parchment pattern, in small pieces, afterwards united by invisible seams.
There are twelve processes, including the design, each of which is executed
by a special workwoman. These can again be subdivided, until the total
number of processes is twenty or twenty-two.[554] The design, engraved upon
a copper plate, is printed off in divisions upon pieces of parchment ten
inches long, each numbered according to its order. Green parchment is now
used, and has been in vogue since 1769, at which date it is noted in an
inventory of Simon Geslin (April 13th, 1769). The worker is better able to
detect any faults in her work than on white. The pattern is next pricked
upon the parchment, which is stitched to a piece of very coarse linen
folded double. The outline of the pattern is then formed by two flat
threads, which are guided along the edge by the thumb of the left hand, and
fixed by minute stitches passed, with another thread and needle, through
the holes of the parchment. When the outline is finished, the work is given
over to the "réseleuse" to make the ground, which is of two kinds, bride
and réseau. The delicate réseau is worked backwards and forwards from the
footing to the picot--of the bride, more hereafter. Besides the hexagonal
bride ground, and the ground of meshes, there was another variety of
grounding used in Alençon lace. "This ground consists of
buttonhole-stitched skeleton hexagons, within each of which was worked a
small solid hexagon connected with the surrounding figure by means of six
little tyes or brides." Lace with this particular ground has been called
Argentella.[555] In making the flowers of Alençon point, the worker
supplies herself with a long needle and a fine thread; with these she works
the "point noué" (buttonhole stitch) from left to right, and when arrived
at the end of the flower, the thread is thrown back from the point of
departure, and she works again from left to right over the thread. This
gives a closeness and evenness to the work unequalled in any other point.
Then follow the "modes," and other different operations, which completed,
the threads which unite lace, {194}parchment and linen together, are cut
with a sharp razor passed between the two folds of linen, any little
defects repaired, and then remains the great work of uniting all these
segments imperceptibly together. This task devolves upon the head of the
fabric, and is one requiring the greatest nicety. An ordinary pair of men's
ruffles would be divided into ten pieces; but when the order must be
executed quickly, the subdivisions are even greater. The stitch by which
these sections are worked is termed "assemblage," and differs from the
"point de raccroc," where the segments are united by a fresh row of
stitches. At Alençon they are joined by a seam, following as much as
possible the outlines of the pattern. When finished, a steel instrument,
called a picot, is passed into each flower, to polish it and remove any
inequalities in its surface. The more primitive lobster-claw or a wolf's
tooth was formerly used for the same purpose.
Point d'Alençon is of a solidity which defies time and washing, and has
been justly called the Queen of Lace. It is the only lace in which
horsehair is introduced along the edge to give firmness and consistency to
the cordonnet, rendered perhaps necessary to make the point stand up when
exposed to wind, mounted on the towering fabrics then worn by the ladies.
The objection to horsehair is that it shrinks in washing and draws up the
flower from the ground. It is related of a collar made at Venice for Louis
XIII. that the lace-workers, being unsuccessful in finding sufficiently
fine horsehair, employed some of their own hair instead, in order to secure
that marvellous delicacy of work which they aimed at producing. The
specimen, says Lefébure, cost 250 golden écus (about sixty pounds). In
1761, a writer, describing the point de France, says that it does not
arrive at the taste and delicacy of Brussels, its chief defect consisting
in the thickness of the cordonnet, which thickens when put into water. The
horsehair edge also draws up the ground, and makes the lace rigid and
heavy. He likewise finds fault with the "modes" or fancy stitches of the
Alençon, and states that much point is sent from there to Brussels to have
the modes added, thereby giving it a borrowed beauty; but connoisseurs, he
adds, easily detect the difference.[556]
[Illustration: Fig. 88.
ARGENTELLA, OR POINT D'ALENÇON À RÉSEAU ROSACÉ.--Period Louis XV.
_To face page 194._]
{195}When the points of Alençon and Argentan dropped their general
designations of "points de France"[557] it is difficult to say. An eminent
writer states the name was continued till the Revolution, but this is a
mistake. The last inventory in which we have found mention of point de
France is one of 1723,[558] while point d'Argentan is noted in 1738,[559]
and point d'Alençon in 1741, where it is specified to be "à réseau."[560]
In the accounts of Madame du Barry, no point d'Alençon is mentioned--always
point à l'aiguille--and "needle point" is the name by which point d'Alençon
was alone known in England during the last century. The purchases of needle
point of Madame du Barry were most extensive. Sleeves (engageantes) and
lappets for 8,400 livres; court ruffles at 1,100; a mantelet at 2,400; a
veste at 6,500; a grande coëffe, 1,400; a garniture, 6,010, etc.[561]
In the description of the Department of the Orne drawn up in 1801, it is
stated, "Fifteen years back there were from 7,000 to 8,000 lace-workers at
Alençon and its environs: the fabric of Argentan, whose productions are
finer and more costly, had about 2,000." Almost all these lace-makers, some
of whom made réseau, others the bride ground, passed into England, Spain,
Italy, Germany, and the courts of the north, especially to Russia. These
united fabrics produced to the annual value of at least 1,800,000 fr., and
when they had extraordinary orders, such as "parures" for beds and other
large works, it increased to 2,000,000 fr. (£80,000). But this commerce,
subject to the variable empire of fashion, had declined one-half even
before the Revolution. Now it is almost nothing, and cannot be estimated at
more than 150,000 to 200,000 fr. per annum. "It supported three {196}cities
and their territory, for that of Séez[562] bore its part. Some black laces
are still made at Séez, but they are of little importance.--P.S. These
laces have obtained a little favour at the last Leipsic fair."[563]
The manufacture of Alençon was nearly extinct when the patronage of
Napoleon caused it to return almost to its former prosperity. Among the
orders executed for the Emperor on his marriage with the Empress Marie
Louise, was a bed furniture of great richness. Tester, curtains, coverlet,
pillow-cases. The principal subject represented the arms of the empire
surrounded by bees. From its elaborate construction, point d'Alençon is
seldom met with in pieces of large size; the amount of labour therefore
expended on this bed must have been marvellous. Mrs. Palliser, when at
Alençon, was so fortunate as to meet with a piece of the ground powdered
with bees, bought from the ancient fabric of Mercier, at Lonray, when the
stock many years back was sold off and dispersed (Fig. 89). The point
d'Alençon bees are appliqué upon a pillow ground, "vrai réseau," executed
probably at Brussels. Part of the "équipage" of the King of Rome excited
the universal admiration of all beholders at the Paris Exhibition of 1855.
Alençon again fell with the empire. No new workers were trained, the old
ones died off, and as it requires so many hands to execute even the most
simple lace, the manufacture again nearly died out. In vain the Duchesse
d'Angoulême endeavoured to revive the fabric, and gave large orders
herself; but point lace had been replaced by blonde, and the consumption
was so small, it was resumed on a very confined scale. So low had it fallen
in 1830, that there were only between 200 and 300 lace-workers, whose
products did not exceed the value of 1,200 francs (£48). Again, in 1836,
Baron Mercier, thinking by producing it a lower price to procure a more
favourable sale, set up a lace school, and caused the girls to work the
patterns on bobbin net, as bearing some resemblance to the old "point de
bride," but fashion did not favour "point de bride," so the plan failed.
In 1840 fresh attempts were made to revive the {197}manufacture. Two
hundred aged women--all the lace-makers remaining of this once flourishing
fabric--were collected and again set to work. A new class of patterns was
introduced, and the manufacture once more returned to favour and
prosperity. But the difficulties were great. The old point was made by an
hereditary set of workers, trained from their earliest infancy to the one
special work they were to follow for life. Now new workers had to be
procured from other lace districts, already taught the ground peculiar to
their fabrics. The consequence was, their fingers never could acquire the
art of making the pure Alençon réseau. They made a good ground, certainly,
but it was mixed with their own early traditions: as the Alençon workers
say, "Elles bâtardisent les fonds."
[Illustration: Fig. 89.
BED MADE FOR NAPOLEON I.]
In the Exhibition of 1851 were many fine specimens of {198}the revived
manufacture. One flounce, which was valued at 22,000 francs, and had taken
thirty-six women eighteen months to complete, afterwards appeared in the
"corbeille de mariage" of the Empress Eugénie.
In 1856 most magnificent orders were given for the imperial layette, a
description of which is duly chronicled.[564] The young Prince was "voué au
blanc"; white, therefore, was the prevailing colour in the layette. The
curtains of the Imperial infant's cradle were of Mechlin, with Alençon
coverlet lined with satin. The christening robe, mantle, and head-dress
were all of Alençon; and the three _corbeilles_, bearing the imperial arms
and cipher, were also covered with the same point. Twelve dozen embroidered
frocks, each in itself a work of art, were all profusely trimmed with
Alençon, as were also the aprons of the Imperial nurses.
A costly work of Alençon point appeared in the Exhibition of 1855--a dress,
purchased by the Emperor for 70,000 francs (£2,800), and presented by him
to the Empress.
A few observations remain to be made respecting the dates of the patterns
of Alençon point, which, like those of other laces, will be found to
correspond with the architectural style of decoration of the period. The
"corbeilles de mariage" preserved in old families and contemporary
portraits are our surest guides.
In the eighteenth century the réseau ground was introduced, and soon became
universally adopted. After carefully examining the engravings of the time,
the collection of historical portraits at Versailles and other galleries,
we find no traces of Point d'Alençon with the réseau or network ground in
the time of Louis XIV. The laces are all of the Venetian character, à
bride, and Colbert himself is depicted in a cravat of Italian design;
while, on the other hand, the daughters of Louis XV. (Mesdames de France)
and the "Filles du Régent" all wear rich points of Alençon and
Argentan.[565] The earlier patterns of the eighteenth century are flowery
and undulating[566] (Fig. 91), scarcely {199}begun, never ending, into
which haphazard are introduced patterns of a finer ground, much as the
medallions of Boucher or Vanloo were inserted in the gilded panellings of a
room. Twined around them appear a variety of _jours_, filled up with
patterns of endless variety, the whole wreathed and garlanded like the
decoration of a theatre. Such was the taste of the day. "Après moi le
déluge"; and the precept of the favourite was carried out in the style of
design: an _insouciance_ and _laisser-aller_ typical of a people regardless
of the morrow.
Towards the latter end of the reign a change came over the national taste.
It appears in the architecture and domestic decoration. As the cabriole
legs of the chairs are replaced by the "pieds de daim," so the running
patterns of the lace give place to compact and more stiff designs. The
flowers are rigid and angular, of the style called _bizarre_, of almost
conventional form. With Louis XVI. began the ground _semé_ with compact
little bouquets, all intermixed with small patterns, spots (_pois_),
fleurons, rosettes, and tears (_larmes_) (Fig. 90), which towards the end
of the century entirely expel the bouquets from the ground. The semés
continued during the Empire.
This point came into the highest favour again during the Second Empire.
Costly orders for trousseaux were given not only in France, but from Russia
and other countries. One amounted to 150,000 francs (£6,000)--flounce,
lappets and trimmings for the body, pocket-handkerchief, fan, parasol, all
_en suite_, and, moreover, there were a certain number of metres of
_aunage_, or border lace, for the layette. The making of point d'Alençon
being so slow, it was impossible ever to execute it "to order" for this
purpose.
Great as is the beauty of the workmanship of Alençon, it was never able to
compete with Brussels in one respect: its designs were seldom copied from
nature, while the fabric of Brabant sent forth roses and honeysuckles of a
correctness worthy of a Dutch painter.
{200}This defect is now altered. The designs of the lace are admirable
copies of natural flowers, intermixed with grasses and ferns, which give a
variety to the form of the leaves.
[Illustration: Fig. 90.
ALENÇON POINT, À PETITES BRIDES.--Louis XVI.]
[Illustration: Fig. 91.
POINT D'ALENÇON.--Louis XV. period.
_To face page 200._]
{201}Alençon point is now successfully made at Burano near Venice, in
Brussels, at Alençon itself, and at Bayeux, where the fabric was
introduced, in 1855, by M. Auguste Lefébure, a manufacturer of that town.
Departing from the old custom of assigning to each lace-maker a special
branch of the work, the lace is here executed through all its stages by the
same worker. Perhaps the finest example of point d'Alençon exhibited in
1867 was the produce of the Bayeux fabric; a dress consisting of two
flounces, the pattern, flowers, and foliage of most artistic and harmonious
design, relieved by the new introduction of shaded tints, giving to the
lace the relief of a picture.[567] The ground (point à l'aiguille) was
worked with the greatest smoothness and regularity, one of the great
technical difficulties when such small pieces have to be joined together.
The price of the dress was 85,000 francs (£3,400). It took forty women
seven years to complete.
In the Exhibition of 1889 in Paris, Alençon itself showed the best piece of
lace that had taken 16,500 working days to make.
{202}CHAPTER XIV.
ARGENTAN (DÉP. ORNE).
"Vous qui voulez d'Argentan faire conte,
A sa grandeur arrêter ne faut;
Petite elle est, mais en beauté surmonte
Maintes cités, car rien ne lui defaut;
Elle est assise en lieu plaisant et haut,
De tout côtè à prairie, à campaigne,
Un fleuve aussi, où maint poisson se baigne,
Des bois épais, suffisans pour nourrir
Biches et cerfs qui sont prompts à courir;
Plus y trouvez, tant elle est bien garnie,
Plus au besoin nature secourir
Bon air, bon vin, et bonne compagnie!"
--_Des Maisons._ 1517.
The name of the little town of Argentan, whose points long rivalled those
of Alençon, is familiar to English ears as connected with our Norman kings.
Argentan is mentioned by old Robert Wace as sending its sons to the
conquest of England.[568] It was here the mother of Henry II. retired in
1130; and the imperial eagle borne as the arms of the town is said to be a
memorial of her long sojourn. Here the first Plantagenet held the "cour
plénière," in which the invasion of Ireland was arranged; and it was here
he uttered those rash words which prompted his adherents to leave Argentan
to assassinate Thomas à Becket.[569]
But, apart from historic recollections, Argentan is celebrated for its
point lace. A "bureau" for points de France was established at Argentan at
the same time as the bureau at Alençon (1665), and was also under the
direction of Madame Raffy. In a letter dated November 23rd, 1665, she
writes to Colbert: "Je suis très satisfaite de la publication à son de
trompe d'un arrêt qui ordonne aux ouvrières d'Argentan de travailler
uniquement pour la bureau de la manufacture royale."
PLATE LVI.
[Illustration: ]
[Illustration: POINT D'ARGENTAN.--Modern reproduction at Burano of the
flounce now belonging to the Crown of Italy, said formerly to have belonged
to Paul de Gondy, Cardinal de Retz 1614-79. This is evidently wrong, as the
design and execution is of fifty years later date, but it is a fine
specimen of an ecclesiastical flounce. Height, 24 in.
Photo by Burano School.]
_Between pages 202 and 203._
{203}Point d'Argentan has been thought to be especially distinguished by
its hexagonally-arranged brides; but this has also been noticed as a
peculiarity of certain Venetian point laces. The bride ground, to which we
have before alluded in the notice of Alençon, was of very elaborate
construction, and consists of a large six-sided mesh, worked over with the
buttonhole stitch. It was always printed on the parchment pattern, and the
upper angle of the hexagon is pricked. After the hexagon is formed, by
passing the needle and thread round the pins in a way too complicated to be
worth explaining, the six sides are worked over with seven or eight
buttonhole stitches in each side. The bride ground was consequently very
strong. It was much affected in France; the réseau was more preferred
abroad.[570] At the present time, it is usual to consider the point
d'Alençon as a lace with a fine réseau, the mesh of which is more square
than hexagonal in form, worked by looped stitches across horizontal lines
of thread, with the flower or ornament worked in fine point stitches,
closely resembling the gimp or ornament in the point de Venise à réseau,
and outlined by a cordonnet of the finest buttonhole stitches worked over a
horsehair or threads, while point d'Argentan is a lace with similar work as
regards flower, ornament, and cordonnet, but with a hexagonal bride ground,
each side of the hexagon being of the finest buttonhole stitchings.
Regarding the date of the introduction of the réseau, the large hexagonal
"grande bride" would appear to follow from the points de Venise, Argentan
being named before Alençon à réseau. Madame Despierres, however, is of
opinion that Argentan simplified the usual réseau by adopting the bride
tortillé (_i.e._, twisting the threads round each mesh instead of the more
arduous buttonhole stitching). Alençon would then {204}have copied back the
petites brides of small hexagonal twisted or buttonholed meshes in Louis
XVI.'s reign. To this again succeeded the looped réseau of very thick
thread.
With the view of showing that Alençon and Argentan were intimately
connected the one with the other in the manufacture of lace, M. Dupont says
that, whereas considerable mention has been made in various records of the
establishment at Alençon of a lace factory, trace of such records with
regard to Alençon cannot be found. A family of thread and linen dealers, by
name Monthulay, are credited with the establishment of a branch manufactory
or _succursale_ for lace at Argentan.
The Monthulays, then, sowed Alençon seeds at Argentan, which developed into
the so-called Argentan lace. In almost all respects it is the same as
Alençon work.[571] The two towns, separated by some ten miles, had
communications as frequent as those which passed between Alençon and the
little village of Vimoutier, eighteen miles distant, where one workman in
particular produced what is known as the true Alençon lace. If a work were
made at Argentan, it was called Argentan, if at Alençon, Alençon, though
both might have been produced from the same designs.
In 1708, the manufacture had almost fallen to decay, when it was raised by
one Sieur Mathieu Guyard, a merchant mercer at Paris, who states that "his
ancestors and himself had for more than 120 years been occupied in
fabricating black silk and white thread lace in the environs of Paris." He
applies to the council of the king for permission to re-establish the
fabric of Argentan and to employ workwomen to the number of 600. He asks
for exemption from lodging soldiers, begs to have the royal arms placed
over his door, and stipulates that Monthulay, his draughtsman and engraver,
shall be exempted from all taxes except the capitation. The Arrêt obtained
by Guyard is dated July 24th, 1708.
[Illustration: Fig. 92.
POINT D'ARGENTAN.
_To face page 204._]
{205}Guyard's children continued the fabric. Monthulay went over to another
manufacturer, and was replaced in 1715 by Jacques James, who, in his turn,
was succeeded by his daughter, and she took as her partner one Sieur De La
Leu. Other manufactures set up in competition with Guyard's; among others
that of Madame Wyriot, whose factor, Du Ponchel, was in open warfare with
the rival house.
The marriage of the Dauphin, in 1744, was a signal for open hostilities. Du
Ponchel asserted that Mademoiselle James enticed away his workmen, and
claimed protection, on the ground that he worked for the king and the
court. But on the other side, "It is I," writes De La Leu to the intendant,
on behalf of Mademoiselle James, "that supply the 'Chambre du Roi' for this
year, by order of the Duke de Richelieu. I too have the honour of
furnishing the 'Garderobe du Roi,' by order of the grand master, the Duke
de La Rochefoucault. Besides which, I furnish the King and Queen of Spain,
and at this present moment am supplying lace for the marriage of the
Dauphin."[572] Du Ponchel rejoins, "that he had to execute two 'toilettes
et leurs suites, nombre de bourgognes[573] et leurs suites' for the Queen,
and also a cravat, all to be worn on the same occasion." Du Ponchel appears
to have had the better interest with the controller-general; for the
quarrel ended in a prohibition to the other manufacturers to molest the
women working for Du Ponchel, though the Maison Guyard asked for
reciprocity, and maintained that their opponents had suborned and carried
off more than a hundred of their hands.[574]
The number of lace-makers in the town of Argentan and its environs at this
period amounted to nearly 1,200. In a list of 111 who worked for the Maison
Guyard appear the {206}names of many of the good bourgeois families of the
county of Alençon, and even some of noble birth, leading one to infer that
making point lace was an occupation not disdained by ladies of poor but
noble houses.
De La Leu, who, by virtue of an ordinance, had set up a manufacture on his
own account, applies, in 1745, to have 200 workwomen at Argentan, and 200
at Carrouges, delivered over to his factor, in order that he may execute
works ordered for the King and the Dauphin for the approaching fêtes of
Christmas. This time the magistrate resists. "I have been forced to admit,"
he writes to the intendant, "that the workmen cannot be transferred by
force. We had an example when the layette of the Dauphin was being made.
You then gave me the order to furnish a certain number of women who worked
at these points to the late Sieur de Monthulay. A detachment of women and
girls came to my house, with a female captain (capitaine femelle) at their
head, and all with one accord declared that if forced to work they would
make nothing but cobbling (bousillage). Partly by threats, and partly by
entreaty, I succeeded in compelling about a dozen to go, but the Sieur de
Monthulay was obliged to discharge them the next day.[575] I am therefore
of opinion that the only way is for M. De La Leu to endeavour to get some
of the workwomen to suborn others to work for him under the promise of
higher wages than they can earn elsewhere. M. De La Leu agrees with me
there is no other course to pursue; and I have promised him that, in case
any appeal is made to me, I shall answer that things must be so, as the
work is doing for the king." From this period we have scarcely any notices
concerning the fabric of Argentan.
In 1763 the widow Louvain endeavoured to establish at Mortagne (Orne) a
manufacture of lace like that of Alençon and Argentan, and proposed to send
workers from these two towns to teach the art gratuitously to the girls of
Mortagne. We do not know what became of her project; but at the same period
the Epoux Malbiche de Boislaunay applied for permission to establish an
office at Argentan, with the ordinary exemptions, under the title of Royal
Manufacture. The title and exemptions were refused. There were then (1763)
at Argentan three manufactures of point de France, without counting the
general hospital of St. Louis, in which it was made for the profit of the
institution, and evidently with success; for in 1764, a widow Roger was in
treaty with the hospital to teach her two daughters the fabrication of
point d'Argentan. They were to be boarded, and give six years of their
time. The fine on non-performance was 80 livres. In 1781, the Sieur
Gravelle Desvallées made a fruitless application to establish a manufacture
at Argentan; nor could even the children of the widow Wyriot obtain a
renewal of the privilege granted to their mother.[576] Gravelle was ruined
by the Revolution, and died in 1830.
[Illustration: Fig. 93.
POINT D'ARGENTAN.--Grande bride ground. Eighteenth century.
_To face page 206._]
{207}Arthur Young, in 1788, estimates the annual value of Argentan point at
500,000 livres.
Taking these data, we may fix the reigns of Louis XV. and Louis XVI. as the
period when point d'Argentan was at its highest prosperity. It appears in
the inventories of the personages of that time; most largely in the
accounts of Madame du Barry (from 1769 to 1773), who patronized Argentan
equally with point d'Angleterre and point à l'aiguille. In 1772, she pays
5,740 francs for a complete garniture. Lappets, flounces, engageantes,
collerettes, aunages, fichus, are all supplied to her of this costly
fabric.[577]