop was daily crowded with English ladies, who then, and for years after,
made a point of purchasing their laces at his establishment when passing
through Brussels. Monsieur Troyaux made a large fortune and retired from
business.[352]
MECHLIN.
"And if disputes of empire rise between
Mechlin, the Queen of Lace, and Colberteen,
'Tis doubt, 'tis darkness! till suspended Fate
Assumes her nod to close the grand debate."
--Young, _Love of Fame_.
"Now to another scene give place;
Enter the Folks with silk and lace,
Fresh matter for a world of chat
Right Indian this, right Macklin that."
--Swift, _Journal of a Modern Lady_.
"Mechlin, the finest lace of all!"
--Anderson, _Origin of Commerce_.
"Rose: Pray, what may this lace be worth a yard?
"Balance: Right Mechlin, by this light!"
--Farquhar, _The Recruiting Officer_.
[Illustration: Fig. 60.
OLD BRUSSELS. (Point d'Angleterre. Formerly belonging to Queen Charlotte.)
_To face page 124._]
{125}Mechlin is the prettiest of laces, fine, transparent, and effective.
It is made in one piece, on the pillow, with various fancy stitches
introduced. Its distinguishing feature is the cordonnet or flat silky
thread which outlines the pattern, and gives to this lace the character of
embroidery (hence it is sometimes called Broderie de Malines[353]); and
secondly, the hexagonal mesh of the réseau. "This is made of two threads
twisted twice on four sides, and four threads plaited three times on the
two other sides. Thus the plait is shorter and the mesh consequently
smaller than that of Brussels lace." Mechlin was sometimes grounded with
an ornamental réseau called _Fond de neige_, or _Oeil de perdrix_, and also
with the six-pointed _Fond Chant_; but these varieties are not common. The
earliest Mechlin has the _points d'esprit_, and is very rare. It was made
at Mechlin, Antwerp, Lierre and Turnhout, but the manufacture has long been
on the decline. In 1834 there were but eight houses where it was
fabricated, but at a later date it appears to have partially revived. There
was a fine collection of Mechlin lace in the Paris Exhibition of 1867 from
Turnhout (Prov. Antwerp), and some other localities. Very little is now
manufactured. It is difficult to trace the real point de Malines. Previous
to 1665, as elsewhere stated, all Flanders laces, with some exceptions,
were known to the French commercial world as "Malines." According to
Savary, the laces of Ypres, Bruges, Dunkirk and Courtrai passed at Paris
under that name--hence we have in the inventories of the time, "Malines à
bride,"[354] as well as "Malines à rézeau."[355]
The statute of Charles II. having placed a bar to the introduction of
Flanders lace into England, Mechlin neither appears in the advertisements
nor inventories of the time.
We find mention of this fabric in France as early as Anne of Austria, who
is described in the memoirs of Marion {126}de l'Orme as wearing a veil "en
frizette de Malines."[356] Again, the Maréchal de la Motte, who died in
1657, has, noted in his inventory,[357] a pair of Mechlin ruffles.
Regnard, who visited Flanders in 1681, writes from this city: "The common
people here, as throughout all Flanders, occupy themselves in making the
white lace known as Malines, and the Béguinage, the most considerable in
the country, is supported by the work of the Béguines, in which they excel
greatly."[358]
When, in 1699, the English prohibition was removed, Mechlin lace became the
grand fashion, and continued so during the succeeding century. Queen Mary
anticipated the repeal by some years, for, in 1694, she purchased two yards
of knotted fringe for her Mechlin ruffles,[359] which leads us to hope she
had brought the lace with her from Holland; though, as early as 1699, we
have advertised in the _London Gazette_, August 17th to 21st: "Lost from
Barker's coach a deal box containing," among other articles, "a waistcoat
and Holland shirt, both laced with Mecklin lace." Queen Anne purchased it
largely; at least, she paid in 1713[360] £247 6s. 9d. for eighty-three
yards, either to one Margaret Jolly or one Francis Dobson, "Millenario
Regali"--the Royal Milliner, as he styles himself. George I. indulges in a
"Macklin" cravat.[361]
"It is impossible," says Savary about this time, "to imagine how much
Mechlin lace is annually purchased by France and Holland, and in England it
has always held the highest favour."
Of the beau of 1727 it is said:
"Right Macklin must twist round his bosom and wrists."
PLATE XXXIX.
[Illustration: MECHLIN.--Four specimens of seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. Arranged by age, the oldest at the top. The upper one is the end
of a lappet, the property of Mr. Arthur Blackborne. Width about 3½ in.
Widths of smaller pieces, 1¾ in., lower 2½ in.
Photos by A. Dryden.]
_To face page 126._
{127}While Captain Figgins of the 67th, a dandy of the first water, is
described, like the naval puppy of Smollett in _Roderick Random_, "his hair
powdered with maréchal, a cambric shirt, his Malines lace dyed with
coffee-grounds." Towards 1755 the fashion seems to have been on the decline
in England. "All the town," writes Mr. Calderwood, "is full of convents;
Mechlin lace is all made there; I saw a great deal, and very pretty and
cheap. They talk of giving up the trade, as the English, upon whom they
depended, have taken to the wearing of French blondes. The lace merchants
employ the workers and all the town with lace. Though they gain but
twopence halfpenny daily, it is a good worker who will finish a Flemish
yard (28 inches) in a fortnight."
[Illustration: Fig. 61.
MECHLIN.--(Period Louis XVI.)]
Mechlin is essentially a summer lace, not becoming in itself, but charming
when worn over colour. It found great favour at the court of the Regent, as
the inventories of the period attest. Much of this lace, judging from these
accounts, was made in the style of the modern insertion, with an edging on
both sides, "campané," and, being light in texture, was well adapted for
the gathered trimmings, later termed[362] "quilles," now better known as
"plissés à la {128}vieille."[363] Mechlin can never have been used as a
"dentelle de grande toilette"; it served for coiffures de nuit, garnitures
de corset, ruffles and cravats.[364]
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, describing an admirer, writes:
"With eager beat his Mechlin cravat moves--
He loves, I whisper to myself, he loves!"
[Illustration: Fig. 62.
MECHLIN.--(Formerly belonging to H. M. Queen Charlotte.)]
It was the favourite lace of Queen Charlotte (Fig. 62) and of the Princess
Amelia. Napoleon I. was also a great admirer of this fabric, and when he
first saw the light Gothic tracery of the cathedral spire of Antwerp, he
exclaimed, "C'est comme de la dentelle de Malines."
[Illustration: PLATE XL.
MECHLIN.--Three specimens of last half of eighteenth century.
Victoria and Albert Museum. Width, 5 in.
Photos by A. Dryden from Mrs. Ellis' Collection. Width, 4 ½ in. Width, 4
in.]
_To face page 123._
{129}ANTWERP.
"At Antwerp, bought some ruffles of our agreeable landlady, and set out
at 2 o'clock for Brussels."--_Tour_, by G. L., 1767.
Before finishing our account of the laces of Brabant, we must touch upon
the produce of Antwerp, which, though little differing from that of the
adjoining towns, seems at one time to have been known in the commercial
world.[365] In the year 1560 we have no mention of lace among the fabrics
of Antwerp, at that period already flourishing, unless it be classed under
the head of "mercery, fine and rare."[366] The cap, however, of an Antwerp
lady[367] of that period is decorated with the fine lace of geometric
pattern. (Fig. 63.) As early as 1698 the _Flying Postman_ advertises as
follows: "Yesterday, was dropped between the Mitre Tavern and the corner of
Princes-street, five yards and better of Antwerp lace, pinner breadth. One
guinea reward."
According to Savary, much lace without ground, "dentelle sans fond," a
guipure of large flowers united by "brides," was fabricated in all the
towns of Brabant for especial exportation to the Spanish Indies, where the
"Gothic" taste continued in favour up to a very late period. These envoys
{130}were expedited first to Cadiz, and there disposed of. In 1696, we find
in a seizure made by Monsieur de la Bellière, on the high seas, "2181
pieces de dentelles grossières à l'Espagnole assorties."[368] (Plate XLI.)
Since the cessation of this Spanish market, Antwerp lace would have
disappeared from the scene had it not been for the attachment evinced by
the old people for one pattern, which has been worn on their caps from
generation to generation, generally known by the name of "pot lace" (potten
kant). It is made in the Béguinages of three qualities, mostly "fond
double." The pattern has always a vase (Fig. 64), varied according to
fancy.[369] Antwerp now makes Brussels lace.
[Illustration: Fig. 63.
A LADY OF ANTWERP.--(Ob. 1598. After Crispin de Passe.)]
One of the earliest pattern-books, that printed by Vorsterman[370]--the
title in English--was published at Antwerp, but it only contains patterns
for Spanish stitch and other embroidery--no lace. There is no date affixed
to the title-page, which is ornamented with six woodcuts representing
women, and one a man, working at frames. This work is most rare; the only
copy known may be found in the Library of the Arsenal at Paris.
[Illustration: Fig. 64.
ANTWERP POT LACE (Potten Kant).
_To face page 130._]
{131}Turnhout, which with Antwerp and Mechlin form the three divisions of
the modern province of Antwerp, seems to have largely manufactured lace up
to the present century; as we find in 1803, out of forty lace thread and
lace fabrics in the province, there were thirteen at Antwerp, twelve at
Turnhout, and nine at Malines.[371] Turnhout now produces Mechlin.
FLANDERS (WEST).
The most important branch of the pillow-lace trade in Belgium is the
manufacture of Valenciennes, which, having expired in its native city, has
now spread over East and West Flanders. The art was originally imported
into Flanders from French Hainault in the seventeenth century. As early as
1656, Ypres began to make Valenciennes lace. When, in 1684, a census was
made by order of Louis XIV., there were only three forewomen[372] and
sixty-three lace-makers. In 1850, there were from 20,000 to 22,000 in Ypres
and its environs alone.
The productions of Ypres are of the finest quality and most elaborate in
their workmanship. On a piece not two inches wide, from 200 to 300 bobbins
are employed, and for the larger widths as many as 800 or more are used on
the same pillow. In the exhibition of 1867, one exhibited with the lace in
progress had 1,200 bobbins,[373] while in the International Exhibition of
1874 there were no less than 8,000 bobbins on a Courtrai pillow used for
making a parasol cover. The ground is in large clear squares, which
admirably throws up the even tissue of the patterns. In these there was
little variety until 1833, when a manufacturer[374] adopted a clear
{132}wire ground with bold flowing designs, instead of the thick
_treille_[375] and scanty flowers of the old laces. (Fig. 65.) The change
was accepted by fashion, and the Valenciennes lace of Ypres has now
attained a high degree of perfection. Courtrai has made great advances
towards rivalling Ypres in its productions.
[Illustration: Fig. 65.
VALENCIENNES LACE OF YPRES.]
Not a hundred years since, when the laces of Valenciennes prospered, those
of Belgium were designated as "fausses Valenciennes." Belgium has now the
monopoly to a commercial value of more than £800,000.[376] The other
principal centres of the manufacture are Bruges, Courtrai, and Menin in
West, Ghent and Alost in East, Flanders. When Peuchet wrote in the
eighteenth century, he cites "les dentelles à l'instar de Valenciennes" of
Courtrai as being in favour, and generally sought after both in England and
France, while those of Bruges are merely alluded to as "passing for
Mechlin." From this it may be inferred the tide had not then flowed so far
north. The Valenciennes of Bruges, from its round ground, has never enjoyed
a high reputation.
PLATE XLI.
[Illustration: FLEMISH. FLAT SPANISH BOBBIN LACE.--Made in Flanders.
Seventeenth century.
From a photo the property of A. Dryden.]
_To face page 132._
{133}In forming the ground, the bobbins are only twisted twice, while in
those of Ypres and Alost, the operation is performed four and five
times.[377] The oftener the bobbins are twisted the clearer and more
esteemed is the Valenciennes. The "guipure de Flandres" made at Bruges in
"point plat" is now in high repute, and has proved from its low price a
formidable rival to Honiton, which it resembles, but the workmanship is
coarser and inferior than in the best Honiton. It is of a brilliant white,
and composed of bobbin-made flowers united by _barettes_ or _brides à
picot_. In the _L'Industrie Dentellière Belge_ (1860), it is stated that
West Flanders has now 180 fabrics and 400 lace schools. Of these, 157 are
the property of religious communities, and number upwards of 30,000
apprentices.[378]
FLANDERS (EAST).
No traveller has passed through the city of Ghent for the last hundred
years without describing the Béguinage and its lace school. "The women,"
writes the author of the _Grand Tour_, 1756, "number nigh 5,000, go where
they please, and employ their time in weaving lace."
Savary cites the "fausses Valenciennes," which he declares to equal the
real in beauty. "They are," continues he, "moins serrées, un peu moins
solides, et un peu moins chères."
The best account, however, we have of the Ghent manufactures is contained
in a letter addressed to Sir John Sinclair by Mr. Hey Schoulthem in 1815.
"The making of lace," he writes, "at the time the French entered the Low
Countries, employed a considerable number of people of both sexes, and
great activity prevailed in Ghent. The lace was chiefly for daily use; it
was sold in Holland, France and England. A large quantity of 'sorted' laces
of a peculiar quality were exported to Spain and the colonies. It is to be
feared that, after an interruption of twenty years, this lucrative branch
of commerce will be at an end: the changes of fashion have even reached the
West Indian colonists, {134}whose favourite ornaments once consisted of
Flemish laces[379] and fringes. These laces were mostly manufactured in the
charitable institutions for poor girls, and by old women whose eyes did not
permit them to execute a finer work. As for the young girls, the quality of
these Spanish laces, and the facility of their execution, permitted the
least skilful to work them with success, and proved a means of rendering
them afterwards excellent workwomen. At present, the best market for our
laces is in France; a few also are sent to England." He continues to state
that, since the interruption of the commerce with Spain, to which Ghent
formerly belonged, the art has been replaced by a trade in cotton; but that
cotton-weaving spoils the hand of the lace-makers, and, if continued, would
end by annihilating the lace manufacture.[380]
Grammont and Enghien formerly manufactured a cheap white thread lace, now
replaced by the making of laces of black silk. This industry was introduced
towards 1840 by M. Lepage, and black silk and cotton-thread lace is now
made at Grammont, Enghien, and Oudenarde in the southern part of Eastern
Flanders. The lace of Grammont is remarkable for its regularity, the good
quality of its silk, and its low price, but its grounds are coarse, and the
patterns want relief and solidity, and the bobbins are more often twisted
in making the ground, which deprives it of its elasticity. Grammont makes
no small pieces, but shawls, dresses, etc., principally for the American
market.
The "industrie dentellière" of East Flanders is now most flourishing. In
1869 it boasted 200 fabrics directed by the laity, and 450 schools under
the superintendence of the nuns. Even in the poor-houses (hospices) every
woman capable of using a bobbin passes her day in lace-making.
HAINAULT.
The laces of Mons and those once known as "les figures de Chimay" both in
the early part of the eighteenth century enjoyed a considerable reputation.
Mrs. Palliser, on visiting Chimay in 1874, could find no traces of the
manufacture beyond an aged lace-maker, an inmate of the hospice, who made
black lace--"point de Paris"--and who said that until lately Brussels lace
had also been made at Chimay.
PLATE XLII.
[Illustration: FLEMISH. GUIPURE DE FLANDRE, BOBBIN-MADE.--Seventeenth
century. In the Musée Cinquantenaire, Brussels.]
_To face page 134._
{135}The first Binche lace has the character of Flanders lace, so it has
been supposed that the women who travelled from Ghent in the train of Mary
of Burgundy, the daughter of Charles le Téméraire, created the taste for
lace at Binche, and that the stay of the great ladies, on their visits to
the royal lady of the manor, made the fortune of the lace-makers.
Afterwards there was much traffic between the lace-workers of Brussels and
Binche, and there is a great resemblance between the laces of the two
towns. Sometimes the latter is less light, richer, and more complex in
effect, and the design is closely sprinkled with open-work, the ground
varied and contrasted.
Binche was, as early as 1686, the subject of a royal edict, leading one to
infer that the laces it produced were of some importance. In the said
edict, the roads of Verviers, Gueuse, and Le Catelet, to those persons
coming from Binche, are pronounced "faux passages."[381] Savary esteems the
products of this little village. The same laces, he adds, are made in all
the _monastères_ of the province, that are partly maintained by the gains.
The lace is good, equal to that of Brabant and Flanders. The characteristic
peculiarities of Binche are, that there is either no cordonnet at all
outlining the pattern, or that the cordonnet is scarcely a thicker thread
than that which makes the _toilé_.[382] The design itself is very
indefinite, and is practically the same as the early Valenciennes laces.
Varieties of the _fond de neige_ ground were used instead of the regular
_réseau_ ground. Dentelle de Binche appears to have been much in vogue in
the last century. It is mentioned in the inventory of the Duchesse de
Modène,[383] daughter of the Regent, 1761; and in that of Mademoiselle de
Charollais, 1758, who has a "couvrepied, mantelet, garniture de robe,
jupon," etc., all of the same lace. In the _Misérables_ of Victor Hugo, the
old grandfather routs out {136}from a cupboard "une ancienne garniture de
guipure de Binche" for Cosette's wedding-dress.[384] The Binche application
flowers have already been noticed.
The lace industry of Binche will soon be only a memory. But before 1830 it
"was a hive of lace-makers, and the bees of this hive earned so much money
by making lace that their husbands could go and take a walk without a care
for the morrow," as it is curiously phrased in an account of Binche and its
lace. (Plate XLIII.)
We have now named the great localities for lace-making throughout the Low
Countries. Some few yet remain unmentioned.
The needle-point of Liège should be mentioned among the Flanders laces. At
the Cathedral of Liège there is still to be seen a flounce of an alb
unequalled for the richness and variety of its design and its perfection.
Liège in her days of ecclesiastical grandeur carried on the lace trade like
the rest.[385] We read, in 1620, of "English Jesuitesses at Liège, who seem
to care as much for politics as for lace-making."[386]
An early pattern-book, that of Jean de Glen, a transcript of Vinciolo, was
published in that city in 1597. It bears the mark of his
printing-press--three acorns with the motto, "Cuique sua præmia," and is
dedicated to Madame Loyse de Perez. He concludes a complimentary dedication
to the lady with the lines:--