The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1888-06-09
EXQUISITE ACES.
The Collection Given to the New York Art
Museum by Mrs. Aston.

The Collection Given to the New York Art
Museum by Mrs. Aston.
The gift of the late Mrs. John Jacob
Astor's collection of French and Italian
laces to the Metropolitan Museum OF
Art puts our only public art gallery in
possession of the finest and oldest spec
linens of art ncedlework in the world.
1t was long Mrs. Astor's opinion that
American women, with all their taste
and proficiency in matters Of dress aud
decoration, and their dizziness in fine
needlework, could acquire thigh repu-
tation as lace makers, and that in this
way a source of employment was open
to many American ladies dependent
upon their own exertions for support
She recognized clearly the necessity
for popular education in this regard.
and the wide field of usefulness as a
permanent educational factor which
the Metropolitan Museum of Art en-
ioyed Hence Mrs. Astor's laudable
intention that her exquisite speci-
mems of needle-work should find a last
resting place in its galleries, to inter-
| est American women in the subject and
excite a spirit of imitation and origi-
nality,
One Point de France fichu cost Mrs.
Astor $2,300. 1t was made by a French
peasants wife in Ardennes between
1885 and 1880, and at IL time be-
longed to Empress Josephine. Sim
ilarly most of the lace in the collection
belonged at one time or another to
famous ladies of royal OIL aristocratic
families. for their high cost precluded
any but the very richest people from
possessing them. The Point Coupe is
the oldest piece in the collection, hay
irg been made by the cunning hand Of
| French woman in 1550-it cost over
g., S00-and another piece of similar
make, which dates from 1880 or 1000,
cost nearly as much. Another old
piece is a Guipure de Belgique, which
cost 81, 100. and was made at Brussels
between 1890 and 1920 by Nine. Quimet-
A dress-trimming of Point de Venise,
which cost So, 200, is one of the largest
pieces in the collection, and was made
in the half-ccntury between 1850 and
100. The Empress Eugene, who was
at one time a great lace lover, is said
to have been negotiating for its pur-
chase when it came into Mrs. Astor's
collection. Another very old piece of
lace which the collection contains is a
Point Ccrepe which was made in 1880.
One of the most precious specimens
Of Nalenciennes in existence is q bit in
,he collection dating from 1870, and
which the late Mrs. Astor fire.
l%uently wore. Another favorite with
her was a Guipure d'Angleterre,
made between 1870 and 100. one
of the few specimens representing this
school in existence, and perhaps the
only one in America 1t cost, tits said,
1880. The high cost of these laces
even forty years ago, when they were
relatively cheaper than at present, is
explained partly by the few people who
knew the secret of their manufacture
in those old times and the great time
and labor involved in their production,
and partly by their rarity, only a small
number of undoubted antiquity having
survived intact, Others, too, were
more highly priced because of their
associations and former possession by
historic personages. 1t is not too much
20 say that many of these laeeB have
witnessed some of the great court
pageants of Europe.
A Guipure de Malines made in the
latter part of the seventeenth century,
one of the valuable specimens in the
collection, and Point de France of
somewhat earlier date are said to have
belonged to two Orleans Princesses
long since gathered to their fathers.
There are likewise two beautiful pieces
of Point de Brabant made between
1850 and 1900, and which cost 81, 500
apiece, that are associated with the
memories of the ladies of the first
Napoleonic generation. Two exquisite
specimens of Point de Venise, made
between 1850 and 100, and a Point
d'Alencon of 1900 have ecclesiastical
associations, being said to have como
from the estate of one of the Roman
Cardinals. N. Y. World.