Evening journal., 1907-09-02

Written expressly for The Journal
by Mrs. J. Leslie Eastburn, Of Newark
Del)
The display of rich and dainty
needlework at the New Castle County
Fair this season is so great and varied
as to fairly bewilder one. Needlecraft-
ers lavish their exquisite work on
,,very possible object Of personal or
ousehold use. and the results are
4 '5onderfully beautiful Many OF these
elicate bits of needlework are. easily
4 iIopied by the amateurs. so that no
one with the necessary time at her
,disposal need be without the little
accessories which mean SO
much to toilet or home.
Apropos of the fair Il is thought that
Sperhaps a few words concerning
Ineedleworlx might prove worth while.
hone OF the newest forms Of art needle
work comes from Germany. 1t is
,aued Biedermeier," not from the
name Of the place Of its origin nor Of
is originator. as might be supposed,
nut from a comic character who was
4 reated in newspaper pages in the
d arlv part of the nineteenth century.
4 fhe Biedermeier style was thoroughly
. hassic in origin. and the reproduc-
4 ions and developments of it in Ger
n many to-day arc being carried out in
j he same spirit.
one will not find in America more
xauisite or more valuable speciments
the work of the lace-makers of the
tden time than are to be found in the
4 Iuseum of Fine Arts in Boston. Here
a collection Of laces valued at many
thousands Of dollars. Lace reached
high commercial value in the days
q # William and Mary, when Queen
Il Iarv's expenditures for lace for her
yardrobe exceeded $4,000 in single
ear. She paid more than 500 for
,ce for six Of her hanGkerchiefs, and
er laces ecualed her jewels in value
some of her court costumes, and
reat quantities of the costliest ana
lmiest of laces were used in her
,onderful headdresses. King Will
ann quite outdid his queen in his ex-
.avagance along the line of laces. for
Ne paid $500 for the lace on SIX oi
is cravats. and his bill for lace TOT
ie adornment of his garments
mounted in a single year TO little
ore than $4,000. This royal patron
4ye served the good purpose Of making
10 manufacturer of lace one of the
ost important industries of the day
nd some Of the laces produced at that
me arc now among the lost arts OF
@ world. for no one can exactly re-
-oduce them.
THE lace workers I'm the Spain OF
INJURIES ago produced some OF the
ost beautiful gold and silver ana
lored laces ever made in the world
le finest specimens Of these iaces
q TO be seen IN tho old court robes
those DAYS. for they were much toe
stlv to be worn by the common peo-
or bv even the well-to-do. The
,e mantiuas worn by the ladies OF
ain were of almost fabulous value
we are, told that in the seventh
nturv the wealthy ladies of Spain
re "a dozen or more petticoats, one
er than the other, of rich stuffs
mined with lace to the girdle."
che sheets of the nobility and OF
very wealthy were bordered witt
costliest sof lace and the curtains
their beds and even of their car
ges were elaborately trimmed with
finest laces. The black lace OF
lin could not be exceeded IN
lutv of design or daintiness and
icacv OF stitch. while some of thS
ite lace were of such airy and ever
webbv texture thar one must use 2
gnifying glass TO trace the pattern
finest Of this lace defes success
imitation.
he braid used in Battenberg lace
popular in recent years, is but q
chine Imitation of the tape laces OF
turies ago, but these limitations
far short of the real tape laces oi
seventeenth century, when needle
* was the chief occupation OF th'
nen Of some countries. In those
women kept within doors mucl
e than they do now. The out
recreations now SO common