New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-04-24
LACE. NEW And OLD.


The decadrnce Of STE far ~ lace - concerned
affords curious chapter in the records Of dercnria-
ton II il easily traced: for lace. properly ~
callcd-that Is To say. in which goundWork ana
flowers are equally made by needle or boDuh
comparatively q now thing. Those industrious m
tiduaTies who cannot do without the Greeks ana mo
Romans may rave Of . woven ar ana 'ohh
robes" but these were probably only the mnNlln' oi
Dacca OF its predecessor and the nrcdic"ofA 81
the Bible seems 10 have been embroidery Lace may
have been represented in Rome by " cut and drawn
work which seems TO have been of great antiquity.
and certainly hcralded the advent of lace ~ The
modern world. This " cut work. III which design
ia made by drawing out some OF the threads "i
material already woven is. however, quite distinct
from the genuine needepoini lace which iscn'irc.y
made by the needle according to design cyously
drawn upon parchment The concurrent testimony
of portraits and points to the sixteenth
century as that of the invention and progress of
lace. and to tho seventeenth a. that Of perfect
What il absurdly called Gothic lace is the pro-
duct OF the ruff and farthngale period, and Is the
older pmnto ta9iiat0, which preceded the PHno foJiT
nf0 a fpglidmi called eisO b0nc-lacc, bone point.
Snanish lace and ~ forth but which is really Ital
ian and composed OF great flowers made IN - but
tonhOIe stitch. and then linked together with brds,
as they called, or connecting pieces OF lighter
work which held the massive fowcrs together.
Venice became an important centre of lacc-making.
and the best of the beautiful rose. or rather
"raiscd ~ point was made there. The period during
which this noble lace prevailed was short. IN Van
dykes pictures tho panfo tdJiiGtO occurs rs often ~
the rose point, which Is many degrees noic bc3I-
tifnl and by Kneller's time both were quite old
fashioned By swift transition the great, heavy
nower- became smaller faticr and lighter. and the
rcseau or body" of the lace, grew ont OF the
brides or connecting links, and acquired an mpor-
tancc of il, own. Nenic" point completely changed
its character in thc rcign- OF Louis XII and ouis
XIV Instead of massive rlchIy 9"4'iIru iah!ir,
depending in some measure Tor IT. ull display on the
surface over which II was spread. hc'amr an ihlr
pendent and extremely beautiful material. quite
aDart from any backing Of velvet. II was the man
ufacture of this lighter kind of Venice point that
Colbert introduced at Alcncon and which sprca'.
thence to Argentan. II Is the lace which served and
a sltttft - fllE lltrI
known az real Brussels point. ana more irchui-
cay point gaze The body II heantiinliy drhc1t"
and The flowers are daintily outlined and 'uPcrhlY
worked; From tins. perhaps WIN I",'.
point. the highest expression of lace work. rand
decline was brought by hohhiu OF pillow lace :" b,
pretty as il is was at first merely ch'ap uitaio
of the more costly Deedlc-pnnt. aud ~ iis best
period lacked the beautiful precision of the elder art
BY degrees taste. probably influenced 10y pre-.
nccdle-pont was pronounced stin ana heavy, au.i
The aerial product ions of Flanders proper and French
Elondcrs the fabrics Of Mcchln aud NnlcncicnncS.
usurpcd the place Of those OF Venice ana Alcngon.
IL was no longer the design ana MS execution which
made the value of acc-wOtk; ON the contrary. The
body or r,sfdu might he said 10 nave thtcu mp the
design almost completely, or reduced II 10 incrr
cdriug or a scattering of Pans pD7. o thrsc base
uses fell lacc-making during th1 ltlEn 81 LOUIS
WI Who's. wife MAY bc SAID Ia have srt the FASH
r f,r thr si,plrr gauzirr kinds Of laCes, "irlrd'
and "anlled" into a c0udlihc addition TO the toilet
If poor Mare Antourtte owned t pnD T. sur,i
percentage of the lace said I" have been III
her possession her collection OF every style ana
ucriOl must have been vast as the industry "i
MARY Queen of Scots IN working samplers ahG
piu-cusI,ions. As matter OF iact' Marie
Antoinette rave n doath-hlOw TO the GIander
styIe of lace-work 10y introducing toilets OF
Indian muslin during the 1rianon times OF aie'ted
simplicity still the point dAicncon di"d hard
cliuging to the last to The curtains OF persons oi
quality" and lurking in the " bath cquipage and
bathing dresses Of those very great ladieS :" Lar
above public opinion 10 receive guests Nhiie hc-
t,ially in bath il il true an idH that ~ 20 say
made milky and Opaque by the addition OF some
essence HOcroft, the eX-jockcy, and author OF the
Road to Ruin" was mortified at this pra"tlcc
albeit there il no doubt that the lady who received
him up 10 her chin in water was suitably en-
yeloped III point lace. The golden days OF lace
when the trimmings of the D0wagcr DuchcsSe dc In
E'ertE's couch wen d" worth 10000 crowns." aud
81 600 was paid for a brides outfit in the matter
of lace were over but the degradation to the ma
chine level was not yet cOnsuinnated. IL was the
ease with which Mechn lace could be machine
made thas threw lace ont Of fashion, despite the e.
forts OF the First Napoleon 10 sustain the brussels
work. Lace, except to the most pTactiscd eye Tell
under SUSPICION until the taste for needle point re-
yiyed a few years ago. This rcynlson OF feeling -
by no means likely to inuurc the manufacture Oh
macbjue-nIado lace which. considered ~ guillihS
or ether trimming of the ruiicd or Piisse KIND may
do as well ~ needle or bobbin work hat -
gained is revived taste for tho superior KINDS OF
necle-point, which partake as essentially OF the
Character Of artmanaiacture aS the liner poreeian-