productions of Angleterre[527] and Malines. Argentan and Alençon (Fig. 83)
were declared by fashion to be "dentelles d'hiver:" each lace now had its
appointed season.[528] "On porte le point en hiver," says the Dictionary of
the Academy.
There was much etiquette, too, in the court of France, as regards lace,
which was never worn in mourning. Dangeau chronicles, on the death of the
Princess of Baden, "Le roi qui avoit repris les dentelles et les rubans
d'or et d'argent, reprend demain le linge uni et les rubans unis
aussi."[529]
"Madame" thus describes the "petit deuil" of the Margrave of Anspach: "Avec
des dentelles blanches sur le noir, du beau ruban bleu, à dentelles
blanches et noires. C'etoit une parure magnifique."[530]
{179}CHAPTER XII.
LOUIS XVI. TO THE EMPIRE.
"Proud Versailles! thy glory falls."--Pope.
[Illustration: Fig. 84.
MARIE-ANTOINETTE.--From a picture by Madame Le Brun. M. de Versailles.]
In the reign of Louis XVI. society, tired out with ceremony and the stately
manners of the old court, at last began to emancipate itself.
Marie-Antoinette (Fig. 84) first gave the signal. Rid herself of the
preaching of "Madame Etiquette" she could not on state occasions, so she
did her best to amuse herself in private. The finest Indian muslin now
supplanted the heavy points of the old court. Madame du Barry, in her
_Memoirs_, mentions the purchase of Indian muslin so fine {180}that the
piece did not weigh fifteen ounces, although sufficient to make four
dresses. "The ladies looked," indignantly observed the Maréchale de
Luxembourg, "in their muslin aprons and handkerchiefs like cooks and
convent porters."[531] To signify her disapproval of this new-fangled
custom, the Maréchale sent her grand-daughter, the Duchesse de Lauzun, an
apron of sailcloth trimmed with fine point and six fichus of the same
material similarly decorated. Tulle and marli[532] were much worn during
the latter years of the Queen's life, and entries of tulle, marli, blondes,
and embroidered linens occur over and over again in Madame Eloffe's
accounts with the Queen. The richer ornamental laces were not worn, and one
reads of items such as "a gauze fichu trimmed with white _prétention_."
On leaving Versailles for the last time (October 6th, 1789), Marie
Antoinette distributed among her suite all that remained of her fans and
laces.
The arrangement of the lace lappets was still preserved by rule. "Lappets
to be pinned up"--lappets to be let down on grand occasions.[533] Later
Madame de Staël, like a true _bas-bleu_--without speaking of her curtsey to
Marie Antoinette, which was all wrong--on her first visit of ceremony to
Madame de Polignac, in defiance of all etiquette, left her lace lappets in
the carriage.
The democratic spirit of the age now first creeps out in {181}the fashions.
Among the rich _parures_ of Du Barry[534] we find "barbes à la
paysanne"--everything now becomes "à coquille," "à papillon."
Even the Queen's hairdresser, Léonard, "qui
"Portait jusques au ciel l'audace de ses coiffures,"
did not venture to introduce much lace.
The affected phraseology of the day is very "precious" in its absurdity. We
read of the toilette of Mademoiselle Duthé in which she appeared at the
opera. She wore a robe "soupirs étouffés," trimmed with "regrets
superflus"; a point of "candeur parfaite, garnie en plaintes indiscrètes";
ribbons en "attentions marquées"; shoes "cheveux de la reine,"[535]
embroidered with diamonds, "en coups perfides" and "venez-y-voir" in
emeralds. Her hair "en sentiments soutenus," with a cap of "conquête
assurée," trimmed with ribbons of "oeil abattu"; a "chat[536] sur le col,"
the colour of "gueux nouvellement arrivé," and upon her shoulders a Médicis
"en bienséance," and her muff of "agitation momentanée."
In the accounts of Mademoiselle Bertin, the Queen's milliner, known for her
saying, "Il n'y a rien de nouveau dans ce monde que ce qui est oublié," we
have little mention of lace.[537]
{182}"Blond à fond d'Alençon semé à poix, à mouches," now usurps the place
of the old points. Even one of the "grandes dames de la vieille cour,"
Madame Adélaïde de France herself, is represented in her picture by Madame
Guiard with a spotted handkerchief, probably of blonde (Fig. 85).
[Illustration: Fig. 85.
MADAME ADÉLAÏDE DE FRANCE.--After a picture by Madame Guiard, dated 1787.
M. de Versailles.]
The Church alone protects the ancient fabrics. The lace of the Rohan
family, almost hereditary Princes Archbishops of Strasburg, was of
inestimable value. "We met," writes the Baroness de Oberkirch, "the
cardinal coming out of his chapel dressed in a soutane of scarlet moire and
rochet of English lace of inestimable value. When on great occasions he
officiates at Versailles, he wears an alb of old lace 'en point à
l'aiguille' of such beauty that his assistants were almost afraid to touch
it. His arms and device are worked in a medallion above the large flowers.
This alb is estimated at 100,000 livres. On the day of which I speak he
wore the rochet of English lace, one of his least beautiful, as his
{183}secretary, the Abbé Georget, told me."[538] On his elevation to the
see of Bourges (1859), Monseigneur de La Tour d'Auvergne celebrated mass at
Rome arrayed with all the sacerdotal ornaments of point d'Alençon of the
finest workmanship. This lace descended to him from his uncle, Cardinal de
La Tour d'Auvergne, who had inherited it from his mother, Madame d'Aumale,
so well known as the friend of Madame de Maintenon. Under the first Empire,
a complete suit of lace was offered to the prelate for sale, which had
belonged to Marie-Antoinette. This lace is described as formed of squares
of old point d'Angleterre or de Flandre, each representing a different
subject. The beauty of the lace and its historic interest decided his
Eminence to speak of it to his colleague, Cardinal de Bonald, and these two
prelates united their resources, bought the lace, and divided it.
But this extravagance and luxury were now soon to end. The years of '92 and
'93 were approaching. The great nobility of France, who patronised the rich
manufactures of the kingdom at the expense of a peasantry starving on
estates they seldom if ever visited, were ere long outcasts in foreign
countries. The French Revolution was fatal to the lace trade. For twelve
years the manufacture almost ceased, and more than thirty different fabrics
entirely disappeared.[539] Its merits were, however, recognised by the
Etats Généraux in 1789, who, when previous to meeting they settled the
costume of the three estates, decreed to the _noblesse_ a lace cravat. It
was not until 1801, when Napoleon wished to "faire revenir le luxe," that
we again find it chronicled in the annals of the day: "How charming
Caroline Murat looked in her white mantelet of point de Bruxelles et sa
robe garnie des mêmes dentelles," etc. The old laces were the work of
years, and transmitted as heirlooms[540] from generation to generation.
{184}They were often heavy and overloaded with ornament. The ancient style
was now discarded and a lighter description introduced. By an improvement
in the point de raccroc several sections of lace were joined together so as
to form one large piece; thus ten workers could now produce in a month what
had formerly been the work of years.
Napoleon especially patronised the fabrics of Alençon, Brussels, and
Chantilly. He endeavoured, too, without success, to raise that of
Valenciennes. After the example of Louis XIV., he made the wearing of his
two favourite points obligatory at the Court of the Tuileries, and it is to
his protection these towns owe the preservation of their manufactures. The
lace-makers spoke of the rich orders received from the imperial court as
the most remarkable epoch in their industrial career. Never was the beauty
and costliness of the laces made for the marriage of Marie-Louise yet
surpassed. To reproduce them now would, estimates M. Aubry, cost above a
million of francs. Napoleon was a great lover of lace: he admired it as a
work of art, and was proud of the proficiency of his subjects. Mademoiselle
d'Avrillion relates the following anecdote:--The Princess Pauline had given
orders to the Empress Joséphine's lace-maker for a dress and various
objects to the value of 30,000 francs. When the order was completed and the
lace brought home, the Princess changed her mind and refused to take them.
Madame Lesoeur, in despair, appealed to the Empress. She, thinking the
price not unreasonable, considering the beauty of the points, showed them
to Napoleon, and told him the circumstance. "I was in the room at the
time," writes the authoress of the _Mémoires_. The Emperor examined
minutely each carton, exclaiming at intervals, "Comme on travaille bien en
France, je dois encourager un pareil commerce. Pauline a grand tort." He
ended by paying the bill and distributing the laces among the ladies of the
court.[541] Indeed, it may be said that never {185}was lace more in vogue
than during the early days of the Empire.
The morning costume of a French duchesse of that court is described in the
following terms:--"Elle portait un peignoir brodé en mousseline garni d'une
Angleterre très-belle, une fraise en point d'Angleterre. Sur sa tête la
duchesse avait jeté en se levant une sorte de 'baigneuse,' comme nos mères
l'auraient appelée, en point d'Angleterre, garnie de rubans de satin rose
pâle."[542] The fair sister of Napoleon, the Princess Pauline Borghese,
"s'est passionnée," as the term ran, "pour les dentelles."[543]
That Napoleon's example was quickly followed by the _élégantes_ of the
Directory, the following account, given to the brother of the author by an
elderly lady who visited Paris during that very short period[544] when the
English flocked to the Continent, of a ball at Madame Récamier's, to which
she had an invitation, will testify.
The First Consul was expected, and the _élite_ of Paris early thronged the
_salons_ of the charming hostess, but where was Madame Récamier?
"_Souffrante_," the murmur ran, retained to her bed by a sudden
indisposition. She would, however, receive her guests _couchée_.
The company passed to the bedroom of the lady, which, as still the custom
in France, opened on one of the principal _salons_. There, in a gilded bed,
lay Madame Récamier, the most beautiful woman in France. The bed-curtains
were of the finest Brussels lace, bordered with garlands of honeysuckle,
and lined with satin of the palest rose. The _couvrepied_ was of the same
material; from the pillow of embroidered cambric fell "des flots de
Valenciennes."
The lady herself wore a _peignoir_ trimmed with the most exquisite English
point. Never had she looked more lovely--never had she done the honours of
her hotel more gracefully. And so she received Napoleon--so she received
the heroes of that great empire. All admired her "fortitude," her
_dévouement_, in thus sacrificing herself to society, and on the following
day "tout Paris s'est fait inscrire chez elle." Never had such anxiety been
expressed--never had woman gained such a triumph.
{186}The Duchesse d'Abrantès, who married in the year 1800, describing her
trousseau,[545] says she had "des mouchoirs, des jupons, des canezous du
matin, des peignoirs de mousseline de l'Inde, des camisoles de nuit, des
bonnets de nuit, des bonnets de matin, de toutes les couleurs, de toutes
les formes, et tout cela brodé, garni de Valenciennes ou de Malines, ou de
point d'Angleterre." In the corbeille de mariage, with the cachemires were
"les voiles de point d'Angleterre, les garnitures de robes en point à
l'aiguille, et en point de Bruxelles, ainsi qu'en blonde pour l'été. Il y
avait aussi des robes de blonde blanche et de dentelle noire," etc. When
they go to the Mairie, she describes her costume: "J'avais une robe de
mousseline de l'Inde brodée au plumetis et en points à jour, comme c'était
alors la mode. Cette robe était à queue, montante et avec de longues
manches, le lé de devant entièrement brodé ainsi que le tour du corsage, le
bout des manches, qu'on appelait alors amadis. La fraise était en
magnifique point à l'aiguille, sur ma tête j'avais un bonnet en point de
Bruxelles.... Au sommet du bonnet était attachée une petite couronne de
fleurs d'oranger, d'où partait un long voile en point d'Angleterre qui
tombait à mes pieds et dont je pouvais presque m'envelopper." Madame Junot
winds up by saying that "Cette profusion de riches dentelles, si fines, si
déliées ne semblaient être qu'un réseau nuageux autour de mon visage, où
elles se jouaient dans les boucles de mes cheveux."
Hamlet always used to appear on the stage in lace cravat and ruffles, and
Talma, the French tragedian, was very proud of his wardrobe of lace. Dr.
Doran relates of him that on one occasion, when stopped by the Belgian
custom-house officers at the frontier, an official, turning over his
wardrobe, his stage costumes, etc., contemptuously styled them "habits de
Polichinelle." Talma, in a rage exclaimed, "Habits de Polichinelle! Why,
the lace of my jabot and ruffles alone is worth fifty louis a yard, and I
wear it on my private costume." "And must pay for it accordingly," added
the official. "Punch's clothes might pass untaxed, but Monsieur Talma's
lace owes duty to our king." Talma was forced to submit.
The French lace manufacture felt the political events of {187}1813 to 1817,
but experienced a more severe crisis in 1818, when bobbin net was first
made in France. Fashion at once adopted the new material, and pillow lace
was for a time discarded. For fifteen years lace encountered a fearful
competition. The manufacturers were forced to lower their prices and
diminish the produce. The marts of Europe were inundated with tulle; but
happily a new channel for exportation was opened in the United States of
North America. In time a reaction took place, and in 1834, with the
exception of Alençon, all the other fabrics were once more in full
activity.[546] But a cheaper class of lace had been introduced. In 1832-33
cotton thread first began to be substituted for flax.[547] The lace-makers
readily adopted the change; they found cotton more elastic and less
expensive. It gives, too, a brilliant appearance, and breaks less easily in
the working. All manufacturers now use the Scotch cotton, with the
exception of Alençon, some choice pieces of Brussels, and the finer
qualities of Mechlin and Valenciennes. The difference is not to be detected
by the eye; both materials wash equally well.
We now turn to the various lace manufactures of France, taking each in its
order.
{188}CHAPTER XIII.
THE LACE MANUFACTURES OF FRANCE.
France is a lace-making, as well as a lace-wearing, country.
Of the half a million of lace-makers in Europe, nearly a quarter of a
million are estimated as belonging to France.
Under the impulse of fashion and luxury, lace receives the stamp of the
special style of each country. Italy furnished its points of Venice and
Genoa. The Netherlands, its Brussels, Mechlin, and Valenciennes. Spain, its
silk blondes. England, its Honiton. France, its sumptuous point d'Alençon,
and its black lace of Bayeux and Chantilly. Now, each style is copied by
every nation; and though France cannot compete with Belgium in the points
of Brussels, or the Valenciennes of Ypres, she has no rival in her points
of Alençon and her white blondes, or her black silk laces. To begin with
Alençon, the only French lace not made on the pillow.
ALENÇON (DÉP. ORNE), NORMANDY.
"Alenchon est sous Sarthe assis,
Il luic divise le pays."--_Romant de Rou._
We have already related how the manufacture of point lace was established
by Colbert. The _entrepreneurs_ had found the lace industry flourishing at
the time of the point de France. (Page 155.)
PLATE LIV.
[Illustration: FRENCH. Border of POINT PLAT DE FRANCE to a baptismal veil
of embroidered muslin.--The orderly arrangement of the "brides" differs
from the Venetian, and foreshadows the "grande maille picotée."
In the Musée Cinquantenaire, Brussels.]
_To face page 188._
{189}[Illustration: Fig. 86.
COLBERT + 1683.--M. de Versailles.]
Point d'Alençon is mentioned in the _Révolte des Passemens_, 1661,
evidently as an advanced manufacture; but the monopoly of the privileged
workmen--the new-comers--displeased the old workwomen, and Colbert[548] was
too despotic in his orders prohibiting to make any kind of point except
that of the royal manufactory, and made the people so indignant that they
revolted. The intendant, Favier-Duboulay, writes to Colbert, August 1665,
that one named Le Prevost, of this town, having given suspicion to the
people that he was about to form an establishment of "ouvrages de fil," the
women to the number of above a thousand assembled, and pursued him so that,
if he had not managed to escape their fury, he would assuredly have
suffered from their violence. "He took refuge with me," he writes, "and I
with difficulty appeased the multitude by assuring them that they would not
be deprived of the liberty of working. It is a fact that for many years the
town of Alençon subsists only by means of these small works of lace: that
the same people make and sell, and in years of scarcity they subsist only
by this little industry, and that wishing to {190}take away their liberty,
they were so incensed I had great difficulty in pacifying them."
The Act, it appears, had come from the Parliament of Paris, but as Alençon
is in Normandy, it was necessary to have the assent of the Parliament of
Rouen.
The remonstrance of the intendant (see his letter in Chap. IX., page 155)
met with the attention it deserved.
On September 14th following, after a meeting headed by Prevost and the
Marquis de Pasax, intendant of the city, it was settled that after the king
had found 200 girls, the rest were at liberty to work as they pleased; none
had permission to make the fine point of the royal pattern, except those
who worked for the manufactory; and all girls must show to the authorities
the patterns they intended working, "so that the King shall be satisfied,
and the people gain a livelihood."
The "maîtresse dentellière," Catherine Marcq, writes to Colbert, November
30th, 1665, complaining of the obstinacy of the people, who prefer the old
work. "Out of 8,000 women, we have got but 700, and I can only count on 250
who at least will have learnt to perfection the Venetian point, the
remainder merely working a month and then leaving the establishment."
The new points are duly chronicled.[549] In 1677 the _Mercure_ announces,
"They make now many points de France without grounds, and 'picots en
campannes' to all the five handkerchiefs. We have seen some with little
flowers over the large, which might be styled 'flying flowers,' being only
attached in the centre."
In 1678 it says: "The last points de France have no brides, the fleurons
are closer together. The flowers, which are in higher relief in the centre,
and lower at the edges, are united by small stalks and flowers, which keep
them in their places, instead of brides. The manner of disposing the
branches, called 'ordonnances,' is of two kinds: the one is a twirling
stalk, which throws out flowers; the other is regular--a centre flower,
throwing out regular branches on each side." In October of the same year,
the _Mercure_ says: {191}"There has been no change in the patterns," and it
does not allude to them again. What can these be but Venice patterns? The
flower upon flower--like "fleurs volante"--exactly answers to the point in
high relief (Fig. 87).
[Illustration: Fig. 87.
VENICE POINT.--"Dentelle Volante."]
A memoir drawn up in 1698 by M. de Pommereu[550] is the next mention we
find of the fabric of Alençon. "The manufacture of the points de France is
also," he says, "one of the most considerable in the country. This fabric
began at Alençon, where most of the women and girls work at it, to the
number of more than eight to nine hundred, without counting those in the
country, which are in considerable numbers. It is a commerce of about
500,000 livres per annum. This point is called 'vilain'[551] in the
country; the principal sale was in Paris during the war, but the demand
increases very much since the peace, in consequence of its exportation to
foreign countries." The number of lace-workers given by M. Pommereu appears
small, but Alençon {192}manufacture was then on the decline. The death of
its protector, Colbert (1683), and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes,
which reduced the population one-third, the industrial families (qui
faisaient le principal commerce) retiring to England and Scotland, the long
wars of Louis XIV., and, finally, his death in 1715, all contributed to
diminish its prosperity.[552]
Savary, writing in 1726, mentions the manufacture of Alençon as not being
so flourishing, but attributes it to the long wars of Louis XIV. He adds,
"It still, however, maintains itself with some reputation at Alençon; the
magnificence, or, if you like, the luxury of France, sufficing to keep it
up even in war-time; but it flourishes principally in peace, in consequence
of the large exports to foreign countries." Russia and Poland were its
great marts: and before the Revolution, Poland estimates the annual value
of the manufacture at 11,000,000 to 12,000,000 livres.[553] The workwomen
earned from three sous to three livres per day.
In 1680, in _Britannia Languens_, a discourse upon trade, it states that
"the laces commonly called points de Venise now come mostly from France,
and amount to a vast sum yearly."
PLATE LV.
[Illustration: FRENCH. POINT D'ALENÇON.--Eighteenth century. Period Louis
XV. Needle-point lappet end and border. These show in combination the
"Alençon," "réseau," and the "Argentan" hexagonal "brides." The ribands in
the border show varieties of diaper pattern stitches similar to those in
the "modes" of heavy Venetian points. Widths: lappet 4½ in., border 3½ in.
Victoria and Albert Museum.]
_To face page 192._