Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-05-07
Lace. New and Old.
London News.

The decadeDce CT taste. so far as lace Is con-
cerned, affords curious chapter ia the records
OF degeneration. 1t is easily traced; for lace,
properly so called-that Is to say, in which
groundwork and flowers are equally made by
needle or bobpin-is comparatively a new
Lot do without the Greeks and the Romans,
may rave OF woven air" and "Coan robes y
Dut these were probably only the muSlins OF
Dacca, or us predecessor; and the needlework
Lace may have been represented In Rome by
''cut and drawn work, which seems to have
been OF great antiquity, and certainly neralded
the advent Of lace IN the modern world. This
''cut work, In which design Is made by draw
Ing out some OF the threads OF material al
ready woven, is; however, quite distinct from
the genuine needle point lace, which is entirely
made by the needle according to a design pre-
Vlously draw upon parchment The Concur
rent testimony OF portraits and pattern books
points to the sixteenth century as that OF the
Invention and progress OF lace, and TO the sew
eItseL th as that OF perfect fruittoa.
What Is absurdy called Gothic lace Is the
product of the RUIZ and farthingale period and
Is The cider pinfe tdgliGtO when preced ed the
p,tn;0 tagltdto q tog,tan,i, called also bone
lace, Gone point Spanish lace, and 50 forth, bus
flowers made IN "buttonhole STITCH" and hen
linked together with brides, as they ere called
or connecting pieces Of lighter work, which
ned the massive flowers together. Venice pe-
the best OF the beautiful rose" or Tat,ler
raised" poiat was made there. The period
dn6lps WHICH this noo!s lace prevailed was
uoto occurs as often as the rose" poinf,
which is many degrees more beautiful,
and by KneIier's time both were quite
great, heavy flowers became smaller, fl It
ter and lighter, and the Teseau, or ''pody''
OF me lace grew on out Of the brides or
lance OF its own. Venice point completely
changed its character In the reigns of Louis
MI: and Louis XIV. Instead OF massive,
Iicnly MODELLED 90 ne fabric depending in some
which it was spread, it became an Independent
and extremely beautiful material. quite apart
from any backing OF velvet. II was the manu-.
Colbert introduced at Alencon and which
spread thence to Argentan. It is the lace
Which served and still serves as model for
sells point, and more technically as point gaze.
The body is beautifully delicate, and the MOVERS
are are daintily outlined and superoly worked.
From this, perhaps. with rose" point. the
highest expression OF lace work, a rapid decline
was brought by bobbin or pillow lace, which,
pretty as It is, was at first merely q cheap
imitation Of the more costly needle point, anu
In its best period lacked the beautiful precision
OF the elder at.
By degrees taste, probably Influenced By
price, yeered round in favor OF DobDln lace The
older needle-point was pronounced stl1 and
proper and French Flanders, the fabrics OF
Mechlin and Valenciennes, usurped the place OF
those or venice and Alencon. 1t was ne longer
value CT lace work. On the contrary, the body
or re3edu might be said TO have eaten up the
design almost completely, or reduced 1t to a
these Ease uses te lace making as Su RG the ne
reign OF Louis WI, whose Wife may be said to
have set thes fashion for the simpler, .gauzler
Marie AntoiDette owned only small per-
centage OF the lace said to have been in her
possession her collection of every style and
PERIOD must have been as vast as the Industry
Of Mary Queen of Scots In working samplers
and pin.cushions. Asa matter Of fact Marie
Antoinette gave a death. blow to the grander
dian muslin during the Trianon times of at
fected simplicity. Still the point d Alencon died
bard. clinging TO the last to the curtains of
equipage" ard bathing dresses OF those very
great ladies so far above public opinion as to
receive guests while actually In BATH Ii ia true
az IAN, That is to say made milky and Opaque by
the addition Of some essence. HolcroiL the
ex-jockey, ana author Of the 'Road to Ruin"
was hoTri1ed at this practice, albeit there is
no doubt that the lady who received him up
10 her chin In water was suitably enyel.
oped In point lace The golden days of lace.
when the trimmings OF The Dowager Duchesse
&c la Fertes couch were worth 40 ,000 Gro Wns,"
and $4,000 was paid for brides outfit Ia the
matter OF lace, were over; but the degradation
TO the machine level was not ct coDs1mmated.
1t was the ease With which Mechlin lace could
be machine made that threw lace out OF fashion,
despite the efforts OF the First Napoleon to sus-
tain the Brussels work. Lace, except TO the most
practiced eye. fell under suspicion, until the
taste for needle point revived few years ago.
THIS revulsion OF feeling is by no means likely
TO 1njure the manufacture of machine made
lace, which. considered as ''quDlDg" or other
trimming OF the ruled or pliSse kind, may do
as well as needle or bobbin work. What is
gained is revived taste for the SUPERIOR KINDS
q neeGle. polnt, winch partake as essentially
OF tne character OF artmanufacrure as the d aer