(1673) Colbert writes to M. le Comte d'Avaux, who succeeded M. de Bonzy as
ambassador at Venice: "I have gladly received the collar of needlepoint
lace worked in relief that you have sent me, and I find it very beautiful.
I shall have it compared with those new laces being made by our own
lace-makers, although I may tell you beforehand that as good specimens are
now made in this kingdom."[453] Alençon, an old lace-making centre, was
chosen as the seat of the new manufacture.[454] Favier-Duboulay writes to
Colbert that, before the introduction of the new points de France,
lace-making was to the peasants "une manne, et une vraie bénédiction du
ciel, qui s'est espandue sur tout ce pays." The art had spread far and wide
through the district about Alençon; children of seven years of age and aged
men earned their daily bread by it, and the shepherdesses worked at their
lace while herding their flocks.
{156}[Illustration: Fig. 73.
CHÂTEAU DE LONRAI, DÉP. ORNE.]
M. Odolent Desnos gives the following account of the invention and
establishment of point d'Alençon:--[455]
"In 1665, at the recommendation of the Sieur Ruel, he (Colbert) selected a
Madame Gilbert, a native of Alençon, already acquainted with the manner of
making Venice point, and making her an advance of 50,000 crowns,
established her at his château of Lonrai (Fig. 73), near Alençon, with
thirty forewomen, whom he had, at great expense, caused to be brought over
from Venice. In a short time Madame Gilbert arrived at Paris with the first
specimens of her fabric. The king, inspired by Colbert with a desire to see
the work, during supper at Versailles announced to his courtiers he had
just established a manufacture of point more beautiful than that of Venice,
and appointed a day when he would inspect the specimens. The laces were
artistically arranged over the walls of a room hung with crimson damask,
and shown to the best advantage. The king expressed himself delighted. He
ordered a large sum to be given to Madame Gilbert, and desired that no
other lace should appear at court except the new fabric, upon which he
bestowed the name of point de France.[456] Scarcely had Louis retired than
the courtiers eagerly stripped the room of its contents. The approval of
the monarch was the fortune of Alençon: point de France adopted by court
etiquette, the wearing of it became compulsory. All who had the privilege
of the 'casaque bleue'--all who were received at Versailles or were
attached to the royal household, could only appear, the ladies in trimmings
and headdresses, the gentlemen in ruffles and cravats of the royal
manufacture."
PLATE L.
[Illustration: CHENILLE RUN ON A BOBBIN GROUND.--Taken from an early
eighteenth century Court dress, and typical of a French dress passementerie
of that date. About half size.]
PLATE LI.
[Illustration: BRUSSELS. BOBBIN-MADE.--Early eighteenth century. Width, 3
in. Photos by A. Dryden from private collections.]
_To face page 156._
{157}Unfortunately for this story, the Château de Lonrai came into the
family of Colbert fourteen years after the establishment of the
lace-industry at Alençon,[457] and the name of Gilbert is not found in any
of the documents relating to the establishment of point de France, nor in
the correspondence of Colbert.[458]
An ordinance of August 5th, 1665, founded upon a large scale the
manufacture of points de France,[459] with an exclusive privilege for ten
years and a grant of 36,000 {158}francs. A company was formed,[460] its
members rapidly increased, and in 1668 the capital amounted to 22,000
livres. Eight directors were appointed at salaries of 12,000 livres a year
to conduct the manufacture, and the company held its sittings in the Hôtel
de Beaufort at Paris. The first distribution of profits took place in
October, 1669, amounting to fifty per cent. upon each share. In 1670 a
fresh distribution took place, and 120,000 livres were divided among the
shareholders. That of 1673 was still more considerable. In 1675 the ten
years' privilege ceased, the money was returned, and the rest of the
profits divided. Colbert likewise set up a fabric at the Château de Madrid,
built by Francis I., on the Bois de Boulogne. Such was the origin of point
lace in France.
The difficulties met by Colbert in establishing his manufactories can only
be estimated by reading his correspondence, in which there are no less than
fifty letters on the subject. The apathy of the town authorities and the
constant rebellions of the lace-workers who preferred their old stitch were
incessant sources of trouble to him, but eventually Colbert's plan was
crowned with success. He established a lucrative manufacture which brought
large sums of money into the kingdom[461] instead of sending it out. Well
might he say that[462] "Fashion was to France what the mines of Peru were
to Spain."[463]
{159}Boileau alludes to the success of the minister in his "Epistle to
Louis XIV":--
"Et nos voisins frustrés de ces tributs serviles
Que payait à leur art le luxe de nos villes."[464]
The point de France supplanted that of Venice,[465] but its price confined
its use to the rich, and when the wearing of lace became general those who
could not afford so costly a production replaced it by the more moderate
pillow-lace. This explains the great extension of the pillow-lace
manufacture at this period--the production did not suffice for the demand.
Encouraged by the success of the royal manufactures, lace fabrics started
up in various towns in the kingdom. The number of lace-workers increased
rapidly. Those of the towns being insufficient, they were sought for in the
surrounding country, and each town became the {160}centre of a trade
extending round it in a radius of several miles, the work being given out
from the manufactory to be executed by the cottagers in their own
homes.[466]
{161}CHAPTER X.
LOUIS XIV.--_continued_.
"Tout change: la raison change aussi de méthode;
Écrits, habillemens, systèmes: tout est mode."
Racine fils, _Epître à Rousseau_.
Point de France continued to be worn in the greatest profusion during the
reign of Louis XIV. The King affected his new-born fabric much as monarchs
of the present day do their tapestries and their porcelains. It decorated
the Church and her ministers. Ladies offered "tours de chaire à l'église de
la paroisse."[467] Albs, "garnies d'un grand point de France brodé
antique";[468] altar-cloths trimmed with Argentan[469] appear in the church
registers.[470] In a painting at Versailles, by Rigaud, representing the
presentation of the Grand Dauphin to his royal father, 1668, the infant is
enveloped in a mantle of the richest point (Fig. 74); and point de France
was selected by royal command to trim the sheets of holland used at the
ceremony of his "nomination."[471] At the marriage of the Prince de Conti
and of Mademoiselle de Blois the toilette[472] presented {162}by the King
was "garnie de point de France si haut qu'on ne voyait point de
toile."[473] The valance, too, and the coverlet of the bed were of the same
material.[474]
In this luxury, however, England followed her sister kingdom, for we read
in the _Royal Magazine_ of 1763 that on the baptism of the young prince,
afterwards Duke of York, the company went to the council chamber at St.
James's, where a splendid bed was set up for the Queen to sit on, the
counterpane of which is described as of inimitable workmanship, the lace
alone costing £3,783 sterling.[475] "What princes do themselves, they
engage others to do," says Quintilian, and the words of the critic were, in
this case, fully verified: jupes,[476] corsets, mantles, aprons with their
bibs,[477] shoes,[478] gloves,[479] even the fans were now trimmed with
point de France.[480]
At the audience given by the Dauphine to the Siamese ambassadors, "à ses
relevailles," she received them in a bed "presque tout couvert d'un tres
beau point de France, sur lesquels on avoit mis des riches carreaux."[481]
On the occasion of their visit to Versailles, Louis, proud of his fabric,
presented the ambassadors with cravats and ruffles of the finest
point.[482] These cravats were either worn of point, in one piece, or
partly of muslin tied, with falling lace ends.[483] (Fig. 75.)
[Illustration: Fig. 74.
LE GRAND BÉBÉ. (M. de Versailles.)
_To face page 162._]
{163}In 1679 the king gave a fête at Marly to the élite of his brilliant
court. When, at sunset, the ladies retired to repair their toilettes,
previous to the ball, each found in her dressing-room a robe fresh and
elegant, trimmed with point of the most exquisite texture, a present from
that gallant monarch not yet termed "l'inamusable."
Nor was the Veuve Scarron behind the rest. When, in 1674, she purchased the
estate from which she afterwards derived her title of Maintenon, anxious to
render it productive, she enticed Flemish workers from the frontier to
establish a lace manufacture upon her newly-acquired marquisate. How the
fabric succeeded history does not relate, but the costly laces depicted in
her portraits (Fig. 76) have not the appearance of home manufacture.
[Illustration: Fig. 75.
LOUVOIS. 1691.--(From his statue by Girardon. M. de Versailles.)]
Point lace-making became a favourite employment among ladies. We have many
engravings of this reign; one, 1691, of a "fille de qualité" thus occupied,
with the motto, "Apres {164}dîner vous travaillez au point." Another,[484]
an engraving of Le Paultre, dated 1676, is entitled "Dame en Déshabille de
Chambre" (Fig. 77).
"La France est la tête du monde" (as regards fashion), says Victor Hugo,
"cyclope dont Paris est l'oeil"; and writers of all ages seem to have been
of the same opinion. It was about the year 1680 that the
"Mode féconde en mille inventions,
Monstre, prodige étrange et difforme,"
was suddenly exemplified in France.
[Illustration: Fig. 76.
MADAME DE MAINTENON.--(From her portrait. M. de Versailles.)]
All readers of this great reign will recall to mind the story of the
"Fontanges." How in the hurry of the chase the locks of the royal favourite
burst from the ribbon that bound them--how the fair huntress, hurriedly
tying the lace kerchief round her head, produced in one moment a coiffure
so light, so artistic, that Louis XIV., enchanted, prayed her to retain it
for that night at court. The lady obeyed the royal command. This mixture of
lace and ribbon, now worn for the first time, caused a sensation, and the
next day all {165}the ladies of the court appeared "coiffées à la
Fontange." (See Madame du Lude, Fig. 79.)
[Illustration: Fig. 77.
A LADY IN MORNING DÉSHABILLE.--(From an engraving by Le Paultre. 1676.)]
But this head-dress, with its tiers of point mounted on wires,[485] soon
ceased to be artistic; it grew higher and higher. Poets and satirists
attacked the fashion much as they did the high head-dresses of the Roman
matrons more than a thousand years ago.[486] Of the extinction of this mode
{166}we have various accounts, some asserting it to have been preached down
by the clergy, as were the _hennins_ in the time of Charles VI.; but the
most probable story is that which relates how, in October, 1699, Louis XIV.
simply observed, "Cette coiffure lui paroissoit désagréable." The ladies
worked all night, and next evening, at the Duchess of Burgundy's
reception,[487] appeared for the first time in a low head-dress.
Fashion,[488] which the author of the before-quoted _Consolation_ would
call _pompeux_, was "aujourd'hui en reforme." Louis XIV. never appreciated
the sacrifice; to the day of his death he persisted in saying, "J'ai eu
beau crier contre les coiffures trop hautes." No one showed the slightest
desire to lower them till one day there arrived "une inconnue, une guenille
d'Angleterre" (Lady Sandwich, the English Ambassadress!!), "avec une petite
coiffure basse--tout d'un coup, toutes les princesses vont d'une extrémité
a l'autre."[489] Be the accusation true or not, the _Mercure_ of November,
1699, announces that "La hauteur des anciennes coiffures commence á
paroître ridicule"; and St. Simon, in his _Memoirs_, satirises the fontange
as a "structure of brass wire, ribbons, hair, and baubles of all sorts,
about two feet high, which made a woman's face look as if it were in the
middle of her body."
In these days lace was not confined to Versailles and the Court.[490]
"Le gentilhomme," writes Capefigue, "allait au feu en manchettes poudré à
la maréchale, les eaux se senteur sur son mouchoir en point d'Angleterre,
l'élégance n'a jamais fait tort au courage, et la politesse s'allie
noblement à la bravoure."
But war brings destruction to laces as well as finances, {167}and in 1690
the loyal and noble army was found in rags. Then writes Dangeau: "M. de
Castanaga, à qui M. de Maine et M. de Luxembourg avoient demandé un
passeport pour fair venir des dentelles à l'armée, a refusé le passeport,
mais il a envoyé des marchands qui ont porté pour dix mille écus de
dentelles, et après qu'on les eut achetées, les marchands s'en retournèrent
sans vouloir prendre d'argent, disant qu'ils avoient cet ordre de M. de
Castanaga."
"J'avois une Steinkerque de Malines," writes the Abbé de Choisy, who always
dressed in female attire. We hear a great deal about these Steinkirks at
the end of the seventeenth century. It was a twisted lace necktie, and owed
its origin to the battle of that name in 1692,[491] when the young French
Princes of the Blood were suddenly ordered into action. Hastily tying their
lace cravats--in peaceful times a most elaborate proceeding--they rushed to
the charge, and gained the day. In honour of this event, both ladies and
cavaliers wore their handkerchiefs knotted or twisted in this careless
fashion.
"Je trouve qu'en été le Steinkerque est commode,
J'aime le falbala,[492] quoiqu'il soit critiqué,"
says somebody. Steinkirks became the rage, and held good for many years,
worn alike in England[493] and France by the women and the men. Fig. 78
represents the Grand Dauphin in his "longue Steinkerque à replis
tortueux";[494] Fig. 79 the Duchesse du Lude[495] in similar costume and
high Fontange, both copied from prints of the time.
We find constant mention now of the fashion of wearing a lace ruffle to the
ladies' sleeves, concerning the wearing of which "à deux rangs," or "à
trois rangs," there was much etiquette.
The falbalas were not given up until after the Regency; the use of them was
frequently carried to such an excess {168}that a caricaturist of that
period drew a lady so enveloped in them that she "looked like a turkey
shaking its feathers and spreading its comb." This caricature gave rise to
a popular song called "La Dinde aux Falbalas"; but in despite of song and
caricature, the flounce continued in popularity.
"Les manches plates se font de deux tiers de tour, avec une dentelle de fil
de point fort fin et fort haut. On nomme ces manches Engageantes."[496]
This fashion, though introduced in 1688, continued in vogue till the French
Revolution. We see them in the portrait of Madame Palatine, mother of the
Regent (Fig. 80), and in that of Madame Sophie de France, daughter of Louis
XV., taken in 1782 by Drouais.
[Illustration: Fig. 78.
LE GRAND DAUPHIN EN STEINKERQUE.]
[Illustration: Fig. 79.
MADAME DU LUDE EN STEINKERQUE.
_To face page 168._]
{169}[Illustration: Fig. 80.
MADAME PALATINE (ELIZ. CHARLOTTE DE BAVIÈRE), DUCHESSE D'ORLÉANS.
(By Rigaud. M. de Versailles.)]
Before finishing with point de France, we must allude to the équipage de
bain, in which this fabric formed a great item. As early as 1688, Madame de
Maintenon presents Madame de Chevreuse with an "équipage de bain de point
de France" of great magnificence. It consisted not only of a peignoir, but
a broad flounce, which formed a valance round the bath itself. You can see
them in old engravings of the day. Then there were the towels and the
_descente_, all equally costly,[497] for the French ladies of the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries admitted their _habitués_ not only to
the _ruelle_,[498] but also to the bath-room.[499] In the latter case the
bath {170}was _au lait_, _i.e._, clouded by the mixture of some essence.
"Aux autres temps, autres moeurs."
The "fameuse poupée" of the reign of Louis XIV. must not be forgotten. The
custom of dressing up these great dolls originated in the salons of the
Hôtel Rambouillet, where one, termed "la grande Pandore," at each change of
fashion was exhibited "en grand tenue"; a second, the little Pandore, in
morning _déshabille_. These dolls were sent to Vienna and Italy, charged
with the finest laces France could produce. As late as 1764 we read in the
_Espion Chinois_, "Il a débarqué à Douvres un grand nombre de poupées de
hauteur naturelle habillées à la mode de Paris, afin que les dames de
qualité puissent régler leurs goûts sur ces modèles."[500] Even when
English ports were closed in war-time, a special permission was given for
the entry of a large alabaster doll four feet high, the Grand Courrier de
la Mode.[501] In the war of the First Empire this privilege was refused to
our countrywomen; and from that time Englishwomen, deprived of all French
aid for a whole generation, began to dress badly. Pitt has much to answer
for. With this notice finishes our account of the reign of Louis XIV.
PLATE LII.
[Illustration: BRUSSELS. MODERN POINT DE GAZE.--Actual size.
Photo by A. Dryden.]
_To face page 170._
{171}CHAPTER XI.
LOUIS XV.
"Le luxe corrompt tout, et le riche qui en jouit, et le pauvre qui le
convoite."
--J. J. Rousseau.
Louis XIV. is now dead, to the delight of a wearied nation: we enter on the
Regency and times of Louis XV.--that age of "fourchettes," manchettes, and
jabots--in which the butterfly abbés, "les porte-dentelles par excellence,"
played so conspicuous a part.
The origin of the weeping ruffles, if Mercier[502] is to be credited, may
be assigned to other causes than royal decree or the edicts of fashion.
"Les grandes manchettes furent introduites par des fripons qui voulaient
filouter au jeu et escamoter des cartes." It never answers to investigate
too deeply the origin of a new invented mode,--sufficient to say, ruffles
became a necessary adjunct to the toilet of every gentleman. So
indispensable were they, the Parisians are accused of adopting the custom
of wearing ruffles and no shirts.
"Les Parisiens," writes Mercier, "achètent quatre ajustemens contre une
chemise. Un beau Monsieur se met une chemise blanche tous les quinze jours.
Il coud ses manchettes de dentelle sur une chemise sale," and powders over
his point collar till it looks white.[503] This habit passed into a
proverb. The Maréchal de Richelieu, who, though versed in astronomy, could
not spell, said of himself, "Qu'on ne lui avoit pas fourni des chemises,
mais qu'il avoit acheté des {172}manchettes."[504] This account tallies
well with former accounts[505] and with a letter of Madame de Maintenon to
the Princess des Ursins, 1710.[506]
At this period it was the custom for grisettes to besiege the Paris hotels,
bearing on their arms baskets decked out with ruffles and jabots of
Malines, Angleterre, and point. What reader of Sterne will not recollect
the lace-seller in his _Sentimental Journey_?
The jabot and manchettes of points were the customary "cadeau de noces" of
the bride to her intended for his wedding dress--a relic of which practice
may be found in the embroidered wedding shirt furnished by the lady, in the
North of Europe.[507] The sums expended in these articles would now appear
fabulous. The Archbishop of Cambray[508] alone possessed four dozen pairs
of ruffles, Malines, point, and Valenciennes. The Wardrobe Bills of the
Duke de Penthièvre of 1738 make mention of little else. An ell and a
quarter of lace was required for one pair of ruffles. A yard, minus 1/16,
sufficed for the jabot.[509] There were manchettes de jour, manchettes
tournantes,[510] and manchettes de nuit: these last-named were mostly of
Valenciennes.[511] The {173}point d'Alençon ruffles of Buffon, which he
always wore, even when writing, were exhibited in 1864 at Falaise, being
carefully preserved in the family to whom they have descended.
Even, if a contemporary writer may be credited, "Monsieur de Paris," the
executioner, mounted the scaffold in a velvet suit, powdered, with point
lace jabot and ruffles.
"Les rubans, les miroirs, les dentelles sont trois choses sans lesquelles
les François ne peuvent vivre. Le luxe démesuré a confondu le maître avec
le valet,"[512] says an unknown writer, quoted by Dulaure.[513] The
servants of the last century had on their state liveries lace equal in
richness to that worn by their masters.[514] Of a Prussian gentleman, we
read, "His valets, who according to the reigning tastes were the prettiest
in the world, wore nothing but the most costly lace."[515] This custom was
not confined, however, to France or the Continent. "Our very footmen,"
writes the angry _World_, "are adorned with gold and {174}silver bags and
lace ruffles. The valet is only distinguished from his master by being
better dressed;" while the _Connoisseur_ complains of "roast beef being
banished from even 'down stairs,' because the powdered footmen will not
touch it for fear of daubing their lace ruffles."[516]
But the time, of all others, for a grand display of lace was at a visit to
a Parisian lady on her "relevailles," or "uprising," as it was called, in
the days of our third Edward. Reclining on a chaise longue, she is
described as awaiting her visitors. Nothing is to be seen but the finest
laces, arranged in artistic folds, and long bows of ribbon. An attendant
stationed at the door asks of each new arrival, "Have you any perfumes?"
She replies not, and passes on--an atmosphere of fragrance. The lady must
not be spoken to, but, the usual compliments over, the visitors proceed to
admire her lace. "Beautiful, exquisite!"--but, "Hist! speak low," and she
who gave the caution is the first, in true French style, to speak the
loudest.[517]
Lace "garnitures de lit" were general among great people as early as 1696.
The _Mercure_ speaks of "draps garnis d'une grande dentelle de point
d'Angleterre." In 1738 writes the Duc de Luynes,[518] "Aujourd'hui Madame
de Luynes s'est fait apporter les fournitures qu'elle avoit choisies pour
la Reine, et qui regardent les dames d'honneur. Elles consistent en
couvrepieds[519] garnis de dentelle pour le grand lit et pour les petits,
en taies d'oreiller[520] garnies du {175}même point d'Angleterre, etc.
Cette fourniture coûte environ 30,000 livres, quoique Madame de Luynes
n'ait pas fait renouveler les beaux couvrepieds de la Reine." These
garnitures were renewed every year, and Madame de Luynes inherited the old
ones.
[Illustration: Fig. 81.
MADAME SOPHIE DE FRANCE, 1782, DAUGHTER OF LOUIS XV. By Drouais. M. de
Versailles. (In this picture the hexagonal brides and heavy relief of Point
d'Argentan are clearly to be seen.)]
{176}[Illustration: Fig. 82.
MADAME ADÉLAÏDE DE FRANCE, DAUGHTER OF LOUIS XV.--(M. de Versailles.)]
Madame de Créquy, describing her visit to the Duchesse Douairière de La
Ferté, says, when that lady received her, she was lying in a state bed,
under a coverlet made of point de Venise in one piece. "I am persuaded,"
she adds, "that the trimming of her sheets, which were of point d'Argentan,
were worth at least 40,000 écus."[521] To such a pitch had the taste for
lace-trimmed linen attained, that when, in 1739, Madame, eldest daughter of
Louis XV., espoused the Prince of Spain, the bill for these articles alone
amounted to £25,000; and when Cardinal Fleury, a most economical prelate,
saw the trousseau, he observed, "Qu'il croyait que c'etait pour marier
toutes les sept Mesdames."[522] (Figs. 81, 82). Again, Swinburne writes
from Paris:[523] "The trousseau of Mademoiselle de Matignon will cost
100,000 crowns (£25,000). The expense here of rigging[524] out a bride is
equal to a handsome portion in England. Five thousand pounds' worth of
lace, linen, etc., is a common thing among them."
PLATE LIII.
[Illustration: MADAME LOUISE DE FRANCE. Trimmings and tablier of Point
d'Argentan.
Painted by Nattier at the age of eleven, 1748. M. de Versailles.]
_To face page 176._
{177}[Illustration: Fig. 83.
MARIE THÉRÈSE ANT. RAPH., INFANTA OF SPAIN, FIRST WIFE OF LOUIS DAUPHIN,
SON OF LOUIS XV.
--By Tocqué. Dated 1748. M. de Versailles.]
The masks worn by the ladies at this period were of black blonde lace[525]
of the most exquisite fineness and design.[526] They were trimmed round the
eyes, like those described by Scarron:--
"Dirai-je comme ces fantasques
Qui portent dentelle à leurs masques,
En chamarrent les trous des yeux,
Croyant que le masque en est mieux."