VAULT NK 3452 B70X 1393 1 1 ■ ■ ■ ^1 II ■ I 1 fntle ta ^ OtP %l)ibUrtatCt>tfajjatol893 ^ # to&fraM to u liflitstij fumi paialjEitto x llcnejia 1893 .PCRTR. fVINNLIMMF Kackenmeister Endowment The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924086682725 col cof^Hi [■v -— rg5r = c cd^^Bs Ol^^sl ~JH^=r ro^^^^= cn^^^ ,&L>^kt>^ 1 (Bui Ke n cap ^H &m Lm& * %, V/ ** ©rljibiteH at ©Ijif(i0o in 1893 "If y iW &cftirntci> tn ficr iajfgtij (Qnmi IHarBljnita (.1, p^d/^^^-d'^A^ ucne?in SL> l8q3 ®0 jjcr iJtujestij jtrgljfrftit it f faint} it umn af |ta Your Majesty, any words were in my heart and were floating uncrys- |J|L tali\ed across my mind — with which to dedicate the jL work of our Lace Committee and this little guide book *_ I to Your Majesty — when my eyes rested upon the following lines, by Aurelio Passerotti, at the beginning of his Pattern book for noble lace makers, the only known copy of which belongs to Count Nerio Malve\\i of Bologna. — In them are mirrored all my thoughts, gracefully clothed in that old time phraseology which is as intricately and delicately wrought as the subtile fabric to whose treasury it serves as key, and whose gracious mistress it so respectfully lauds. I therefore pray Your Majesty to accept this tribute made in a past epoch, to' another Royal Margherita who, in that portion of the land ox>er which she reigned, loped to protect and to encourage the arts of peace, as does Your Majesty throughout United Italy : 14 H W of W o o e •-J < Q^ 05 "i CQ.S C/l db * * * * .§ G Q O ^ 3 - 2 Q O .T3 * O (j>CQ cofcs 2 a- .5 < 8 < o z o CO "O ^ — .£ tj . • e « 2 « " rt u — «* e O JJ ST) o rt o rt J, 3 -a "2 o 5 O rtlc rt 2 a ~ S 0^2^ tt " £ ^ T2 rt *« 'O $J rt ° o ^ ^ ° G u e e E5S-2 t -rt 3 ecLrt O -- L»» rt * W rtT o rt «/> C (U o Q- « JS 3 ;= ^ -a 2 m S 3 e w ,° c -fi ° *o ^u ° ° £,ev£ o^.o.js- £■-- ^£-3-5 2:=.S c to « 5 o T3 '2 < - " o a-— 3 o > S o o so < rt «t2c2'u e oUrSlOn 5 »- Or 3 -w. « '- u S rt T3 I— O rt 2 '3^ « c I- S E «J 2 •z: o c c rt Q-TJ O O ° « a *•- «-• rt -3 *"" C rt u r H rt c ° a. 5) a O C S "O rt -fi ,5r<3 rt Jr « 3 <-» . u u, J "3 =3 CT^ rt - c-fi =■ JJ C 1> -3 .O -= rt c o o o 3 o 8 s O - rt > O 1 8 2- o ^ o .,_ • •" &J6 3 -o o rt s --------- •■■---° CO z OO S-^-2 a-c© -S-g «*. 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Ci| J^ei 3 c S >"<£"£ o o c clc^:?, c ftft H C — -5- rt "9-s r« •- § 3 O O o o 3 .2 ^ijQ6 «^ {>.<§-§ 1 _ •— rr u-f^ o y^. o u « ° rt -O o -O '2 3 3 O u O ^ ct* o u - S " -rt 3 — O *- rt 3 rt U ^—i - 1 -" «— ZZZ rt C O o _ii rt Jt ° S rt «^-C rt rt rt e rt -Q o rt N o o 3 "3 s 3 3 6 o o ^ -3 rt « ~ 3)"^ -2 P 3 3 a- i> rt c ° C CO 3 c f^— o O *> "3- rt , *- — . c — w r- 3 o ■ o So 0-3 3 o * 'rt " *> —" O 2 -rt C 'rt ■a "rt c O .15 _S ** c ^3 e rt 5; an— -a c -*-• „ 3 60 o a o c u 3 rt s rt g u 00 > — • Q PREFACE. & his is not only a guide-book descriptive of the unique col- lection of antique laces from all parts of the world ex- hibited in the Italian section of the Woman's Building at the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago during the summer of 1893, and kindly lent by Our Most Gra- cious Queen Margherita, and the ladies of Italy, whose names follow on the list of Directresses and Patronesses: It opens with a description of every kind of lace-like fabric, and forms a complete and succinct history of lace from its origin to the present day ; it contains a biographical sketch of those artists who have entrusted to us their finest productions — all of which are for sale — that there might be a worthy framing to the rarer laces. It, also has appended — compiled by the editor — a list of the books exhibited, which form a small and interesting library, with a complete collection of antique designs for lace-makers and em- broiderers, placed, for reference and study, at the disposal of those visitors whom they may interest. Finally and above all, it contains descriptive notices of all the Lace Schools and Lace Manufacturies in Italy, founded or directed by women, with which the Committee has been able to communi- cate in the short time between its organization and the shipping of the exhibit to Chicago ; these notices are illustrated by photographs and very complete albums of samples, as well as by large quan- tities of the laces Italian women produce, all of which are for sale with immediate delivery. For any information, or for the purchase of books or laces, visitors are requested, to address themselves to the lady attendant, remembering that every piece of lace sold — however insignificant it may seem — means at least one hearty meal for some poor and industrious woman, some fatherless, dumb, or crippled child in Italy. Phi^t I. Introduction. $, tesmpttw (SsmmtttAwn *f tljc mast (StfUbrattf |«w 0f ilje $fo$t. For a clear understanding of any chapter of the second part or history of lace making, without reading the one preceding it, it is necessary to tho- roughly comprehend and impress upon the mind the following terms and their meanings, remembering that the older and kindred arts from which lace- making sprang are very nearly allied to it, and often produce such similar ef- fects that it is impossible for the uninitiated to distinguish between them. I- — Passamano or Passamenterie. (Gimp and Knotted Fringes or Trimmings). Their Manufacture. These trimmings or adornments are now made by means of a long, nar- row, bolster-shaped cushion screwed to a table; on this cushion the fringed-out stuff, or a foundation cord, is held in place by large-headed pins round which the threads that are to form the fringe or edging are knotted in various patterns ; in the coarser work the fingers alone suffice to tie the the knots, but for finer effects the use of the crochet needle is necessary. To prepare a textile for its conversion into an ornamental knotted border, the woof threads are drawn out, leaving a portion of the warp of the width required for the fringe, the selvage is cut away and the threads are knotted as desired. Extra tassels are sometimes added for a finish. Different Varieties. Macrame is a modification of the ordinary passamenterie. Different kinds of macrame are known as: Punto a Groppo, — knotted point. 10 Punto Moresco, — or Moorish point. Panto a Groppo incordonato, — or corded, knotted point. The above are all terms used by the Venetians for this class of work. II. — RETE (XeV and Maglia , Knitting ;.'. Manufacture of Knitting. The italians have one generic term for the single stitches of both, viz., '" Maglia „ Knitting. — (Punto a Maglia) is made with two long, blunt needles of wood, steel or bone, held one in each hand : over them a thread is knotted in and out continuously, until a flexible, elastic material is formed which is more or less ornate according to the object for which it is destined, and to the fancy of the knitter. Manufacture of Net. Rete (Net) — is made by means of a wooden, brass or bone needle, bi- forcated at either end, around which the thread or cord is wound; a little stick is also used, the width of which must be half the depth of the stitches or meshes required. The end of the netting cord or thread, is knotted in a loop to a solid peg; holding the stick in the left hand, the needle charged with the cord is passed around the stick through the loop and in and out again through the first twist made, which is held in place by the stick and thus forms a knot. The stick is then removed and another mesh is begun. Different Varieties. Frivolite — tatting. For this, the little stick is replaced by the fingers of the left hand and more complicated knots of different varieties are made. ModailO — a very ancient net lace that is made without any embroi- dery and is quite artistic in effect. The meshes of Modano may be large or small, round, square or shell-shaped, according to the size and form of the stick which is held in the left hand, and the number of meshes taken or skipped in knotting into the row above. This netting can be varied indefinitely ; it is often very pretty, and to the untrained eye, it greatly resembles some of the varieties of pillow lace. 11 Manufacture of Lacis. Merletto a Maglia or Maglietta, LACIS. — {Net Laces); Merletto a Maglia Quadrata {Square Net Lace); Merletto a Retine ricamate {Embroidered Net Lace); These are all terms used for the embroidered nets that were so much the fashion in the middle ages. — After making the meshes of the desired size and to the desired number, the fabric is firmly sewn to a metal frame covered with tape to keep il perfectly stretched, as the beauty and regularity of the work depend greatly on this; it is then embroidered with a needle and thread in dif- ferent stitches, such as darning, whe.'l, and button-hole stitch. III. — Punto Tirato or Punto Disfatto — {Drawn Work). Punto Tagliato {Cut Work). These titles comprise all the earliest needle laces; the most elaborate va- rieties might really be treated as Point Laces if judged simply by their appear- ance ; these laces are worked in linen on lawn. Manufacture of Burato. Burato is an embroidery in which drawn work, outlining and cross- stitch are combined. It is made on finely spun though coarsely woven fabrics; and was used for underwear and household linen. Punto in Stuora — {Sheeting or Curtain Stitch), TRAPUNTO. This is made with silk or thread forming what people commonly call Si- cilian embroidery or Lace; the ground of this lace, instead of being drawn and embroidered in the textile, is often made with bobbins the threads of which form a kind of very coarse, twisted gauze or fine net, on which the designs are afterwards embroidered. Punto Tagliato or Cut Work. — The design for this work was first traced on a piece of linen which was then drawn very smoothly over a leaf of parchment attached to a hard cushion called a " balon „ , and firmly basted down. Then a coarse thread was served over the carefully traced outline and a Punto a Festone, or button-hole stitch, was worked over this round 12 the entire design. Then very carefully cutting away the intervening material that none of the threads composing the stitching might be frayed, double paral- lel threads were drawn from angle to angle in the empty spaces; these threads were intercrossed and button-holed to enrich the design, or they were caught around pins at the border, forming an edging of purled loops called Cecchetti and Smerli. Different varieties. Puilto Calabrese (Calabrian Work) very closely resembles the last, but is adorned with high reliefs. IV. — Punto a Reticella or Radixeli — (Net Point). Manufacture of Reticella. Tin's is a combination of drawn and cut work; no design is traced, but the threads of the linen are counted and drawn out in such a manner as to form al- ternate squares from which the warp is then cut away and the remaining threads are used as a foundation which is button-holed over, the spaces being filled as in punto tagliato with fancy stitches. Puilto Surana was a kind of Reticella with oriental designs. Punto Greco and Punto di Zante were names given Reticella coming from Greece and the Archipelago. Punto Reale or Royal point, was the contrary of Reticella, although executed in the same manner, for in it the linen ground was left and the design was made by cutting, and then filling in the open spaces with fancy stitches. Punto di Cartella or Cordelia — (Card Work) is a lace having a similar effect to that of Reticella, but instead of having the ground made by drawn work in linen, the button-holeing is done entirely on a foundation made by sewing coarse threads and bits of parchment basted upon a most carefully drawn design, and then covering these with button-hole stitch. Reticella edgings. Punto d'Arcato —(Arched Point). When the loops or smerli of the edge became deep and more ornate they received this distinctive appellation. 13 Punti Fiamenghi (Flemish Points). These were rectangular and therefore rather broad and shallow. They were often alternated in two sizes and always retained the same form. Punto Spagnuolo — (Spanish Point) was like the preceding, save that the points were all of the same size and much longer narrower and more pointed, and surrounded by elaborate small smerli. Punto Gaetano was a combination of Spanish and Flemish Points attached together by smerli at one third or half their depth ; they were filled in with the usual stitches, thus producing a varied effect which resembled a dou- ble row of smerlatura or turretting. There were many other fancy stitches generally known in Italy at the beginning of the sixteenth century which con- tinued in use after the introduction of the real points or needle laces without foundation of textiles, as for example : Punto Damaschiuo or Damascus Point. Punto a Filo or Punto a Festone a variety of button-hole stitch. Punto Rilevato Raised stitch or stitch in relief. Punto Sopra Punto a loop stitch in relief. Punto Ingarseato (gau\e stitch) used as filling. Punto Ciprioto, with an effect resembling the open work ground in Greek and Tnrkish embroidery. Punto Pugliese, which resembled Russian and Roumanian embroi- dery. In fact wherever lace was made there were local terms used, as is the case in every other industry. V. — Point Laces. Manufacture of Point Lace. This variety of lace is made entirely with the needle, and is as susceptible to the surrounding influences of climate, peoples and national characteristics as are the architecture, sculpture and painting of different countries. This delicate art is indeed so sensitive to change that, strange as it may seem, the same M patterns wrought by lace-makers of neighbouring towns and villages produce entirely dissimilar effects. Some general rules are however necessary; the design must first be very carefully drawn upon a piece of parchment which has been so tinted as to form a dark back-ground, and a large thread, or several fine threads, twisted together, must be sewn with great exactness round the edges of all the flowers, scrolls and other figures of the design as a foundation, using as few stitches in this sewing as possible, all the figures of the design are then filled in between the outlining threads, with close and varied stitches; the ground is made of meshes, (tulle stitch) like Burano Point, or of purled gui- pure like Venetian Point and lastly the foundation threads which follow the edges of the design are more or less elaboratly button-holed over to form the reliefs. The lace is detached carefully from the parchment foundation by cutting the fastening threads, and the different pieces composing the desired length are sewed together, the finishing touches being added by an especially skilled worker. In the making of point lace the needle women are usually divided into s»v sections to each of which a different portion of the work is allotted such a grounding, tulling, etc., thus affording not only greater rapidity, but also more skilled and practised workmanship. Punto di Venezia or Venetian Point, also called Parchment Lace. This is a comprehensive term under which the following varieties of nee- dle laces with open grounds are known ; the Punto di lenejia differs from the Punto in Aria in having the scrolls farther apart, is more insignificant in design and is surrounded by button-hole stitch. Varieties of Venetian Point. Punto in Aria (Lace woven in air). In this lace the flowers, scrolls and designs of animals were wrought with very fine thread in varied open work with very small stitches, the threads forming the foundation were but- ton-holed over before the filling of the designs, and the whole was held in place, where the design did not connect the parts, with button-holed purled loops or guipure bars. Punto ad Avorio {Ivory Point) was a variety of the above with designs copied from the beautiful flowered scrolls of the inlarsia (inlaid) work of the sixteenth century; it was made with very close stitches and low relief which producing a solid effect caused it to look as if carved in ivory. Punto dei Nobili or Carnival Lace was especially manufactured for marriages, births and grand family or civic festivals. Its designs pictured warriors on foot or on horseback, hunts, castles, towns, animals, cardinals' 15 hats and princely crowns, gods, goddesses and mermaids; in fact nearly every kind of obiect real or imaginary. In case of a treaty or a marriage the arms of the contracting parties were liberally introduced into the design. Punto tag Hat o a Fogliame {Flowered Lace). This is a lace composed of scrolls and flowers that seem literally carved in flax; it is the richest Point lace ever invented and formerly was made in silk, gold and silver as well as thread. Using the Punto in Aria as a foundation, stitches are made upon stitches and row is superadded upon row ofbutton- holeing. The flowers were formely packed with horse-hair instead of with thread that they might stand out in fuller, richer reliefs, detaching themselves more perfectly from the ground-work or foundation. Thousands upon thou- sands of microscopic loops — sometimes five or six rows deep — more re- sembling the perfect flowers and fairy landscapes created by hoar frost than the work of even the daintiest human fingers, were then, — with infinite patience — ■ made all round the edges of those wonderful flowers and scrolls, and upon the insides and pinnacles of every relief. Modifications of this celebrated lace, sung by poets, described by historians and a source of commercial rivalry between powerful potentates, were known as: Punto di Spagna, point made in Spain. Grand point de France also called, Point Colbert from the prime minister of Louis XIV who introduced it into his country from Venice. Punto Neve (Snow Point), which was very beautiful with its ground of starred threads that resembled flakes of snow. Punto di Rosa' (Rose Point). The bars of this lace were placed close and firm, forming a regular sexagonal net-work, with innumerable raised flowers and tiny scrolls. Punto a Fogliame (Leaf Point), with graceful tendrils predomi- nating in the design and many loops upon their edges. Punto a Gioie (Jewelled Point), which is frequenly mentioned by old writers though no example of it is left for the instruction of the industrial artists of to day. It was into this lace that pearls and other gems and even the Venetian beads, that so closely resembled gems, were introduced with most gorgeous effect; these laces were also varied by using silk, gold and silver instead of linen thread. 16 Bitrano Point and the Laces to which it gave origin. Pimto di Burano is so called from the place of its manufacture, Bu- rano, an island of the lagoon east of Venice. This flowered point lace with a gauze ground was very highly prized; and the following celebrated laces were all Copied from it. Argeiltella. A fine needle point lace resembling the Burano Point but with a curious kind of spider-web ground introduced. Mrs. Bury says it was invented in Genoa, but I am inclined to believe that it is the Italian term for early Argentan Lace, for there are no proofs of point lace making having flourished in that city. Point d'Alencon and Point d' Argentan. The manufacture of these laces was introduced into France under Louis XIV, through the importation — at great expense — of Italian lace-makers to teach their art to the lace makers of France, who of course modified it. These laces, copied from antique designs, are now produced in as great perfection in the cooperative lace schools of Burano as they were a hundred years ago at the time of their greatest glory in France. Point d'Alencon has the same squarish mesh ground as Burano Point, but it is not quite so fine as is that of the early Buranese specimens; the foundation contours of the reliefs were frequently formed with horse-hair covered by the usual button-hole stitch and purled. Point d' Argentan. The ground meshes of this lace are larger than those of the Point d'Alencon, their hexagonal form is perfect, and is frequently composed entirely of microscopic button-holeing; "the flower designs have a much closer filling and the open work spaces are larger and more varied in their stitches than those of Point d'Alencon. Vieux Point de Bruxelles — (Old Brussels Point) exactly re- sembles the earliest Burano Point, the only real difference is that its ground stitch is slightly rounder than in Burano Point. Mixed Points. Point de Bruxelles {Modem Brussels Lace) is composed of flow- ers, scrolls and ribbons of needle point sewed upon a fine, machine-made tulle which is cut out beneath the flowers, and the whole is so perfectly darned together that the lace appears as if made in one piece. 17 Point Plat in Brussels Lace is so called when the flowers and scrolls transferred to the net are, like Honiton Lace, made entirely with bobbins. Duchesse Lace or Point d' Application resembles the Brus- sels Point Plat, the only difference being that in the Duchesse Lace the tulle foundation is not cut away. The tulle or meshes in old Brussels bobbin lace are hexagonal in form; four of the sides of the mesh are composed of two threads twisted together twice, and two of the sides are composed of four threads plaited together four times. Honiton or English Point is like the Duchesse Lace; or else if the work-woman is to make an all-over design of flowers, she executes the parts separately, and they are afterwards connected by purled bars. English Needle Lace has never been manufactured in large quan- tities; it was always copied from Italian, French or Belgian Lace and therefore has no distinctive terminology. In the last twenty years a lace composed of narrow, machine or hand- made braid and point lace stitches has become fashionable in England as fancy work; some of the designs are very good and the stitches are pleasantly varied. This lace is really a revival of Punto di Ragusa, but is much less artistic and has a meagre appearence. It is generally known as Point without any other definition, and sometimes is called Braided Lace; in Italy it is known as Gui- pure a Spighetta Inglese or English Braided Guipure. Venetian Guipure, was a Mixed Point Lace. The scroll work and flowers were outlined in pillow lace; then the designs were filled in and reliefs were made with the needle, the ground being connected by purled bars; this lace was sometimes made in silk. Turkish Point, a fine needle lace made on the edge of stuffs, is ar- tistic and very original. It is composed entirely of the stitch of the Punto in Aria without button-holing, or ground, or connecting loops. It is made in imitation of flowers and fruits in their natural colours, or all of white silk with gold and silver threads. At other times it forms a narrow edging composed of simple, geo- metric designs. Irish Point, is made on fine lawn by stitching a coarse thread all round the design and then cutting out the ground work, filling in the open spaces sometimes with connecting loops and knots and at other times with Punto in Aria. Broiderie des Indes, — when Indian muslin scarfs — with their exquisite open work lace stitches, were introduced into Europe, — all laces 3 made on a muslin ground, received this name; even though produced prior to the origin of this fashion; some specimens of this embroidery, made in the se- venteenth and eighteenth century, look exactly like Venetian or Burano point lace. Irish Guipure, is made with a crochet needle and fine linen thread; its designs are copied from the best old patterns, and it is frequently very artistic. VI. — Merletto a Fuselli. (Bobbin Lace). How Manufactured. Merletto a Tombola. {Pillow Lace), or Merletto a Piombini. — This lace derives its name, from the word " Piombare „ which signifies to hang vertically. It can he made of cotton, flax, fibre, or gold and silver thread. In its fabrication a quantity of threads are interwoven in various stitches ; the meshes and openings or " a giorni „ in the design are made by introducing pins into it and twisting threads about them in diverse ways ; as in Point lace, the effects produced are varied, but the system employed is always the same; round a roller-shaped cushion, which is stuffed with chopped hay, saw-dust, or wool, and is covered with some dark woollen stuff, is care- fully stretched the design which has first been drawn upon stiff paper and then pricked out along the outline. — Then the cushion is placed upon a little rest, shaped to fit it on the one side, and to fit the laces on the other, or it is placed upon a stand in front of the work woman, or grasped between the knees. From right to left, the thread is wound rapidly upon the bobbins and tied at the top in a loop that permits it to gradually slip off the bobbin when it is pulled — • as occurs continuously, in working. The bobbins themselves are all cylinders of wood with a knob at the top. All the threads are then at- tached to hat pins which have been stuck firmly into the cushion to give a good purchase hold, and the lace maker is ready to go to work. She begins by interlacing the bobbins, which are used in pairs, and by placing small pins in all the perforations, crossing the bobbins after the inser- tion of each pin. The bobbins not in use are kept from becoming entangled, by large hat-pins that hold them back on either side of the design. Sometimes a coarse thread follows the entire outline to make it more effective and marked. The throwing back of certain bobbins so as to leave them out in the mid- dle of a flower or scroll, and the taking them back into the design, after an interval, produces the raised work that is called Punto riportato sopra. As the manufacture of the lace proceeds — being worked from left to right and right 19 to left — alternately — the furthermost pins are removed to be re-used in the holes as required; and the lace becoming detached from the cushion may be cut off at any length desired. A coarse thread is sometimes run round the design, with a needle ; it is afterwards finished and entirely removed from the cushion. Guipure from Guip. Guipure. — Guiper is a very old verb . meaning to roll a thread round a card. In the early part of the sixteenth century lace always contained a guip that formed the pattern which, together with the term has been preserved although card or parchment has long fallen into disuse ; the name of Guipure, in modern parlance, is applied to any lace with Geometrical designs, con- ventionalized flowers, or arabesques held together by a grounding of purled loops or bars, in contradistinction to other laces that are made with an all over net ground. Varieties of Guipure. Bobbin laces are easily and rapidly executed ; — they are therefore made all over the civilized world, with perpetual reduplication and yet with almost en- dless variety in design. Some of the most celebrated among these Guipures are: Maltese Point, or Punlo di Malta, from which the famous Genoese Guipure was copied ; its designs were always highly ornamental, and its edge was composed of very deep indentations — much resembling the decorations of the Alhambra; it will be remembered that flowers and animals were never pictured in early Arabian work, they are therefore absent from all lace inspired by designs by Mahometan artists. Guipure di Genoa, is, as has been indicated, the counterpart of Pun to di Malta. Punto di Genoa — also sometimes called Guipure de Milano, so greatly resembles Milanese and Neapolitan Points that if is easily confounded with them, — the chief difference being that the scroll work of the design in the Genoese as in the Spanish Flat Guipure, consists of a broader, more va- ried ribbon. A very fine variety of this is called fugio (meaning I flee) from its running scrolls and airy quality. In all these laces, a crochet needle is used to join the bars and design; one thread is drawn through a pin-hole in the lace, thus forming a loop, and then the knot is closed by passing the free bobbin of the pair through this loop and tightening. Guipure Fiamengo, (or Flemish Guipure) cannot be distinguised, save by experts from, Spanish flat lace. Varieties of this lace were made all 20 over Europe and were introduced into the Colonies of Italy, Spain and Portu- gal, by the Jews. Russian Lace and Hungarian Lace — are varieties of the Flem- ish Guipure but follow the same principles in their manufacture. Punto di Ragusa, was made like the Genoese and Milanese laces, save that its ribbon of bobbin lace was edged on one or both sides with a thick cord sometimes increased in size — as in the Venetian Point — by winding thread around, or by button-holing over the edge of the braid after basting a cord upon it. Venetian and Ragusa Guipures are often considered identical, but they are very different in execution, — the Punto di Ragusa having a de- cidedly Byzantine effect. Merletto Greco, o Greek Guipure has also one or two cords fol- lowing the curves of the braid, but its effect is much less rich and heavy than that of the Punto di Ragusa. Cartisane is one of the earliest and rarest of lace Guipures; it was made of a coarse net consisting of four twists and then four plaits made with the bobbin. Through this were worked simple and artistic Arabesque designs consisting of or more strips of thick paper or vellum each wound with fine silk to resemble a ribbon. The edge of the lace were straight and unornamented ; as this lace did not wash well, it was soon abandoned. Punto di Rapallo, or Liguria, is formed by a ribbon or braid of close lace following the outline of the design, with fancy gauze stitches made by knotting with a crochet needle and forming quaint geometrical reliefs. The special characteristic of this lace, is that the braid is constant- ly thrown over what has gone before, thus forming large loops in the scrolls. The parts of the design are held together by purled Guipure " brides „ or bars. Punto a Vermicelli, is a modification of the Punto di Rapallo — in which the braid is made very fine and narrow, the turnings are extremely complicated, there are no fancy stitches between. Merletto Polichrome or Parti-coloured lace was invented and perfected by the Jews, and was made in silk of different colours representing fruits and flowers; This industry has been revived in Venice and carried to great perfection. 21 VII. — Pillow Laces With Net and Mixed Grounds. The most celebrated of these laces are all known under the general name of Flanders Point, and many of them are as fine as the subtlest webs. Varieties. Point d'Angleterre is a superb and especially fine variety of Brus- sels Pillow lace with mixed ground. It is characterized by a raised rib of plaited threads worked at the same time as the edge of the lace; this rib outlines all the veinings and other salient points of the design, rendering it beautifully artistic. It generally represents garlands and other floral designs,] and sometimes birds, figures and architectural details are introduced. It owes its name to hav- ing been originaly made to be smuggled into England and sold there as English lace, and was of a type entirely different from the original old Brussels Pillow lace. It was widely known and especially appreciated in France and Italy, always retaining however its distinctive appellation. The mesh of which its ground is composed is hexagonal, with four of the sides of two threads twisted twice, and two of the sides consisting of four threads plaited four times. Mechlin or Malines, is so named from the Flemish town where it is manufactured. It has a very fine mesh, sexagonal in form, with four of its sides made by twisting two threads together twice, and four threads all plaited together three times to form the other two sides. The ground is generally strew- ed with tiny spots, flowers or leaves, surrounded by a coarse thread. Flow- ers or leaves, or both alternated, form the pattern along the heading, and the edge is more or less undulated according to the design of the flower border. — The old designs were sometimes rendered more elaborate by introducing vases, flowers, hearts and other details, with open work centres, but even these always retained the detached and self repeating composition characteristic of this lace after the middle of the seventeenth century. Old Flemish Point — properly so called — was made with a very loose ground resembling squarish cob-webs with round pin-holes between the close parts to outline the design. It had a running design of conventionalized fruit and flowers frequently interlaced with a ribbon design which contained open work and added lightness to the whole effect. Its edge was straight, with tiny purls. Trolle Kant, — resembles the Old Flemish Point, but its ground is clearer, with rounder reliefs, and the designs are surrounded by a coarse thread or by a number of threads worked on one bobbin. The pattern is always so managed as to combine with the edge of the lace and to form shallow undu- lations, or is scallop finished - — like all Flemish laces — with purls. 22 Antique Brussels Pillow Lace. — Its designs resembled those of Trolle Kanl on a net ground of round or hexagonal mesh, or a combina- tion of both. AntAverp Lace, was especially celebrated for trimming caps. In Antwerp, all the laces made in Brussels were imitations, but it also had an especial lace of its own called Potten Kant, in which the design — a vase — was worked like antique Brussels — except that the net of which the ground was formed consisted of triangles with hexagonal meshes or openings. English Prolly Lace, was formerlly made in Hampshire and was copied from Pollen Kant, just as the Baby Lace made in Bedford, Buck- ingham, and Northampton, was a modification of the Lille Lace which was sometimes called English Point de Lille. Binclie is a most exquisite, cobwebby, pillow lace from the Province of Hainault, in Flanders. It contains designs of flowers, fruits and figures wrought of the finest, most fairylike thread, connected by tiny rounds or discs of close weaving, with meshes of insertioned threads holding the whole together as through the designer had tried to picture a Dutch flower-garden in a snow storm. This beautiful lace has a straight edge, and the finer qualities, being no longer made, have become priceless. Closter Spitzc (or Convent Lace). The manufacture of this lace was originally confined — as the name indicates — to convents, especially to those in the North of Europe. The present centre of its fabrication is Bohemia. Its treatment and is grounding are identical with those of Binche Point, but, unlike this lace it is coarse though sheer. Modified by the vicinity of Milan, Closter Spitze was also made in Southern Tyrol. Point de Bruges was the name given to a lace made in and about- that historic old town. It much resembles Malines lace, but the Arabesques of its designs were out lined with several fine threads, instead of one coarse one; flowers, filled in with open work, were introduced with pleasing variety. This lace, which was very fine and sheer, was also made in silk; its usual width did not exceed three to five inches. Like Antwerp Lace it was used chiefly for cap trimmings. Point de Paris. This it the name by which the exquisite pillow lace made in the vicinity of Paris was known during the 18 th Century. It is an extremely fine and dainty lace with beautiful garlands trailing over the tulle and edging the flounces. This tulle is called '' champ double „ , (double field) its mesh is round and strong, though very fine, and is pro- duced by doubling the quantity of threads, (using eight instead of four) ; Point de Paris is as fine in quality as old Brussels, but it more resembles the richest laces of Bruges. Valenciennes Lace is known in all the world wherever lace is used on linen. It is made with a solid square or diamond shaped mesh, platted with four threads on each side. It has a somewhat stiff flower or arabesque border made in close stitch along the edge, which is finished off with purls. The antique Point de Valenciennes, made at the French town of that name, was the most perfect pillow lace ever manufactured and was of fabulous price. It is composed of the finest thread ever spun in Europe and is almost indestructible. Some of the present machine-made laces are copied from its most graceful designs, which much resemble those of Point de Paris; but the manufacture of this lace in Valenciennes has entirely ceased. The fabrics now sold under that name are manufactured in Belgium, especially in the neighbour- hood of Ypres; they are also produced in large quantities in Normandy and other Provinces of France, in England, in Ireland, and in Naples. Point de Lille ; — so called from a town in northern France — is a fine lace with a resemblance to Malines, and also to certain varieties of Point d' Esprit. The old English Lace called Newport-Pagnel strongly re- sembles it. Chailtilly is a silk or thread pillow lace made with either a coarse or a fine tulle ground, produced without plaiting by simply twisting the threads together, and is strewn with close and varied flower designs or conventional patterns surrounded by a coarse thread; the English lace of Lyme Regis some- what resembles it though it is more ordinary. Since the revival in the manu- facture on a large scale of lace in France, • — every kind of silk or thread lace is made, or its production abandoned, as fashion dictates in the different lace centres, such as Normandy, Surillac, Auvergne, Lorraine and la Touraine. To these productions, modified by the prevailing fashion, the manufacturers give fancy names so as to attract the attention of the general public which is known to prefer novelty to a strictly beautiful although old fashioned object. For exampje, Cluny, which is so often quoted, has never existed as a distinctive lace; it has never been manufactured within the memory of man inside the walls which bear that name, for Cluny is an old Castle in the heart of Paris, turned into a Museum of Industrial Art ; and some clever manufacturer, inspired by specimens of the rare old Genoese Point existing in the Museum's rich col- lection, having invented a fresh and effective combination in Guipure, gave this name to his production, so as to attract the shopping public by means of that charm which clings to the name Cluny, knowing that the word would conjure up the historical walls of the quaint castellated Museum, and the memories of mediaeval Paris. Passements, All narrow edgings were called by this name which, ori- ginating in Italy, passed into France where it was used until the 17 th Cen- tury as a general designation for what wc call lace and gimp, though after that period it became confined to trimmings. The most celebrated of the ancient Passements were of gold and silver and clinquant, (plated copper), and were made in France and Italy. The great centres however, from which metal la- ces were sent all over Europe were Genoa, Milan and Florence. Some, of these were most sumptuous in appearance, and, considering the costliness of the raw material, of surprising widths. Coloured silk was frequently mixed with the other threads to diminish the cost without destroying the general effect. La Bisette — was a coarse, narrow, heavy, unbleached lace, without any distinguishing characteristics, used by the middle classes in France and Belgium during the 17 th Century. La Gueuse (Beggar lace) was a great favourite in 1700; it was also unbleached, was sheer and narrow, with a coarse net ground and graceful pattern. La Campane was a very fine narrow, white or unbleached pillow lace, used for the edging of caps or broad strips of lace. The derivation of its name is to be found in the Italian word Campane (bells) because it formed a bell shaped edge to all it trimmed. La Mignonette — is from " Mignon „ meaning small and graceful. It was sometimes also called " Thread Blonde „, it was a fine thread edging with light transparent meshes. Blonde was originally a narrow lace which took its name from the pale yellow or blond tint of the unbleached silk of which it was made. The simplicity of this lace soon disappeared owing to the introduction of rich de- signs in bleached and dyed silks, frequently varied by gold and silver threads. — Modern blonde is more largely manufactured in France and Genoa than in Spain where it originated. It is a wide, round meshed, sheer silk lace, with de- signs composed of large, flat surfaces made in a close stitch, surrounded by a coarse silk thread. In the more ordinary qualities, the design is embroidered by hand upon machine-made tulle and linen filled in by darning; it is also very ea- sily imitated entirely by machinery. At one time Blonde was extensively made made in Venice, but this branch of industry has died out there since the re- vival in the production of thread lace and guipures at Palestrina. Genoa and Cantu are the actual centres of its manufacture in Italy, and our exhibit con- tains some beautiful modern specimens from the provinces of Liguria and Lom- bardy. Point d'Esprit, Brittany Lace, or Embroidered or Tam- bourtulle Lace, was made in large quantities in Devonshire (England) in Brittany, and around Genoa where its production continues. The bands of em- broidered tulle which still trim the caps of the good wives in the little town of Tulle, in France, are made entirely by bobbins and have given their name to the round mesh ground of every variety of lace. Many very clever lace makers for- merly spent their lives in doing nothing else but produce these patternless bands ready for other hands to embroider, but after the introduction of an inferior price of machine-made tulle, it no longer furnished a means of livelihood and the poor workers were forced to seek fresh occupations. On the band of tulle, known to commerce as " footing „ there are embroidered, (in fine darning stitch), charming flowers with open-work heart, or small detached, conventionalized designs; the ground is also frequently strewn with little embroidered dots, to which the lace owes the name of " Point d' 'Esprit „ or " Spirit Point „. A , coarse thread is drawn round the embroidery forming an outline to the flow- er stems and leaves. The edges of the antique laces are left without ornamen- tation. The common, machine made, embroidered cotton-tulle that drugs the market is copied from it and is very pretty for window curtains and furniture, although its use on clothes is decidedly unartistic. Punto di Milano - Punto di Napoli. — Milanese Point and Neapolitan Point, are different names for a lace with round mesh ground, so named from the Italian cities of Milan and Naples which were the two great cen- tres of its fabrication. This lace has always been a favourite, as it washes well and is exceedingly strong, and its manufacture has spread to all the countries of Europe. It resembles Genoese pillow lace in having the same scrolls and flowers formed by a ribbon in close stitch, with a mesh or tulle ground, whereas the Genoese Lace is held together by bars. The Neapolitan point has a much rounder mesh than the Milanese, and the character of the design also plainly indicates in what part of Italy the lace was made; this same rule applies to all Europe, for although in the coarser qualities the technicalities constituting a lace named after a special town were adopted as a standard for the same kind of lace pro- duced in other places, transplanting even to the nearest village gradually altered the quality of the lace in the finer varieties. Torchon-Lace — Torchon is the French generic term by which the following, ordinary Pillow-laces used on personal and household linen are commercialy known: " Wirthschafts-Spitze „ or household lace — is the name applied to it .in Germany. Merletto di Oantu, di Palestrina, degli Abruzzi, etc. is the name by which it is called in Italy, after the great centres of its production. It is an ordinary pillow-lace with a net ground, and is universally used on un- derwear and on household and church linen; it is worked straight along like 4 26 weaving without the assistance of a crochet needle, as in Milanese point and Guipures — so that it is in reality the simplest and purest of bobbin laces. Its special qualifications for general use are great strength, endless variety of patterns in geometrical combinations, and low price. Machine-made imitation of Torchon costs two thirds the price of real Torchon and is very easily torn, whilst the real Torchon outlasts the garments on which it is placed and is therefore the cheapest pretty edging that is manu- factured. Owing to the facility of communication and the exigences of fashion the same designs that are made all over* Italy are adopted in France, Belgium, Bohemia, Portugal, Ireland, England, India. Colombo, Saxony, Germany and many other countries. — A few of the most distinctive varieties which may interest the reader are here named, those which coincide in design being placed together. Varieties. Dalecarlie, is a Swedish bobbin lace resembling that of " Offida „ , a variety of Italian lace made in the Province of the Marche, as well as the common, " Abruzzi-lace „. These laces are all worked without any drawing, the rude design being made by skipping the pin holes on a geo- metrically perforated card. The pattern thus produced is surrounded by a heavy thread, and composed of a close stitch worked between the meshes of the coarse net-ground. Sometimes the heavy thread is left out this work in the last remain- ing tradition of a most exquisitely fine pillow lace which was made a cen- tury ago in these provinces ; latterly in Sweden the manufacture of lace has been protected, and the workwomen have been directed with loving care and the happiest results, whereas the workers in the Marche and Abruzzi are en- tirely neglected, although with a small capital in ready money, and a little patience this industry could be revived with great profit to the capitalist and enormous benefit to the surrounding country which is excessively miserable and poor — the women are ready and willing to work, but requiring in- struction and direction. Mediaeval household lace, was made in most of the Spanish, Dutch, Danish, German and Italian Provinces. It always ended in a straight edge finished off with purls, and the design was often so thick with inter- laced patches of close work that the net-ground was almost or wholly suppressed, so that it appears like drawn work executed in a fancy pattern upon house linen. The open work is left by twirling two or four threads several times together, and by the holes in which the pins following the contours of the drawing have been prinked. 27 Reticella a fiiselli. Is a mediceval pillow lace which is an exact copy of the celebrated punto greco, punto tagliato and reticella. In certain museums I have seen the finer examples placed and classified with the needle laces which bear the above names, no one having observed under the mi- croscope the difference in its execution. It was used extensively in house- hold linen with most happy effect to replace those more expensive and te- dious points. Madeira lace, has a close stitch without a regular set ground, being instead formed of varied webs and open spaces, and has oriental wheel like designs which are. very artistic and pleasing. ' Ceylon-laces, as also those from the Mediterranean Islands have a mediaeval and charming effect, sometimes resembling the above, at others seem- ing counterparts of certain Maltese-Laces. Sicilian torchon, has no design drawn upon the parchment. The peasant lace-maker follows the dictates of her fancy, forming capricious com- binations of webs and nets by introducing the pin, or skipping the holes which are pricked at regular intervals all over the strip of parchment which is firmily sewed upon the cushion or " ballon „. Sicily was formerly celebrated, for its gold and metal laces, but its production has nearly died out, and some philanthropic souls are now trying to organize and procure a revival of this industry so as to give a means of support to the women of Palermo and bther populous centres. — At Messina many varieties of lace are produced with great exactness. At present every variety of fancy-work receives its own distinctive appellation, and all the old stitches that enter into its composition are decked out with new and attractive names, and in the past, in the same way, the laces made in every town, hamlet, castle or cottage, by young and old, rich and poor, alike received special designations applied to the designs and, stitches at the dictation of the head workwoman's imagination, and which were afterwards adopted by her companions. Brief as is this introduction, it has described one hundred and twenty two of the principal kinds of lace, and although the reader's patience and memory have already been severely taxed, yet not a quarter of the appella- tions by which these laces and their varieties are known in different coun- tries have been mentioned. Multiplying one hundred and twenty two by four and the product by twenty, the average of nine thousand seven hundred and sixty is produced, a' sum representing the names of individual stitches which, for brevity and to avoid tedium have been omitted. Many laces, however have forty or fifty different terms applied to their component parts, each given because of the introduction of some dif- ferent stitch or combination, and the stitches composing even the narrowest 28 torchons are six or seven in number, so that the general average given above is very low ; — were I to add the terms applied in different places to the ma- terials and implements employed in the manufacture of lace, the description would become very long and wearisome, and the enumeration of the terms would form a good sized vocabulary. I have therefore drawn attention to these figures simply that they may serve as a refutation to a general and erroneous impression, common to many highly cultured people, that Lace- making is only worthy to be classed among the secondary industries, in- stead of standing high among the textile and decorative arts which adorn our homes. If this preparatory study has appeared long, it has assumed its pre- sent form in order that the " History of Lace „ , which follows, and which also serves as a Catalogue to our Exhibit at the Columbian Exposition, may not be full of wearying technicalities and voluminous notes. I trust that the following chapters will justify the course adopted. If not, the fault lies in the inexperience of the narrator, and not in the lack of interest and variety to the found in tracing through the Ages the develo- pement of this graceful, refined and ornamental branch of Industrial Art. Ph^t II. )t $trtlj of ttjc Statu* $rts aufc tljc ©rujttt of gtw. Man loves ornament ; had he existed when the earth was without form and void, it might have been different, for first impressions are indelible ; but, when his mind opened to look about him and observe, ornament at- tracted his attention on every side, Cradled in the lap of a young world, he saw fair nature robed in a many hued garment, covered with reliefs of shrubs and trees, chequered by cunning traceries of branches and leaves and their shadow dancing in the sunshine. — Her mantle was trimmed with open-work borders of meadow-land, fretted with great patches of parti- colored flowers, while dainty fringes of interlaced ferns and grasses nodded on the edges of the silvery water courses. When winter came Nature pre- pared to sleep, and then changed these robes for a beauteous white sheet of dazzling snow, diversified with wondrous interlaced patterns, worked by the magic touch of frost in ice and rime. Then for the first time man saw, mir- rored in God's handy work, the exquisite designs which in future ages his descendants were destined to copy in producing lace. The mind of primitive humanity was however as undeveloped as that of a young child, and could neither analyze the impressions received nor even realize their existence; and yet in making for itself rude coverings of skins and plaited grasses, or utensils of bone, it sought to copy surrounding objects, groping darkly for that with which to adorn the person and property. When we look back into the misty vistas through which prehistoric man wandered, we find his traces on the rocky paths of the Stone Age, marked with curious carvings of zigzags, curves and animal designs. Nature, well pleased at the compliment paid her in these early efforts, covered them over with earth, hiding them away until the time should come when mankind would be so developed as to appreciate the value of these records of his past ; jnst as a fond mother, after long years, draws from some private recess a carefully treasured object, rudely executed, and shows it to her grown-up son, to prove to him how clever he already was at the time he thinks he must have been only a stupid, useless burden to her. At the earliest moment of his existence, man must have felt the ne- cessity for some means by which to snare birds and beasts and fish for food; and observing how they were sometimes caught in the tangled weeds and 3Q thickets, he invented the twisting of grasses and fibres into ropes, which Avhen knotted rudely together formed primitive nets. Naturally the first ornaments for the person and attire were the tro- phies of prowess, such as pierced teeth, tusks etc. worn strung together as necklaces, bracelets, etc.; and on the garments they consisted in fringes formed by the long hair of furs. These all served as the models from which the first trimmings on rude textiles were copied. The Lake Dwellers. In Europe, the earliest race of which wc know anything definite is that of the Lake dwellers, whose industries are most interestingly illu- strated by the fragments of their utensils found in the great bogs and lakes of Switzerland. They existed from the time of the Troglodytes through the Stone and far into the Bronze Age, some say into the Age of Iron, although they had become extinct before the invasion of their country by the Romans. In Asia we find the earliest artistic, ornate textiles among the Assy- rians and the Indians, and in Africa, among the Egyptians; but, as the founda- tion of Art (as we understand the term) — and the unbroken chain of Evidence with regard to its history, is to be found in their monuments and sepulchres, we will first examine the Stone-Age in Europe as illustrated by the Lake Dwellers, and then, turning to Assyria and Egypt for instruc- tion, we will only leave them when their arts have accomplished the civiliza- tion of the Peninsulas of Europe and of the northern coast of the Mediterranean. One can understand that in the dry atmosphere and sand of Egypt, delicate objects like textiles would resist the wear and tear of Centuries, al- though marvellous it must ever seem to touch objects produced by human skill thousands of years ago, — but it is nothing short of a miracle, that be- neath peat and mud and slush, frozen and thawed alternatively for ages beyond the memory of man, such perishable things as cords and stuffs, made of a curious flax developed from the wild variety which is a native of the west coast of the Mediterranean, prepared and spun as it would be by a pea- sant of today, should have remained to give us proofs — meagre though they must perforce be — of this early race of Europeans. Besides the baskets that were most artistically woven of bark, fibre or sedges, and the fishing nets made of coarse linen or fibre twine knotted into as regular meshes as if produced to day, especially interesting for our branch of study, are the remmants of stuffs and the bone, horn, and bronze needles and cro- chet hooks used for making nets and knotting fringes into the edge of the textiles. Samples of all these objects are exhibited on the Revolving screen, which serves to illustrate through them the origin and history of lace — whilst the voluminous objects are placed round the walls in the glass cases nearest to the Screen. 31 Rothenhausen and Ugenhausen, N.° i. a. and i.b. Screen. N, 1 A and I B are illustrations of Textiles found at Rothenhausen by Herr K, Forrer, and Herr H. Messikommer, and are taken by kind permission of the Authors from an interesting pamphlet on the subject of Lake Dwellings published by them and entitled: Prelustorische varia as dem Antiqua, special — Gatschrift fur Vorgeschichte — Zurig 1889- 67 represents a twisted hank of flax 74 a skein of twine 63 a tassel made of twine 70 a piece of rope 68, 69, 73 and 75 basket work of woven sedges, straw and woody fibre 59, 60. 61, different qualities of net 62, 71 textiles with and without sedge 72, 73 embroidered textiles 94, 65. Textiles edged with fringes; though not reproduced here, these frin- ges were frequently twisted together and knotted at the ends. 70 A. Textile with Passementerie fringe. N. 1 C is a real piece of the coarse basket plating found in Rothenhausen. N. l D contains two bits of loomwoven textiles from Rothenhausen. When Herr Messikomer's father found the first fringed stuff at Rothen- hausen in 1857, he showed it to an expert who said it was modern Parisian Passementerie work, but soon other pieces were found in the same exca- vations and in the midst of surroundings which furnished positive proofs of their authenticity as work of the ancient Lake-Dwellers. Simple but practical weaver's frames, thread and twine from the size which serves now for sewing sails, up to the dimensions of large cords, have been found in skeins or already worked into stuffs, nets, tassels or fringes. Also a peculiar, very strong material, plaited instead of woven out of strong twine, has been found, and which might have served as akind of sail cloth. At Ugenhausen, in 188 2 > the embroideries illustrated on the screen were found, the designs of which may have served as models for the perfected ornaments of the Bronze Age. The rarity of these objects is explained by their "being found only among the remains of dwellings destroyed by fire in windless weather, combined with circumstances which would cause inflamma- ble stuffs to drop into the water uncharred, when the floors beneath them were reduced to the fine, close packed ashes suited to preserve textiles from destruction by insects or by the waves. To form a better idea of the men and women among the Lake Dwellers we must look for the race which at present best illustrates the savage life of the past, and, allowing for the influences of climate and of contact with the Arabs and the Europeans, it appears that Central Africa can furnish the information we desire. Card II, A, B, C, D. Screen. Card II shows four sketches of savage dwellings. II A. represent a Lake-Dwellers settlement — reconstructed according to the opinion of one of the most eminent professors of archaeology. II B. represents a grainery of the Babusesse tribe as illustrated in Henry Stanley's latest work on Africa. IIC. represents part of a Bougos Village in Africa. II D. represents Aboriginal Lake-D'.vellings in New Guinea. The Africans use boats hollowed out of trees as did the Lake-Dwellers, their pottery has the same ornamentation and is baked in the sun as was that of the Lake-dwellers : they live in settlements instead of following a nomadic life and have many other customs in common, therefore in study- ing their] rude arts and divisions of labour, we may hope to ascertain much about the daily life of the Lake Dwellers at the time of their greatest de- velopement. All through the interior of Africa and in the basins of the Upper and the Lawer Ogowe and the Congo the woman does all the hand-work, while the man reserves to himself what may be called the amusing occupations. He goes to the two big fishing reunions that are held every year at the time when the water in the great rivers is at its lowest; he snares birds and ani- mals for food and clothing, he goes out to the hunts and battles, to war and to plunder and thoroughly enjoys the excitement of this life, whilst the wo- man remains at home and busies herself in a modest daily found that is startling in its fatiguing variety. Besides the care of the domestic animals, she does all the field and farm work, cultivates the cereals, cuts the wood, and fishes along the smaller streams. She gathers up and carries on her back all the produce of her labour, and the fruits from the plantations that are often at great distances from the village; arrived at her home, she helps to tidy up the village and then, instead of resting, she grinds the flour, cooks the meals, and still finds time to weave artistic palm mats and sheetings, and to model and to bake the simple pottery that is needed for domestic use. The smiths and the weavers of fine " Rafia „ cloths are men especially apprenticed to the trade, and remain always faithful to their tools. The industries in which savage man indulges, when at home, for he never works, are the making of fishing and hunting nets, the sewing together with great neatness of the squares of rafia produced by the professional weavers, the making of " Puka „, (or bags) in fine needle work, ornamental carving and the shaping and polishing of the wooden parts of weapons; when necessary he also attends to the construction of " pirogues „ and huts, the only two of all these occupations that are really hard work. 33 Card III. i. and 2. Screen. Card III contains two pen and ink sketches that were made on the back of an English Cotton-goods label by my late brother-in-law, Giacomo di Brazza, who spent several years in Africa —together with Cavaliere Pecile — on an exploring expedition which was commanded by his brother, the ce- lebrated African Explorer Pierre de Brazza, actually Governor of the French Congo. III. 1. Is a sketch of a wig or hat worn by a Batcke chief; it is com- posed of fringes and cords in pine apple fibre, dyed black, and knotted like the above mentioned " Parisian Passement „ of the lake dwellers, Card III. 2. III. 2. represents a fringed square of woven Rafia (of the natural color ot raw silk) such as is worn by the Batcke as a kind of cap or head hand- kerchief. AT IV. Cases. Number IV is a piece of Rafia with knotted fringe, which has been placed in the glass-cases with the following voluminous pieces of African-lace kindly lent by Cavaliere Pecile. N.° V. and VI. Cases. Number V is a " Puka „ (bag or pocket) made with the needle, in a curious, complicated lace stitch. These pockets are everywhere used in the Upper and lower Ogowe and in many parts of the Congo-Country; the band is slipped over the Arm and shoulder-blade, with the bag hanging un- derneath the arm-pit; and they serve as pockets as well as travelling bags in that land where clothing is too scant to furnish a fold in which to place one; they are more or less ornate according to the fancy of the artificer, and no self-respecting Ogowean would be without one unless he could neither make, borrow or steal it. Our particular " Puka „ is the work of a member of the Abomba tribe, which is also distinguished for its tonsorial artists. These black Truefits pro- duce marvellous effects on the pates of their fellow tribesmen, whose woolly hair they plait and clip and shave into most complicated and ornate headdresses, adorned with gew-gaws, and bisected with little shaved lines and spots which meander among the knobs of wool and cause these heads to resemble relief maps of their dark native continent: But to return to this Puka, which is very commodious, elastic and de- cidedly stylish, with is adornment of elephant bristles, and the large iron bell 5 34 that has charmed the tedium of many a long journey with its clatter. These pockets are made of fine twine manufactured from the leaves of the pine- apple plant. The workman cuts the leaves into strips about half an inch in width and passes these between his index finger and a sharp knife -blade, thus most daintily removing all the leaf part that covers the fibres, then he rolls the latter into a fine double twine, a couple of yards in length, by rubbing it carefully with the palm of his hand on his leg above the knee until it becomes perfectly smooth and even ; this twine he threads into a needle and, beginning the bag at the small end, he works spirally, widen- ing when necessary, first with a double button-hole stitch and afterwards with one much more complicated until the whole is completed with one continuous thread ; to avoid knots, every time the worker's allowance of twine is nearly exhansted, he unthreads the needle and splices the end of the twine with fresh fibre, rolling it into a fine twine as before upon the flat of his knee; and continues repeating the same operation every time fresh thread is required until the bag is finished. One may imagine that these articles are not completed in a day, Cav. Pecile told me that on an exploring expedition he observed a denizen of a certain village on the Upper Ogowe working industriously on one of these bags; — returning to the same place six months later he found the same villager sitting at the same spot, and working on the same bag, which was still far from being completed. An African in his native wilds is never over- industrious; therefore the friends and advocates of limited labour and fresh air for the working classes need have no fear that this man did not enjoy sufficient exercise and recreation during the time which elapsed between Cav. Pecile's two visits. VI. Cases. Number VI is a gem in more ways than one, for it is not only con- sidered locally very valuable, and is worn by chiefs on the shores of the Loanga as a badge of office, — but it is real lace made with a needle, and its stitches are the counter-part of those in the beautiful Punto in aria of Venice. It is a cap shaped like a Phrygian or a Neapolitan fisherman's cap. Especial attention should be given to its shape, as much will be said in the following pages about this particular kind of head gear which is grad- ually becoming obsolete. The fabrication of this African cap begins at the centre of the crown with a tiny but perfect wheel which is increased by al- ternate open and close stitches of exceeding fineness, made with perfect re- gularity of spacing and depth ; at intervals diamonds are formed of close work alternating with a ground of open stitch, and the completed cap is finished off with a band at the edge produced in quite a different kind of stitch. The thread used is fine, strong and pliable, resembling unbleached flax or hemp, but is seen to be not of the same construction as these when exa- 35 mined under the microscope. Might not this be the fibre used by the Lake Dwellers which scientists have failed to classify, and which has successfully resisted the wear of centuries? Leaving the Savage races in order to search among those of known civilization we may go back for centuries without finding the origin of textiles. The ancient monuments of Babylonia and Assyria furnish the names of kings who reigned three thousand five hundred years before Christ, living to the great age of the early patriarchs, and some of these princes must have existed near the time af the flood, as frequent allusions are made in these inscriptions to that awful calamity. In studying the history of the world as depicted on the monuments of Egypt, the Exodus of the Jews appears a trivial bit of Modern history; and Abraham's visit to that country, during which his pretty young wife, Sarah, attracted great attention at Court by her beauty, grace of manner and accom- plishments, seems a romantic episode in the life of an ancestor. The Egyptian hieroglyphics which represent long lines and dynasties of kings, majestically arrayed, go back so very far that we lose our awe for the age of the Book Manin, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata which describe the civilization of India; the Illiad and the Penteteuch seem works of nation history and we look upon the Book of Job, written two thousand five hundred years before Christ as a comparatively modern classic. Whether the Egyptian and Assy- rian races were twin sisters, or which was the first created we cannot tell, but both bear marks of the same Semitic parentage in lineaments and charac- ter. In any case the stock was prolific, and a branch of it pushed into India in the vanguard of the Arian race, which, when the ground had been well cultivated by its industrious forerunners, in its turn emigrated, and comming- ling is richer, more fiery blood with that of its predecessors gave a fresh in- centive to all the arts of peace and war. These old nations were full of intuitive knowledge which it has been the fate of our modern civilization to rediscover and classify, for they even realized the existence of microbes although ignorant of the means for de- stroying them, and so the pantheistic religion of the Romans included special exorcisms, and prayers addressed to their personification as a god. We will take Job as an example of these ancients, for, in his exqui- site poem, we receive the story of his life and experiences from his own lips, while Homer but repeats and idealizes what he had heard from others. — Job was a rich Aryan chief or king; he possessed a palatial residence constructed of baked bricks, having a portico adorned with columns. This dwelling was furnished with couches and beds, and with tables on which his meals were served on gold plate. At night the apartments were illuminated by means of lamps and candles. Utensils of copper, iron, and earthenware, as also bottles made of skins, and sack-cloth bags served for the baser domestic uses. Job lived in or near a city, for he speaks of the princes covering their mouths in token of respect when he passed them in the gate, and of the 36 nobles and old men rising to do him homage and waiting to be spoken to, with the same courtesy that is now shown towards rulers. He wore a dia- dem or crown of gold, gold ear-rings and a flowing robe edged about the neck with a collar; this was girded with a leather or embroidered belt and over it he wore a rich mantle hanging from his shoulders; he had also a mir- ror in which to admire his toilet when completed. The garments he describes were carefully fashioned and sewn, and the cloth which composed them was dyed of various hues and woven of thread spun from flax, wool, camel's hair, and perhaps even silk ; but this is not cer- tain, for, although a legend ascribes to him a knowledge of the use of silk, it cannot he proved. In summer, the woollen stuffs were packed away in chests with strong- smelling woods and spices to save them from destructive insects, as so well described by Homer centuries later. The Treasury contained fine gold of Ophir, gold dust, jewels of fine gold, gold coins, alloyed silver, sapphires, rubies, crystals — by which term per- haps diamonds are meant — pearls, onyxes, coral and Ethiopian topazes. The city in or near which he lived had gates and walls, and was surrounded by a moat. His fields were laid out with land-marks, fences, hedges and ditches ; he rented additional fields from his neighbours, and employed a thousand yoke of oxen to till his land. He had one wife, who lived with him, while his three danghters and seven sons had each a separate home ; his own household consisted of hired servants and slaves, since prisoners taken in Mar were also in his time compelled to do the hardest work, including the building of great monuments which princes caused to be erected during their lifetime to serve as mausoleums, and which were adorned with laudatory inscriptions carved in stone or traced on terra-cotta tablets. Books were written with iron pens and may have been composed of tablets, or of rolls of palm or papyrus, and possibly of leather, since there were boots, bridles, slings and water-bottles all made of tanned, skins. Job speaks of swift ships, of the phenomena of the sea, the forces of nature, the condensation of rain and the purifying effect of frost : he is also well acquainted with astronomy and na- tural history, for he speaks of the North Star and of the Pleiades, and mi- nutely describes the whale, the camel, the ox, the ass and the horse, as also sheep, goats, fowls, ostriches and innumerable wild birds and animals. He oc- cupied himself with commercial as well as agricultural pursuits, and had scales for weighing merchandise. He sent out couriers and tax-gatherers and was so frequently visited by travellers and merchants from different countries that be kept interpreters in order to be able to converse will them ; he also was himself a traveller, and when on| a journey or on a hunting expedition made use of tents. In his time there were judges and physicians, and horse and foot soldiers organized in troops and armies, furnished with iron and steel shields and breastplates, and armed with swords, pikes, lances and bows: flint heads for 37 the arrows, and sharp stories lor the slings — remnants of the usages of the Stone Age — were still used. In hunting and fishing he possessed — in addition to the above named weapons — traps, snares, nets made of cord, hooks and harpoons. He and his children were very hospitable, and gave frequent feasts which sometimes lasted late into the night, and to which they invited not only* their neighbours but also guests living at great distan- ces; the food was cooked and seasoned with salt, olive-oil, butter and milk; it consisted of meat, fowl, eggs and vegetables, and cakes made of corn, wheat or barley ground betwen two stones into ftour by the women: nuts, fruit, honey, and cheese came in as delicacies. The usual beverage at these ban- quets was wine made from grapes. Job's religion was monotheistic; and though the sun and moon were worshipped in his neighbourhood, idols of wood or stone had not yet be- come a part of the religion known to him — All these details have been mentioned to prove how little certain oriental races have altered in their cus- toms since the oldest historic epoch, although in the last fifty years the pe- netration of European customs into the East has produced innovations. No poet, singing the heroic deeds of his nation, would interrupt the flow of stately verse to introduce trivialities which would mar the completeness of his ode, or retard its climax, but sometimes when describing fair women and their attractions, the ancient authors linger lovingly over their charms and even add a description of the personal adornments which enhanced their loveliness, and these brief word-pictures coincide with the cartoons on Egy- tian and Asssyrian monuments, and Etruscan vases and tombs; whilst in the secluded homes of Indian princes this type of woman-hood is still preserved. Graceful female forms are there still veiled with gauzy materials and robed in richly spangletl tissues, or draped in cunningly wrought mantles embroi- dered along the hems with divers colors, and trimmed with rich and compli- cated fringes; about their pretty feet, bangles and bells tinkle as they move about busied in their household duties, or raise the curtains that veil the door ways of their apartment to catch a glimpse of the great world out- side. These curtains are made of rich carpets or heavy materials adorned with cunning designs wrought in needle-work by themselves or by the maid- ens under their skilled direction. But if we wish to touch and examine the textiles mentioned by Homer and his contemporaries, we must turn to the tombs in Egypt. The Egyptians believed in the bodily resurrection of the dead, and therefore caused the bodies of the departed to be carefully embalmed with spices and bitumen. This, combined with the dry atmosphere and many wrappings and mummy cases, has preserved the rich garments in which the remains were clothed so that their beloved might not blush for his mean attire on appearing be- fore Osiris and the shades in the other world. Besides this, the Egyptians adorned the walls of the tomb with .drawings, absolutely truthful in every detail — illustrative of the occupations and past life of the deceased, however 38 simple and uneventful it may have been — and of the nnmber and em- ployments of his servants. The following illustrations of some of these cartouches which, together with the information regarding them, we owe to the kindly interest taken in our work by Prof. Schiaparelli of the Egyptian Museum in Florence, while the collection of textiles, without which this exhibition would be incomplete, is due to the well-known antiquarian author and critic, Herr. R. Forrer, of Strasbourg. I therefore gladly avail myself of this opportunity for heartily thanking them both in the name of the committee and in my own for the valuable information they have contributed to this book, and for the bene- volence and patience with which they replied to our frequent importunings. XIV. A. Screen. Nets were made in Egypt in great abundance and from the remotest times; the process of their manufactnre is pictured — N. XIV. A. — on the tomb of the feudal prince Nekira, near Beni-Hassan in Upper Egypt, and which was decorated under the Twelfth Dynasty about 2500 B. C. ; the same design is, with slight variations which prove it to be original, repeated one thousand years later in a tomb of the XVII Dynasty near Thebes. XIV. B. Screen, XIV. C. Shews two ways of snaring birds with nets, and is from the same tomb, as also is XIV. c. which indicates that the Egyptians, like many savage nations, and like the American and Asiatic Indians, used nets for carrying heavy weights. This cartoon represents a water-carrier with two jars borne in nets. It will be observed that, instead of using a biforcated needle in the ma- nufacture of these nets, two workmen employ balls of twine, and that the net is stretched on a flat frame and worked at both ends at once. These large nets were made of flax or cotton twine, and were used alike for bird-catching and for fishing, as well as for curtains in the doorways and windows of houses to exclude flies and other insects. XV. Screen. Is a much older illustration of the use of nets than the preceding car- touche, and is taken from a bas relief in the tomb af the dignitary Iebehmi near the great pyramid, constructed under the rule of the fifth Dynasty 3300 Years before Christ. — It represents a man carrying a pole on which are hung several bird cages — just as on any autumn morning one may see an Italian bird snarer carrying his decoys to the trimmed thickets where his nets are spread. — There are many monuments, older than the above, which also illustrate the use of nets in Egypt. 39 XVI. Screen. Is a drawing which represents a fine net in the Egyptian Museum at Florence. It is of twine rubbed with bitumen and is also evidently made for catching brds or small fish, as it is composed entirely of little, close-set bags of net in which the game — once entered — must remain suspended without power to move, thus resembling in its effect the fine net left loose between two coarser ones at present used for bird-catching in Italy. In the Florentine Museum there is another net made entirely of leather, in which material slits are regularly cut close together on the same principle and with like effect as our Christmas Tree nets for sweets, clipped out of silver pa- per. — These leather, net-like curtains must have served in the doorways and windows of the wealthy, or perhaps to save animals from being tormented by flies and gnats, in the same way as nets are now thrown over horses in summer, in warm climates, with the same object in riew. XVII. Screen, N. XVII represents a little, double knotted bag which was made to hold a porhyry balsam bottle. It is more artistically worked in Macrame stitch, and resembles, in its effect, the meshes of the celebrated resean double, or double ground of old Burano lace. We find the reproduction of nets in endless variety on Greek and Etruscan vases, but, notwithstanding their universal use for domestic purposes, we have no proof that they were adopted as embroidery for cloth- ing, although many of the elaborately knotted fringes of the Assyrians and Jews produce the effect of nets. Fillets were in general use among the Greeks and Etruscans for bind- ing up the hair, and were worn with diadems and with and without veils; they are often represented as ornamented with designs, but we cannot tell whether these represent gold buttons, or embroidered or filagree work, for in the decorations on the vases the treatment is somewhat conventional. In VIII. A. are shewn Greek costumes photographed from the famous Sy- siphoz vase in the Munich Museum. XVIII. B. andB, Screen., XVIII. C. Screen. The earliest Egyptian Mummy-cloths are, like those of the Peruvian Mummies, almost prehistoric, and have the same weaving and texture as the stuffs of the Lake-dwellers. We have no illustrations of these, but XVIII. A. will serve our purpose though it is of a later period from Achmim Pano- polis. — In it the warp threads are left as a fringe, and XVIII. B. shews how, after working an inch or two of texture, the woof was omitted or drawn out so as to form a transparent border. This was varied by spaces 40 of open-work, as in XVIII. C, in which the weft is shot across behind the warp at regular distances for a certain number of threads, and then the ordinary weaving continues, thus forming alternate squares; these woof- threads are then cut away if desired ; at a later period these open spaces were filled in with coloured embroidery. IX. Screen. N.° IX. represents a skirt embroidered round the belt and furnished with braces to support it from the shoulders. This design dates from an in- scription belonging to the XII. Dynasty, 2500 B. C. and preserved in the Flo- rence Museum. The early Egyptians also made fringes which were either knotted into the material they were destined to adorn, or sewed on afterwards. We fre- quently find examples of garments trimmed with them, especially sashes and the edge of skirts. Deep fringes were also worn round the neck; when this is the case the women are represented as engaged in menial service or ma- nual labour, thus indicating the lower classes, who may have adopted the fashion in imitation of the rich necklaces of their betters, or to satisfy their love of colour and ornament at small cost. — These neck fringes remind us of the artistically plaited grass necklaces made and worn by the wild tribe of Matheran in Northern India, the work in which is identical with that which served as a model for the beautiful Oriental gold necklaces found in Etrus- can tombs, and which are still made from the same designs by workmen in India who, despite the innovations of the British dominion and the XIX. century, still cling with loving faithfulness to the traditions of their ancestors. The bas-reliefs executed in honour of the princes belonging to the XIX. and XX. Dynasties in the Royal Tombs in the Valley of the Kings, near Thebes, furnish us with many illustrations of elaborate fringes, A*. Screen. N.° X. represents Queen Tachat, mother of the Pharaoh-Amonmensis on whose tomb she is portrayed, and who reigned in the XIII. century B. C. XI Screen. N.° XI. represents Queen Isit, wife of Rameses VI. as she is depicted on her own tomb; she belonged to the XX. Dynasty, XII. century B. C. XII, XIII. Screen. N.° XII. represents Rameses VII. and N.° XIII. his wife, both copied from his tomb of the XX. Dynasty, 1200 B. C. Tirmi ^tt" J <<*■ *~-r?s7 j ■ 41 XXXVI. A., B., C. Screen. A. B. and C, N.° XXXVI, are illustrations also taken from the Royal Tombs at Thebes. A. represents an Arab chief of the Absha tribe which migrated into Egypt during the XII. Dynasty, about 1600 B. C. B. represents Arabs of the same tribe. C. represents the Phoenician prince Refa bringing gifts to a Pharaoh of the XVIII. Dynasty, about 1900 B. C. — The garments of this prince are beautifully worked and trimmed with fringes, cords and tassels. A correct idea of the princely and priestly clothing used in Egypt at the time Moses wrote his laws and the history of the ancestors of his Race — about 1500 B. C. — may be obtained by reading the instructions given in Exodus XXXVIII. and following chapters for the fashioning of the Jewish priestly garments, which were copied, with modifications, from those of the Royal Princes who, at that period in Egypt were considered as also belong- ing to the hierarchy of religion, and so had a double hold on the supersti- tious populace; and it was in this capacity that Moses acquired much of his erudition, and of his knowledge of sanitary laws. The costume of the Jewish High Priest, according to the prescriptions laid down by Moses, consisted of an under robe, long and full in the skirt, and with sleeves to the wrists; under this robe was to be worn a pair of breeches, both garments being made of white linen. Over the robe was worn the Ephod, or tunic of fine twined linen, an expression which modern cri- ticism considers here incorrectly translated, as the same Hebrew term is else- where used for silk; the ephod was therefore probably made of spun silk dyed blue; it was scant in the skirt, and reached only to the knees, had short sleeves, and was bound about the neck with a piece of the same ma- terial that it might not be torn in putting it on and off; this binding was adorned with a border embroidered in gold, purple and scarlet, in button- hole stitch round the edges and round the openings through which the gold chains supporting the breast-plate were to pass : an onyx stone engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel was set in rich embroidery upon each shoulder; the hem was adorned with a rich border, repeating the designs of the shoulders and neck and edged with gold bells that tinkled as the wearer moved, alternated with pomegranates made in needle-work of purple and scarlet, forming a kind of passementerie resembling the needle lace on the edge of Turkish veils. — The Ephod was belted in at the waist by a richly embroidered girdle to which, by means of rings in its lower edge and of a blue lace passing through them, the glorious, sacred breast plate, composed of a mass of gems and sparkling embroidery, was attached. The High Priest wore upon his head a mitre of fine linen, a kind of veil with fringed edges held in place by a gold diadem about two fingers deep, and reaching from ear to ear; this was sewed to another piece of blue lace which bound it about the head and was tied in a bow with embroidered and fringed ends 6 42 falling behind, over the mitre. Tradition explains this blue lace as fringed and worked in silk of various colours; in that case it must have been a kind of passementerie, or needle lace. A large and ample cloak or coat, made of fine embroidered linen, was thrown over the shoulders to complete this regal costume. From this description it is to be inferred that two kinds of work, not embroidered in the stuff, were executed on the garment, one being the pomegranates in coloured silks that hung between the bells round the edge of the Ephod, and which would coin- cide in design and treatment with Turkish needle-lace of the XV. century of our era, and the " blue lace „ made of silk and thread that was knotted together like a passementerie or macrame bobbin lace. Cotton Was never highly esteemed for textiles in the West during classic times ; it is first men- tioned in the Book of Esther, though it must have been in use in the East for centuries before. The occupations of the Jewish women, the trust placed by the men in their advice, the selection made from among them of rulers and judges, their erudition and literary accomplishements, the'direction of the house, the management of the slaves and of home-industries, their simple amusements and their intelligent devotion to the rearing of their children, all resemble these characteristics as portrayed in the lives of the most chaste class of Greek and Etruscan matrons who, by their education and retired mode of life, became most intelligent, serious and philosophic, and were thus prepared to become the first brave disciples of Christianity, so that the costume they wore preserved one type for centuries, and, slightly modified by climate and nationality, is that of the women of the early Church. On the other hand, the style of garment suited to the more enervated life and looser morals of India, Syria and Egypt was adopted by the gay-hearted dancing girls and the less sedate women of the Roman Court. A Matron's costume consisted of a flowing under tunic or stola with long or short sleeves, composed of heavy or light material as fancy or the season might dictate: over this stola a shorter tunic was worn made full at the neck, or of one straight piece clasped on either shoulder and draped across the chest. The waist was girt by a belt of metal, leather, or passe- menterie, or else the draperies were held in restraint by a simple ribbon. The feet were protected by shoes, slippers, or sandals, to which stock- ings — biforcated at the toes to admit the sandal strap — were added in winter. When walking abroad, and also at home in chilly weather, the ma- tron wore a full toga edged with embroidery, or fringed or scalloped round the borders. A long veil made of transparent material, more or less richly fringed or embroidered according to her wealth and the position the occu- pied in the social scale was artistically draped over her hair and made to hang down upon her shoulders. — The draping of this veil and the coiiib- bing of the hair beneath it was considered of great importance, and a dia- dem with any quantity of pins, ribbons, fillets and jewels were used to adorn 43 her locks, which were braided, waved, curled or frizzed quite in modern fa- shion. Blind Homer in wandering from palace to palace, must have heard this branch of the feminine toilet freely discussed, since he accurately de- scribes it precisely as we see it represented on Greek vases adorned with representations of Andromache's grief: " Her hair's fair ornaments, the braids that bound, „ The net that held them* and the wreaths that crown'd : „ The veil and diadem threw far away „ etc. Besides the gold wreaths that encircled her Greek knot, and the jewelled hair-pins that held her veil in place, the rich patrician had numberless brooches, rings and bracelets, clasps and ear-rings, as well as chatelaines composed of innumerable tiny chains by which were suspended all the objects that could possibly be of use to her in her toilet, either when from home or during her household occupations. — The gleaming fillet or net that contained her hair was often composed of precious metals cunningly and exquisitely wrought, like the golden net of Hephcestus : " Whose texture e'en the search of gods deceives, Fine as the filmy webs the spider weaves. „ The young girls often allowed their hair to flow loose under their veils, or they plaited it in long tresses, binding a simple ribbon or net round the brows. — They wore shorter and less ample tunics than the married women, and no jewelry, or only a brooch of the simplest pattern to clasp or to pin together a garment when necessary. The Jewish men, who were neither athletic nor equestrian, wore clothes very like those of the women, supplemented by a coat with arm-holes in- stead of the toga; this coat was generally dyed a dark colour and was freely adorned with fringes. The men of Etruria, Greece, and Rome had flowing robes for certain festivals or offices, just as they had suits of armour for war: but their daily costume consisted in the short full tunic, with or without sleeves, belted in at the waist and covered by a toga that either hung majesticallly from their shoulders, or was wrapped about them in folds so full of grace that they are still called classic. Sometimes, for riding and travelling, and in cold weather, the men adopted short breeches that were hidden beneath the tunic, — a custom de- riving, perhaps, from contact with the East — as also a sort of cloth stock- ing or legging strapped with leather thongs proceeding from the sandal or or leather shoe, a fashion that is still followed by the mountaineers about Rome. They also had regular leather boots, gauntlets and wallets. They wore helmets in time of war, and on parade, but when following peaceful occupations they made use of caps and fillets- 44 A7A., XIX. i., XIX. 2. Screen. N.° XIX. illustrates certain of these garments: XIX. 1. represents a tunic embroidered with a davem or stripes. XIX. 2, is a tunic embroidered with squares — like those described in the Ephod — on either shoulder; both these drawings also illustrate the embroideries on other parts of this garment. XIX. j?. Screen. XIX. 3. represents a toga with fringed edge: the toga and pallium are succeeded in these modern times by shawls, and by the blanket of the Red Indian. XIX. 4. Screen. XIX. 4. is a drawing of a knitted woollen sock of mitten shape, thus made to allow the sandal-straps to pass inside the great toe. A7A". j. Screen. XIX. 5. represents a leather slipper. XIX. 6. Screen. XIX. 6. is a shoe of the hygienic heel pattern; such as we might wear to-day. XIX. 7. Screen. XIX. 7. is a leather boot. The embroidered bands worn on the tunic and the toga in the time of the early Roman Empire, as well as the bor- ders and fringes worn by the Jews, denoted by their size, form and colour the rank and occupation of the wearer, and were etablished by Imperial decrees. Roman citizens alone were allowed to use the various shades of purple ; the Senator's distinctive was a broad band or clavem which, passing over the shoulder of the tunic, descended before and behind, often reaching below the waist. Equestrian rank was denoted by two narrow strips; the embroidered design on the shirts — the tradition of which still exists in those worn by the Italian ciociari — were often round or oblong instead of square, in which case the pieces in the four lower corners of the tunic were shaped and designed to correspond with them; at other times the neck-opening was widened and made to descend, like a deep collar, several inches over the back and chest. A band of embroidery or a stripe, either woven in the ma- terial or sewn on afterwards, ran round the bottom of the richer tunics which were woven in one piece with an opening through which to pass the head, and were sewn together on each side from the arm-pit to the hem. The toga for a full-grown man was about a yard and a half wide by two 45 yards and a quarter long; it was often fringed or embroidered, or was woven with stripes at the ends or sides; rounds or squares of embroidery to match those on the tunic with which it was worn were also introduced at its corners. The women of the period wore, instead of the toga, an exag- gerated veil gracefully draped over the entire figure; this veil was called a pallium, and was made of thin delicate material embroidered or woven with fringes or borders, or scattered over with regularly recurring designs of flow- ers, leaves, or birds, and usually finished with a fringe at the ends. The garments above described are illustrated in the Italian Lace Exhi- bit by pieces of embroidery and textiles manufactured and worn by men and women in the first centuries of the Christian Era in the manner above de- scribed, rare examples, obtained from Herr. R. Forrer's unique collection of the textiles he found in graves in Achmin — a city on the right bank of the Nile in Upper Egypt, now containing a population of only about 30.000, — of which number 1000 are Coptic Christians — but in classic times it was large, prosperous, and celebrated under the name of Panapolis, and enjoyed special reputation during the Roman Empire as a manufacturing centre of costly stuffs and finely woven linens. — The oldest graves lie about five feet below the level of the ground, and often there are several superimposed, which shews the great antiquity of this burial place ; in fact it must have been used at least from the III. century of our Era till the time when Ma- hometanism had become predominant throughout Egypt. — The graves con- sist of holes, dug in the sand, in which the body was laid between boards, and they contain every imaginable article of the toilet as well as the imple- plements of various trades. The stuffs found there consist in gauzes, silks, damasks and satins, made of pure silk or mixed with flax, woollens, linens and gobelin tapestries — and are striped, rainbowed, flowered etc. by means of weaving, embroidery, or stamping. — The embroidery is executed on a ground formed in close textiles by leaving or drawing out the weft for a certain width, and in gauzes and muslins by pushing it apart. — The design was embroidered upon the threads of the warp with a coarse white thread. A"A'. Screen. N.° XX. is a water-colour drawing from the Egyptian Museum in Flo- rence shewing part of a border worked in this way, and which had been sewn on a linen tunic of which a piece still remains as foundation. XXII. A. Screen. XXII. A. shews a piece of the same work inserted in the material on the bias, Here we appear to be face to face with Pitnto Tiralo or Reticella, but alas, we soon discover that this resemblance is illusory, caused by the 46 gnawing fangs of Time which have eaten away the woollen filling made in real Gobelin stitch to form the ground, the white threads having only served to outline the design and to constitute a framework for dividing the colours. A'A7., XXII. B. Screen. XXII. B. represents XXII. A. filled in with Gobelin s-titch: XXI. shews us the wrong as well as the right side of a piece of fin- ished embroidery. AA7T Screen. XXIV. represents a piece of later embroidery or gobelins of a period at which the white outlining had ceased to be used ; the figures in this are roughly shaded, precisely as in the tapestry or the Middle Ages. The above articles date from the fourth to the seventh century of our Era. We will now examine the real pieces of stuff. AA'F. A. Screen. XXV. A. is a medallion of embroidery which has lost nearly all its woollen filling, and therefore excellently serves to illustrate the process fol- lowed in making trimmings. In order to accelerate the production of the latter, the weaver made strips of belting of the desired width, — notice the selvage on the sides and the raw edge at the ends — and wove a bleached woof into an unbleached twine warp, counting the stitches and so leaving out a perfect oval of twine grounding of the required size and shape on which the embroideress could begin to work without wasting time in draw- ing out the threads of the material. — One corner is turned over to shew the wrong side of the work, the outlining being executed in a kind of back- stitch. XXV. B. Screen. XXV. B. is the piece of linen on which the above embroidery, A. was. sewed ; the coarse threads arc left in it, shewing that, to keep the medal- lion from slipping while attaching it to the material destined to receive it, it was basted across the middle in both directions, after which it was whipped neatly round the edge, the raw ends being turned in. XXV. C. Screen. XXV. C. is part of a medallion of the same design but in better pre- servation. The ground is filled in with red wool, and the white scrolls and circles with various colours. — In the center of this piece of work is the conventional little bust of Christ with a glory, surrounded by a black border 47 which is patterned in small crosses of red, green and yellow; this, as is in- dicated by the scrolls in the design, is early Byzantine work and is graceful despite the presence of the inartistic little bust. XXVI. Screen. XXVI. is the same ornament, introduced in very fine linen in a space left in the weaving; as in the unembroidered piece of XVIII. B, it is more antique and artistic in design than XXV. C, being work of the best Roman period when embroideries were always made with a ground of solid colour, generally either black, or one of the numerous shades of purple, with white outlining. The piece is^ probably a remnant of a woman's tunic manufactured about 300 A. B. XXVII. Screen. XXVII. is of the same period as XXVI. but is of coarser material and execution, and may have formed the widened shoulder embroidery of a cla- vem-trimmed tunic; its purple colour denotes the Roman citizenship of the wearer: XX VIII. Screen. XXVIII. is part of a square of stuff woven at the same period, but the ground is left of warp alone, the weaver having stopped the woof on each side when he reached the space to be embroidered, thus forming a selvage. Judging from the wrong side, which is too untidy — owing to the long threads hanging from it — for that of a toga, this piece of stuff seems to have formed part of a tunic ; the outlining in the embroidery was exe- cuted after the space had been filled in with the woollen ground ; the stitches resemble those used in outlining Sicilian drawn lace. XXIX. Screen. XXIX. is of the same period ; it is a black border worked — with equal neatness on both sides — in a strip of warp left in the weaving of a fine linen toga. The design represents a grape vine with the white thread worked in before introducing the coloured wool. XXX. Screen. XXX. is. a piece of border of more recent execution ; it is artistically drawn, and represents a purple dog, with red tongue and leading strings, playing in a circle formed by two interlaced scrolls; the angles are filled 48 with red or green leaves. This border probably trimmed the toga of some child, since the effect is very youthful in comparison with all the other pieces in our collection. XXXI.. Screen. XXXI. and the two following numbers date back at least to the V. ccntuiy. XXXI is coarsely executed in narrow stripes of dark ecru running, at regular intervals, along the length of the white etamine-like material ; between these stripes a basket of flowers is worked in parti-coloured wools and without any white outlining. The basket is purple, with yellow and white designs; the flowers are indicated by vermilion and white spots on a dark red ground, surrounded by green leaves, This embroidery must have deco- rated a woman's toga or pallium, and have been repeated at regular inter- vals along the border. ■& XXXII. A., B., C Screen. XXXll. A., B. C. are ends of scarfs, shewing their entire width, be- longing to the seventh or eighth century of our era. XXXII. A. ends in a fringe above which narrow stripes of red wool are introduced after an inch of plain weaving in linen thread; then follow six inches of plain weaving and a space of four inches of warp left for the embroidered Gobelin border. This border has a red ground, framed on either side by a black stripe edged with yellow, and dotted with little yellow squares at regular intervals. — Three shields, which may have been coats of arms, divided by rows of a kind of herring-bone stitch in white and yellow are embroidered on the red band; recurring between these are allegorical designs representing the Tree of Life. The middle shield is charged with a green parrot with yellow legs, outlined in black and white, the other two with white lions are outlined in black; everything is upside down, shewing that the embroidery must have been done before the material was removed from the loom. AAA7I B. Screen. XXXII. B. is a scarf end of coarse muslin, such as is to-day in use in the East. The design is embroidered in the same back-stitch as in the ordinary kind of Oriental reversible needle-work. Its discovery is a trea- sure trove for our branch of textile art, for it has a border about the edge, overcasting and ornamenting the hem, which very much resembes modern Turkish work, and is the first example we possess of stitches similar to those used in oriental embroidery of which a small, three-cornered piece has been placed beside it. 49 XXX. C. Screen. XXXII. C. is woven in the same way as XXXII, A.; the embroidery is however, worked in Gobelin stitch, and imitates the jewelled borders we see on the Byzantine mosaics of this period. XXXIII. A., B., C. Screen. XXXIII. A. is a paralellogram of pure Gobelin tapestry sewed on a piece of fine linen, and so cunningly worked with the needle in divers co- lours that when new it must have been resplendent. Each upper corner of the design contains a duck standing on its tail, with its feet turned to the right and its beak to the left. In the middle of the design is a saint with a sword in his right hand, seated on a throne : along the lower border we discover what, with the aid of a lively imagination, we may suppose to be yellow dogs or lions seated on their haunches. Two oblong bias strips placed at right angles to the saint's neck, and having narrow black borders spotted with yellow, are adorned with four ducks each, all in a row and standing on their tails, with carefully embroidered feet and toes in mid-air to the right of their breasts. — The visitor to the Italian section may not discover all these details for himself, but it is well to know that they exist, as it shews the ludicrous combinations which the debasement of drawing, and its subservience to the frenzy for colour was capable of producing at the epoch of Byzantine supremacy. XXXIII B. is a piece of belting; both the warp and the woof in it are of a fine indigo colour, embroidered with white thread in a conventional pattern by darning, which produces a pretty eflect resembling " Alt Deutsch " work. XXXIII. C. is a red stripe darned into a coarse muslin and evidently forming the border of a woman's garment. The effect obtained in the treat- ment of the design also has its counterpart in work of the XV. century in Europe; its particular interest with regard to the subject we are treating lies in the fact that between the rows of darned work the threads of the textile have been removed, and the remaining threads caught together by hemstitch- ing. The corners of the two samples are turned over to shew the work on the wrong side. XXXIV. Screen. XXXIV. is interesting, first because stripes of quadruple woof are in- troduced at regular intervals : secondly because the open warp, which has been made to take the forms of birds and tiny squares, was not picked out but was made to assume these shapes in the weaving: and thirdly because the fringe is hemstitched just as it would be on an article manufactured to-day. 7 50 XXXV. Screen. In XXXV. we have the sheer material we call gauze, so often de- picted on vases and monuments as forming the garments of the goddesses and women of Greece, Etruria and Rome, two of which are reproduced in XXV. and XXXVII. Homer frequently mentions this gauze: thus in Canto V. of the Iliad : " Pallas disrobes; her radiant veil untied With flowers adorned, with art diversified. „ And in Canto VI. id. : " The Phrygian Queen to her rich wardrobe went, „ Where treasured odours breathed a costly scent: „ There lay the vestures of no vulgar art; „ Sidonian maids embroidered every part, „ Whom from soft Sidon youthful Paris bore „ With Helen., touching on the Tyrian shore; „ Here as the Queen revolved with careful eyes „ The various textures and the various dyes, ., She chose a veil that shone superior far, ., And glowed refulgent as the morning star. „ And in the Odyssey he describes it as forming part of the costume of Ulysses: " Fine as a filmy web beneath it shone „ A vest that dazzled like a cloudless sun. „ Lucian, in recounting the feast offered to Cffisar by Cleopatra, says that the queen's costume consisted of wondrous web of thin, transparent lawn; this doubtless means a gauze embroidered in silk, like XXXV., which is unique, and represents two crested birds executed in embroidery such as is produced to-day in large quantities at Delhi and in other parts of India. This material may have been imported from that country. Pliny records the tradition of this kind of garment into Europe, and describes its manfacture in silk. AW ATT. Screen. N.° XXXVI, is a gauze veil made in dark blue wool ; it has a fringe made of the warp twisted and knotted: a white silk and red wool stripe forms the edge above this fringe, and several other stripes are woven in the material at regular intervals some of which are embroidered with darned work in white silk, in letters and geometrical designs, so that what forms 51 the relief on the right side constitutes the ground on the reverse, as in the netting described at XXXIV. C. We have now reached the limit of close embroidery, or embroidery "without real open work in the design. XXXVII. A., B.,C. Cases. A Turkish scarf, XXXVII. B., belonging to Herr von Ugon, will be found in the glass cases near the African work. It is of about the same width as the scarfs XXII. A. B. C, and is embroidered with gold and silver and shaded silks on a cotton-muslin ground with the same stitches as are found in Byzantine work; the silver thread draws the light ground together in the hearts of the flowers with the effect of Sicilian point; a scallop in gold thread button-hole stitch runs round the edge and forms a regular needle lace. XXXVII. A. is a broader scarf belonging to the same exhibitor; it is of the same period but is much more complicated in execution. Hungarian and Roumanian embroidery of the present day have preserved and developed the traditions of this work. The lace about the edge is of a curious pattern, being a kind of Macrame made with the needle. XXXVII, also belongs to Herr von Ugon's collection ; it is the knee- covering of a pair of breeches from the island of Rhodes. The coloured em- broidery has the geometrical designs of XXXIV. C. made in the early Sici- lian stich, but without the seeond, smaller one which, used alternately, draws the ground together and forms the open work or small chequers from which the laces with tulle grounds have been evolved. A veritable Reticella in white silk runs between the coloured bands: its stitch is woven upon the threads left by drawing out the woof and is identical with that used in embroidered lacis and in Gobelins embroidery, so that the varied openings and simple stitches of this narrow insertion may serve to bridge the the chasm that lies between the coarse close Gobelin ornaments in dyed wool, and the airy fa- brics of Venetian points and guipures. XXXIX. Screen. XXXIX. is a veil of antique embroidered muslin such as Turkish ladies are in the habit of keeping within easy reach to throw quickly over their heads on the entrance of a visitor. This veil is a modification of the classic and more voluminous Palia which was evolved from the women's head covering of the time of Moses. The design is thoroughly Jewish or As- syrian in character, with its stiff trees and regular flower-pots disposed in conventional niches with a minaret over each, all done in fine needle-work on a ground of Sicilian point. Pots of lovely silk flowers and baby-trees, worked in exquisite needle Point without any foundation hang all along the edges of this veil, recalling to mind the purple and scarlet pomegranates 52 that hung between the bells at the botton of Aaron's Ephod. They are made on a narrow, black silk heading and are afterwards sewed onto the veil; the stitch in which they are worked is the same as that used in the Ogowe cap: they are essentially Puiito in Aria, and in consequence real lace. XL. Cases. This work is complicated in design and difficult of execution ; it is still made in Turkey and always imitates flowers, leaves, and bell-shaped birds or fruits. The Turkish Ambassador in Rome — who with kindly in- terest obtained for us the seven pretty examples we exhibit in N. XL. — informed us that the Turkish word used to designate this lace is the same that is used for fuchsias, hare bells and other pendent flowers, as well as for pendent ornaments and earrings. XLI. A. and B. Cases. XLI. A. and B. are other pieces of Turkish lace which belong to Lady Layard ; the material is white silk, and they were made according to the old Turkish system in the embroidery schools founded under her Ladyship's au- spices in Constantinople. In these laces the garlands and sprays of flowers are made to interlace, while preserving the bell-like characteristic of the antique from which their designs are adopted. Modern Turkish ladies dress like their European sisters, and the real and imitation lace they wear is all sent with their toilettes from Paris; but these veils and scarfs, which have resisted the innovations of modern fashion, are, on arriving, still trimmed with narrow Turkish edgings. — The Constantinople school of embroidery has revived many old stitches and de- signs, and tends to keep up the artistic traditions of Turkish needle-work, and its influence is greatly appreciated by English visitors and tradesmen. It seems to me that, on emerging from the barbarous state attendant on the decline and fall of the Western Empire, the peoples of Europe began to realize the attraction of riches obtained by peaceful barter and sale instead of being snatched with rude violence from weaker neighbours, to be shortly again lost by the same lawless means; and the desire of artistically adorning their churches — no longer threatened with perpetually recurring pillage and de- struction — ■ returned with the realization of stable fortune. Hidden away from the din and clatter of arms raised by the bolster-- ous race which had poured out from the North and over-run fair Italy, the sister arts of embroidery and lace-making practised by the cunning daughters of the needle were still to be found in the dwellings of the Jewish and Oriental merchants who had settled on every part of the Mediterranean Coast. Rich and rare mediaeval silk laces, unequalled even by the most celebrated specimens preserved in the Christian churches and cathedrals, are still to be. 53 found in the old Italian synagogues. — The energy that predominates in the European character belonged alike to Jewish teachers and to Christian pu- pils, and caused them to exercise their vivid imagination in the development of these arts into products of rare beauty, whereas ihe embroiderers of Oriental races have ever been governed by a conservatism which has caused them to remain unaltered for centuries, thus preserving for us the type of needle -work that was used on Aaron's Ephod three thousand years ago. All the silk passementerie, the gold, silver and polychrome lace of the early Renaissance were made by the Jews, who were also the chief produ- cers of other varieties of lace in Spain where this people exhibited much greater luxury in the appointments of their places of worship, as well as in their homes, than did the Christians. When they were reduced to penury by perpetual persecution and con- fiscation, and when they were finally expelled from Spain, they made use of their arts to maintain themselves in their places of refuge, and as . there was a constantly increasing demand for trimmings and laces all over South- ern Europe, they employed apprentices — who soon became skilled work- women — to help them to execute the numerous orders they received. These pupils became teachers in their turn and spread the knowledge of and taste for these fabrics, and when another wave of persecution came, this time turned against the protestants, a great many of them, — who for the same reason as the Spanish Jews had become diligent lace makers — emigrated to England, to protestant Germany and to Sweden, carryng with them the tra- dition of the art ever further a field. Perhaps, like many ceremonies in the Christian Church, the custom of using fringes and laces on the vestments and church linen may have been imitated from the Jewish ritual, though, when intolerance and cruelty to- wards the Hebrew Race prevailed in the Middle Ages, the Christian women developed new varieties of lace, their piety being intensified by horror at the thought of decking the altar consecrated to the Holy Trinity with the work of unbelievers. — The art, once developed, became a source of amuse- ment and rivalry in the narrow lives of cloistered women, and they dedicated all those energies which were deprived of natural outlets to the invention of new stitches and more wonderful traceries, until the superb Venetian point laces aud needle paintings sprang into existence. But whence came Bobbin or Pillow Lace? When was it invented? A blue lace bound the diadem on the brow of the Jewish , High Priest: this lace must have been not a simple cord' — but a flat fabric — for tradition says it was wrought in colour, and fringed at the ends, hence it was probably worked with bobbins. Writers about laces have filled pages with speculations, quoted from Moses and the Prophets, and ended with the assertion that the first positive evidence of the existence of Bobbin lace is an Italian document of the XV century — .of which we ■ shall later on reproduce a part, — and a Dutch 54 wood-cut of the XVI century ; and this while the sands of Egypt and the rich soil of Italy were reserving their evidence. Like the Tartars of to-day, the Phrygians, Assyrians, Persians and other peoples of South-Western Asia all wore conical caps, and introduced their use into the countries to which they emigrated, or with which they traded. The Phrygians, who very early over-ran Northern Greece, introduced into that country the use»of woollen caps during the winter, and of flax nets or conical fillets in summer. Caps became the fashion in Egypt with the introduction of the religion of Mythras by the Persians. This form of head covering was considered a sign of freedom, and no slaves were allowed to wear it. The ceremony of freeing a slave consisted precisely in placing a red cap on his head and acclaiming him as an equal. This cap was sometimes truncated like the fe\, and in this form it must have given origin to that Mahometan head covering, just as in the original pointed shape it became the model of the Doge's Corno, as also of the Liberty caps placed on the heads of Britannia and her fair daugther Columbia. In the days of the French craze for classicism the Republicans re- dyed this emblem in the blood of aristocrats, and waving it aloft as their standard, acclaimed it with its original name of " Phrygian „. — Caps of this shape must have become the fashion at the time when the Persian religion of Mythras gained ascendency among civilized nations just before he Christ- ian era, when its communistic tenets resisted the Christian religion in Rome even after the general conversion of the Latins, and had so strongly im- pressed the popular mind that some of its forms have survived in the pre- sent rules of Free-Masonry. XLII. Screen. N.° XLII. is a drawing taken from a bas-relief in the Louvre, and represents these caps as worn by the priests of Mythras. We may iudge from the numbers of fragments found in the graves in Panapolis that they were very much in fashion. XLV. Screen. N.° XLV. is a section of a truncated cap ; the little sketches A. B. C. D. shew the way in which they were worn, and that their shape must have greatly resembled the knitted and crocheted ones worn by our own young people. — The winter caps were made of red wool, or were striped in co- lours, while a cord ran round the edge to tighten them if necessary. XLVI.A. Screen and XLVII. A., B.. C. idem. XLVI. and XLVII. A, are also parts of these caps, while XLVI. and XLVII. B. are new pieces that were copied from them by the young lace- 55 makers in the school at Brazza. XLVII. C. is a photograph of some frag- ments numbered 12, 15, 16 of the same kind of work. These caps are neither knitted nor crocheted, for the meshes do not consist of loops; neither are they embroidered, for the threads are continuous and we find no knots. All the learned professors who have seen them unite in saying^ they were inter- laced by fingers, but how they cannot tell, as they have found no lace-bobbins in connection with them : still they were made with bobbins, since, without a reel at the end of the threads to shorten them to the desired length for work- ing, — by winding them round something heavy — it would be quite im- possible to avoid most hopeless tangles and interminable series of Gordian knots. Allowing for the difference in wool, and for the regularity produced by constantly working at the same design, the copies made by the inex- perienced Italian children in the lace school are not bad; the girls worked by interlacing two bobbins instead of the four that are at present used in the manufacture of lace, and they had to twirl the bobbins from left to right, which is the contrary of the twist now given and very aggravating to mod- ern workers. XLVII. B., C.,D. Screen. XLVII. B. C. D. shew the manner of wearing these caps and the sum- mer thread linen nets in ancient times, as also a Neapolitan fisherman with one of these same caps which are still worn by men of his class along the coasts of Italy, Spain and France. XL VIII. Screen. XL VIII. is a perfectly preserved quarter of one of these thread nets bound with red wool. XLIX. Screen. XLIX. is a quarter of a lace net executed in a different design. L. Screen. L. is a well preserved and fresh looking half net of more elaborate lace, executed with remarkable precision. LI. Cases. LI. is unique of its kind, being a complete lace net or bonnet made of soft thread with red binding: it has been placed on a barber's poll to shew how these nets were worn. 56 LIT. Cases. LIT. gives an idea of a classic lace cushion with the same kind of lace mounted on it in process of execution by means of wooden bobbins copied from the bone ones of that epoch; for, mirabik dictu, last May (l 89 2 ) while we in Rome were planning our Exhibit, Professor E. Brizio, Director of the Etruscan Museum in Bologna, was excavating among the ruins of the old Roman town of Claterna, ten miles from Bologna on the Emilian Way, and which S. Ambrose describes as already ruinous in A. D. 393. Here, at the bottom of a filled-up well, of Roman construction, the Professor found a quantity of small, solid, long, wasp-shaped cylinders, the use of which he could not understand, as they resembled none of the Roman implements with which he was acquainted ; this was quite natural, considering that lace- making by no means formed part of his professional acquirements or teaching, and moreover that he lives in a part of the world where lace is not pro- duced; the mystery was, however, soon cleared up for him; one day he happened to pass a bric-a-brac shop in the window of which was a com- pletely equipped lace-maker's pillow which attracted his attention; he at once recognized that the bobbins hanging thereto were the exact counterparts of his curious bone cylinders, and therefore felt convinced that he beheld the solution of the mystery which surrounded not only them but also another similar instrument which had been for years in the Bologna Museum. Another proof which of course neither he, nor anyone who had not been accustomed to lace -making could have recognized lay in the fact that these ancient bobbins were found in couples, or in groups of couples, with the exception of one, which was reduced to fragments. The Professor kindly furnished me with fac-similia of these valuable documents in the history of lace making, and they are shewn under numbers L1II. and LIY. L1Y.A. is a double-hooked crochet needle which has, for many years, formed part of the collection in the Bologna Museum ; its origin is quite unknown, although supposed to be Greek. — Cavaliere Augusto Castellani's superb collection of Etruscan and Roman Antiquities contains many of these bobbins, but they were purchased by him, among numbers of other Roman relics, in the old-fasioned way, without enquiry as to the circumstances at- tending their discovery and they therefore attracted no particular attention ; indeed, owing to their shape, they were thought to be a kind of stylus, for writing on a waxed surface, the round head being taken for a classic rubber for cancelling errors. Signor Castellan! however became of another opinion when he observed that the knobs were often sharp or jagged, and that the end which should — if a stylus — have been pointed, was usually as blunt as the knob. 57 The pioneers of pillow lace in the XVII. century found the semibar- barous peasant and fisherwomen in the Hartz mountains and on the coast of the North Sea, making elastic caps and nets for the men by plaiting threads together by means of rude bone bobbins, used by twos instead of by fours, thus following the same process the Brazza lace girls were obliged to adopt in imitating the Panopolis lace nets. History adds that these women learned the art of complicated lace making with surprising rapidity, and quickly became proficient and artistic workwomen. The Neapolitan fishermen and the Spanish muleteers of to-day both " on and off the stage ", cover their locks with pointed nets made of red silk or wool, and gallants and pages in the time of the Troubadours wore them, as we see in portraits and historical paintings. — In England the old lace makers in Devonshire call their bobbins bones, because they say that formerly they were made of small pieces of sheep's bones, and owing to this they call their bobbin lace bone lace.. The early annals of England and of other countries mention teaching new stitches and designs, and contain notes on the importation of clever teachers from other parts to instruct the natives in new stitches and fresh designs, but not with the object of found- ing a new industry. — We may thus consider pillow-lace to be a direct inheritance from classic times; an inheritance which, though possessed of' rich possibilities, long lay fallow, till in the XV. and XVI. centuries it was* found of easy cultivation and productive of most gorgeous blossoms. — Perhaps a longer and closer study than is possible during the few months at our com- mand, in which to prepare this exhibit, would bring to light more facts about the origin of this art, reaching even still further into the remote Past. After the long journeys we have made far afield in search of the earliest proofs of the manufacture of lace, we will now enter the fair garden in which the splendid flowers and luxuriant grasses of Nature have beep transformed by the magic of gentle fingers into beautiful, curious, and everlasting hybrids, that European kingdom in which the ideal and the material are continually at war and yet exert a happy reaction on each other, and once in Italy we need not again leave that sunny land, for busy merchants will bring to its markets the produce of other countries and will recount narratives of what they saw there. But before crossing the threshold of the Middle Ages we must take one more peep below the soil and see what remains of the Umbrians and Etrurians, of the civilized inhabitants of Italy when the land was young. LV. Wall. * LV. represents an Umbrian cinerary urn of the VIII. century B. C. These urns were always covered with a veil or cloth, and the rude draw- ings that decorate them usually represent a net with dentated edges, trimmed with tassels, and much resembling the nets used in the well-known Gitana or Spanish Gipsy costume. 58 L VI. Screen. LVI. is the design of an archaic Greek figure, with borders painted on the garments to represent coloured embroidery. Some writers on lace speak of such borders as evidencing the use of bobbin lace at that period, but it strikes me that this is a weak foundation on which' to build such an argument. L VII. Screen. LVII. is a figure of Minerva, copied from the painting on one of the Parthenopean vases, of about the IV. century B. C. XXXVIII. Screen. XXXVIII. is a charmingly graceful figure of the same goddess, beau- tifully drawn, from an exquisite vase in the Etruscan Museum in Rome: it most decidedly appears to reproduce a kind of open work that adorns the edge of her lighter garments. Besides this figure, on the same card, is a bi- furcated netting needle, natural size, [exactly like those which are found in great numbers in the Tiber, and which must have been used in making fine hair-nets. LVIII. Screen, LVII1. represents a gold bracelet or cuff of the VI. or VII. century B. C. The original of this bracelet was evidently copied from needle-work consisting of drawn work alternated with linen bands; it was found in the Vetulonian excavations in 1890, and is now in the Etruscan Museum in Florence. The Director of that Institution, the first of its kind in Italy, told me that ample proofs exist of the use of delicate embroidery, open work and nets for the adornment of apparel and the toilette by Greeks and Etrus- cans, but he is of the opinion that pillow lace, made with bobbins, was unknown to them. While talking with this Professor in his study, I ob- served there a Greek platter, of the end of the V. century, made of rare white patrina and adorned with the figure of Arachne, the rash nymph who dared to compete with Minerva in the arts of the loom and the needle, and who was, in consequence, transformed by the irate goddess into a spider and condemned for ever to weave those magic circles, those airy webs which are rivalled by the lace fabrics produced by human fingers. This Greek legend may be based on some fact adorned by the ro- mantic imagination of a bygone poet, or it may have originated in metaphor alone : in any case it inspired the charming odes of the Renaissance, in which the poets unanimously attribute the invention of embroidery to Minerva, while they ascribe that of the subtler and more delicate art of lace making 59 to Arachne. They entwine, in their lays, the ancient Greek fable with the arts, and with the designations of lace stitches with quaint effect, even as the fair fingers whose praises they sang so deftly interlaced the threads of silk and gold. Thus Agnolo Firenzuolo who, in about 1520, wrote his Elegia sopra un collaretto, describes, with loving, lingering detail, a piece of lace that had caught his fancy: Qiieslo collar scolpe da donna mia This collar was sculptured by my lady Di basso rilevar ch' Arachne mai , In bas reliefs such as Arachne E chi la vinse 11011 faria piii bello. And she who conquered her could ne'er excel. Mira quel bel fogliame ch'un Acanto Look on that lovely foliage, like an Acanthus, / Sembra die sopra nn mur vada carponi. Which o'er a wall its graceful branches, trails. Mira quel Jior ch'un candido ne cade Look on those lovely flowers of purest white Vicino al seme ap'ar la bacia I'altro. Which, near the pods that open, hang in harmony. Quel cordiglin, ch' I legan d'ognitorno That little cord that binds each one about Come ci levan ben! mosirando ch' ella How it projects! proving that she who wrought E la vera maestra di quest' arte. Is very mistress of this art. Come son ben compartiti quel puntil How well distributed are all those points ! ^ Ve come son rigual quel boltoncelli. See the equality of all those little buds Come s'al\ano in guisa d'un bel colle, Which rise like many fair proportioned hills, L'un come I'altro .... One like the other .... Questi merli di man, questi trafori This hand made lace, this open work Fece pur ella, e questa punta a spina Is all produced by her, this herring bone Che mette in me\\o questo cordonatto. Which in the midst holds down a little cord. Ella il fe pure : ella lo fece Was also made bv her; all wrought by her. 6o LXVI1. Screen. LXVII. and the following numbers are specimens of the various im- plements made use of in spinning, embroidery and lace making in all times. LVII. Wall. LVII is a distaff, used for spinning flax,, and was made by a peasant of Moruzzo, the township in the Province of Friuli in which the Castello di Brazza is situated. — This distaff ends in a coloured ball, and is most beau- tifully and artistically carved, the inspiration of the original designs having come from the heart of the carver who made it as a gift for his future wife ; on it he has represented their persons, their homes and their hearts ; four-leaved clovers, horse-shoes, and an infinity of other emblems of love and fortune; pendent from it is the spindle, and it is hung to the wall by means of the wrought brass pins by which our peasant women support the distaff, utilizing their belts as rests while spinning as a they walk, or when following their sheep to pasture. LXVI. Wall. LXVI. was carved by the same man later in life as a present to his daughter; the hearts are therefore represented as having flowered, truh" a very pretty and poetic conceit, while the point consists of the brass fork used in spinning wool. — These two simple implements, rendered so beau- tiful by the hand of love, form a true illustration of the affectionate cha- racter and devotion to the beautiful that distinguishes the Italians; hence it is that the graceful arts of lace making and straw plaiting come naturally to every daughter of the people. LVIII. Cases. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5- 7- 8- 9- are specimens of spindle whirls used in spinning by hand in different parts of the world; they date from the Stone Age and its Lake Dwellers down to the present day. The spinning-wheel was invented and adopted in Europe at an early date, but the women in certain parts of Italy still make use of the old-fasioned distaff, which enables them to spin at odd times when it would be impossible to use a wheel. L VIII. 6. Cases. LVIII. 6. was found in Greece, and is a complete ivory spindle of classic times; such specimens as this arc extrcmelv rare. 61 LVIII. 10. Cases. LVIII. lo. is the only ancient wooden spindle with earthenware whirl attached to it as yet discovered ; it was found at Achmim Panapolis and may have served to spin the flax of which some of our specimens are woven. LX. Cases. LX. 1. to 23, are Peruvian specimens, and are particularly interesting as they date from an epoch long anterior to the event we are now cele- brating: the discovery of America by Columbus. They are also especially interesting' In connection with our subject, as the mummies with which they were found were swathed with the same description of textiles as those di- scovered at Achmim, thus shewing that a kindred civilization existed in the New World at an early date, since the evidence afforded by the one necro- polis corroborates and completes that of the other. Here we have spindles, knitting and other needles" with the yarn still on them, and with small cases to protect their points; here is also an ordinary ball of blue cotton which might have come from the work-basket of any modern housewife. LX. B. Cases. LX. B. is a facsimile of the already mentioned double hooked cro- chet needle preserved in the Etruscan Museum in Bologna. LXl. A. B., C, D. Cases. LI. is a sketch of prehistoric needles by Herr R. Forrer. It will be noticed that A. and B., — natural size — which were taken from the homes of the Cave Dwellers at Thaijngeh, are more perfect in form than is D. a bone needle — also natural size — of the Stone Age from the Lake-dwellings at Banschanze on Lake Zurich. The Cave Dwellers were in many things more civilized than were the Lake Dwellers their successors, and must have em- broidered on leather with quills and grasses as their prototypes the Esqui- maux and the Alaskan Indians do to-day LXL D. Cases. LXI.D is a drawing of a wooden hook preserved in the National Mu- seum in Zurich. It has a disc as handle, evidently added to facilitate the boring of holes in skins or textiles, while the hook served to draw through the thread necessary to form a seam or fringe. 62 LX1I. Cases. LXII. consists of nine antique needles. N. os l., 2., 3., 4. are specimens of the early borers called prieme, the use of which preceded that of needles as we now know them; and as l and 2 are made of rudely carved bone and date from the Lake-dwellings of the Stone Age, N. os 3. and 4. are of bronze, and are from the Lake dwellings of the Bronze Age. N.° 5. is a knobbed prieme, or eyeless needle of horn, from the Lake dwellings of the Stone Age; a hole having been bored, this implement served to draw through the thread tied to its knobbed head. N. u 6. is the same kind of instrument from the Lake-dwellings of the Bronze Age. N.° 7. is a coarse, round eyed needle of the Bronze Age, from Italy. N. u 8- is a fine, long-eyed needle of the Bronze Age from the Lake dwellings of Grosserhafen on Lake Zurich. LXIII. Cases. LXIII. is a drawing of a most elegant needle stuck through a coil of gold thread; it was found in a tomb at Visentium and is now in the Etrus- can Museum in Florence. LXV. Cases. Under this head are exhibited six plaster fac-similes of the Roman bob- bins found last May — 1893 — by Prof. Brizio at Claterna, which I have already mentioned and which are now in the Bologna Museum; the seventh and smallest is the one which previously existed there. Finally, there are four wooden bobbins, such as are used in the great centers of Italian Lace making, viz. Venice, Genoa, and Cantii near Milan, as also one of the covered kind used in Saxony which has been adopted in the schools at Brazza be- cause it keeps the thread cleaner. In closing this division of our book, which treats exclusively of the production of woman's agile fingers when the art of needle making was in its infancy, we present a little child's sock of rare value though apparently worthless : L VIII. Cases. LVIII. is the earliest known specimen of knitting, an only sock found in Achmim Panopolis; it is ribbed and striped in red, purple and black with great neatness and loving care for the protection of the little foot in winter, and is so perfectly preserved that one might doubt its authenticity did not the divided toes and seamless heel — the instep being seamed instead — prove it to have been made to wear with a sandal, of which the strap must have worn the holes existing between the toes and the instep at least one thousand five hundred years ago. 63 As we look on this most ancient baby sock, this little relic so long preserved in the vast ocean of Egyptian sands to be at length cast up for our instruction, and to shew us that the world — in some things — has not so much changed after all, we realize that loving mothers span and knitted to keep their children warm, and that little ones ran and jumped and wore out clothes and patience then just as they do now. Meditating on this we cannot but feel a great sympathetic tenderness well up in our hearts for those long past generations; the dust takes shape, the dry bones are again clothed with life, and the little Christian lads of Panapolis, clattering through the great gates, or off to school with carefully sandalled feet plainly rise before the Mind's eye ; their agile bodies are clothed in tunics and warm togas trimmed with pretty designs illustrative of thoughts pleasing to chil- dren, while their heads are covered with bright, snug woollen caps, and each boy, with strapped tablets slung across a shoulder, gives himself an air of importance and manliness though his young mind is much more intent on fun and frolic and tricks innumerable than on the difficult passages in his Commentaries of Julius Caesar, on his Latin Grammar, or his Greek translation. PHip III. (Kljc ftettaissatttt. The word renaissance (literally rebirth) is accepted as the definition of that awakening of the European mind to the beauties in nature, art and li- terature from the profound sleep and troubled dreams of superstition, inter- rupted by the long nightmares of barbarian and gothic invasion which fol- lowed upon the fearful orgies in which the Roman Empire expired. The Christian Church preserved a tradition of the Past in its teaching and decorations, but the heavenly flame of art was so buried beneath the ashes of strife, controversy and narrow-mindedness that the feeble spark which perpetuated its eternal fire was unrecognizable. In Byzantium alone it flickered up a little amid gorgeous costumes and decorations of church and court which warmed the imagination; and here as in Sicily — which, owing to its insular form and its Southern position suffered less severely from invasions — we find that the gentle art of lace- making continued. When the Saracens conquered northern Africa, Sicily and Spain, they caused the inhabitants to instruct them, as well as assist them in producing and perfecting articles for which they were already celebrated. LXX. Screen. N.° LXX. from A. to J. inclusive, consist of a few precious rags from an Hyspano-Moresque tomb of the eleventh or iwelfth century. They fill the void between the lace caps from Achmim-Panopolis and the first examples of Venetian work, and give us the earliest piece of point lace made entirely with a needle and thread without other material used as a foundation. These samples are in a much worse state of preservation and are much more fra- gile than those from Achmim, being apparently records of a more remote date, but this condition is produced by the difference of climate. LXX. A. Screen. LXX. A. is a piece of lace knotted as in punto in aria, and made en- tirely with the needle out of linen thread, waxed to stiffen it, and wound with gold foil ; it forms a quarter of a head-dress. 9 66 LXX. B., C. Screen. LXX. B. is a piece of red silk ribbon used to cover the seams of the above mentioned head-dress, and is braided in fine gold or silver thread spun with linen or cotton as is done in the East today. The design of the braid- ing is roughly sketched by the side of the ribbon, as is also that of the broader ribbon, LXX. C, used to edge the head-dress. LXX. E. Screen. LXX. E. is a piece of the finest gauze veiling woven of silk or flax; it was evidently used under the head-dress and allowed to float loose over the hair and shoulders so as to be drawn across the face when desired. LXX. F. Screen. LXX. F. is a piece of the border of such a veil, wrought in silver, with little groups of tiny silver tassels at regular intervals ; this must have had a charming effect in the sunlight when all was new, white and dazzling. LXX. H. Screen. LXX. H. is a piece of thin material striped in silver and gold, such as we call bayadere stuff, and may have formed the skirt or shawl of this costume. LXX. J. Screen. LXX. J. is as a piece of the same kind of material bordered with a very fine fringe, and must have formed part of a scarf or sash. LXX. I. Screen. LXX. I. is a piece of fine, thin cloth of gold. LXX. G. Screen. LXX. G. is a piece of real bobbin lace composed of fibre such as was made everywhere in the islands and on the northern coast of the Medi- terranean for centuries; it shews a great advance in workmanship from the lace of Achmim-panopolis, for here the bobbins are used in pairs instead of singly, just as every lace maker twirls them today. C//R, uinXCress: SftJ^^^^a^ometft'VoMW Mosaics' ,ju B.-m-w 3f S* Vctafc^ c^ are 7i n a . 67 LXX.D. Screen. In the little stetch LXX. D. we have the whole head-dress reconstructed in its bright original colours, and the mind at once reverts to the Crusades and Richard Cceur de Lion, Saladin, and the fair women made so popular by Sir Walter Scott in his novel of Ivanhoe; and as we continue to gaze these heroes and heroines of a bygone age become materialised and move and breathe in actual reality, called into life by these old moorish rags which cause us to realize that with all the riches and barbaric splendour, movement and strife of that epoch, the gentle art of lace-making continued to develope. Photographs of Ravenna, with Countess Pasolini's laces from the school of Coccolia. Cases. Under the last of the Western Emperors, the Goths and the Byzan- tines, Rome was abandoned as the capital, and the seat of government in Italy was transferred to the more easily fortified sea-port of Ravenna. In the mosaics which adorn this city's unique Basilicas, which were constructed in the VI. century, are found the only remains of European Art of that period; and it will be seen from the photographs exhibited by Countess Pasolini with the laces from her school at Coccolia, that the Empress Theodora and the ladies who formed her court wore costumes composed of the same stuffs as the fragments from Achmim. One of the ladies in particular carries a worked and fringed veil over her arm, resembling those still in use in Turkey, which is interesting as illustrating our special branch" of textile art. LXXI. Screen. LXXI. is a narrow piece of blue bobbin lace of which three examples only are known to exist in Italy. It was sent in the Eleventh Century from Constantinople to Spezia, then known as Luni. The blue square mesh ground is made entirely by bobbins, and is the same as that of all old Italian and Sicilian lace resembling net. It is embroidered, with little white birds made in the same darning stitch that was used in the Gobelins style embroidery formed at Achmim. This kind of lace must have been the Lacinia of the Latins (from which the English term Lace is derived) and was in general use in the Twelfth and Thirteenth centuries. References in old books are constantlly found to blue " borders „ or " frie\es „ embroidered in white birds and lions, which indi- cates this kind of work. 68 LXXII. Cases. N.° LXXII. is an altar cloth trimmed with a variety of this blue lace embroidered in white, exibited, as well as many of the following examples, by M.'' s Arthur Bronson of Venice; In it the design is of the Fifteenth Cen- tury and the bobbin ground (called maglia quadra) and the embroidery are much more roughly executed than N.° LXXI; it has pretty blue and white antique pillow lace " campane „ sewn on the edge. The mixing of two or more colors was very fasionable, as were all the polychrome or divers-co- loured laces in the Fifteenth Century. The perfection of the edging and the negligence in the execution of the Byzantine lace in N.° LXXI. prove the change of style which had occurred before its manufacture, for in the Fif- teenth century this lace, which could but produce a stiff effect, rapidly lost ground before the newer and more varied and graceful trimmings composed of embroidered net " punto a groppo „ now called Macrame and complicated bobbin lace. The following are examples of Byzantine lace or ," Maglia quadra „ and shew what rich effect could be produced in this simple kind of work with symmetrical designs and a happy blending of materials and colors. D. Cases. N.° D. is made with a blue silk ground embroidered in buff silk and white thread: it belongs to Signora Antonia Costa of Rome, as does CCCCLXXXVIII. Cases. N.° CCCCLXXXVIII. a piece made all in white linen thread, and which was sewed on to the end of a towel. LXXXVI. Cases. N. n LXXXVI. is the same kind of lace producing a very different effect, since the ground is made of aloe thread dyed brown and embroidered in " punto a sacchetti „ or square point, with an unconventional pattern executed in silks and exquisitely tinted in browns and heliotrope greens and yellows. LXXV1II. Cases. N.° LXXVIII. belongs to M.' s Bronson. The ground is made with re- markably soft ecru thread and embroidered vith "punto a spina „ or " herring- bone stitch „ in delicate buffs yellows and peacock blues and greens; along the edge runs a most interesting antique and rare polychrome " campane „ lace of fine silk, this repeats the colours and the design of the wider lace and was evidently made on purpose to edge it. 6 9 CCCXXXIX. Screen. N. p CCCXXXIX. is an interesting sample of the same, dating, t5 judge from the design, from the Twelfth or Thirteenth Century, and is embroidered in red and green silk. b' CCCXLI. Screen. N." CCCXLI. is embroidered in cream and blue silk, and dates from the Fourteenth Century. CCCXLV1I. Screen. N." CCCXLVII. is embroidered in red silk and belongs to the same period. CCCLV. and CCCLVII. Screen. The design in N. os CCCLV. and CCCLU. indicates work of the early part of the Sixteenth Century. Byzantine lace was also made in a modified form entirely with bobbins and fine white thread, and was composed of narrow stiffly flowered bands with a close ground, ornamented by the simple designs left in open work. XCV. Screen. The sample, N.° XCV. and the frill in the pink and silver broeaded babycap, as well as the following CXXX. Cases. N.° CXXX. (of the Sixteenth Century) are of this lace; it was used throughout Europe to trim baby clothes, and is still to be found on baptismal garments — such as this brocaded cap — which have heen religiously preserved in certain old families on the Continent and in England from generation to generation. M. ,s Bury Palliser, in her celebrated book on lace, speaks of this as well as of " blue wedding lace „ made at Coventry, in England, during the Middle Ages and distributed to all the members of a bridal party. She quotes an account of Queen Elizabeth's visit to Kenilworth, in which the youths of the parish are described as walking in front of the procession, carrying branches of fresh broom and wearing " blue bridal lace „ as if they were grooms- men at a wedding. With the spread of puritanism and of the harsh decrees it inspired, this old custom, like many others, died out in England, as did also the manufacture of the celebrated blue thread in Coventry. No relics of this lace now remain, but it must have resembled the above examples. 70 In this case, as in many others, we find proofs of the much earlier Renaissance of the arts in Italy than in England, embroidery alone excepted ; this is explained by the fact that a powerful, unbroken tradition remained in the English convents of the artistic needle-work learned from the Phry- gians, so that the " opus phry planum „ of the ancients was merged in the celebrated and beautiful " opus anglicanum „. The coldness of the climate tended to keep the women at home, and make them alive to the attractions of a sedentary "occupation which they could follow beside the hearth, and it naturally caused them to prefer embroidery to lace ; airy open-work and transparent fabrics were not suited to their cold, sunless, stonebuilt homes, either for household or personal linen, until time and fashion introduced lux- ury in the shape of collars, frills and cuffs as adornments to neck and sleeves; these becoming objects being purely accessories of the toilet, the vo- lume and not the quality of which could affect physical comfort. The first examples of lace and pun to tagliato in England, such as the shroud of St. Cuthbert who was buried in Durham Cathedral in the Twelfth century, his vestments which are preserved in the library of the Chapter, and the open work represented on monuments, all belong to ecclesiasiastics and may have been brought from Italy as attributes of Church ritual in exchange for the English embroideries so much prized by the Popes and Cardinals in Rome. We find however that in 1363, under Edward IV. gold and silk laces » trimmed the garments of the laity, for an edict which that monarch then pro- mulgated, forbade their use. They were all imported from Italy, and Richard III, at his coronation in 1438, wore a robe of crimson satin laced with two bands of gold and silk passement which had been made in Venice on pur- pose for that occasion. The Queen of the Adriatic, owing to her commercial intercourse with Byzantium and the Orient was, throughout the Middle Ages, the most luxu- rious and refined city of Europe, and from a very early date in her existence minute descriptions of costumes, with the prices paid for their component parts were noted in documents carefully preserved in her State Archives. Thus in 1219, we learn from an old account-book that tailors charged twice as much for a border of needle work, called " fregio „ or " frixatura „ as they did for one of fine fur, which indicates that the work must have been elaborate. Frequent allusion^ to various kinds of trimmings are found in the re- gisters of the Venetian Customs offices of the Fourteenth Century, as well as in the account books and records of law suits and wills belonging to private families. In the earliest mosaics of the Basilica of St. Mark they are also rudely represented on the garments of grotesque saints and mortals; they are also reproduced, with minute faithfulness of detail in the gracefully execu- ted miniatures which enrich the manuscripts of that period. 71 LXXXIX. Screen. N." LXXXIX. is taken from a manuscript of the Thirteenth Century containing the statutes and byelaws of the guild of Bolognese bakers; it re- presents an angel presenting St. Mary Magdalen, who is kneeling in her her- mitage, with a scarf or toga edged with a blue lace border and fringe. CXI1I. Screen. N.° CXIII. consists of four sketches taken from the illuminated headings, dating from 1439-1455, of the " Rotuli „ or rolls of the University which are preserved in the archives of Bologna. In them the bishop Petronius (her patron saint and martyr), is represented in full canonicals with his right hand raised in the act of blessing the University, whilst in his left he holds the walled city, recognizable in the exaggerated representations of the Towers of Garisenda and the Asinelli. His mantle is edged with fur, and the deep trimming on his glove and sleeve illustrates the lace of the period, Reticella, which must have just come into fashion and have deeply impressed the limner; for in the earlier and later Rotuli, though the execution of the painting is more artistic and the designs are more beautiful and florcate, we do not find the lace distinctly represented. These Rotuli are written on parch- ment, superbly illuminated, and form an almost complete series from 1483 to 1799, besides a few scattered numbers of the Fourteenth Century. They have never been published, although they constitute an exhaustive and une- qualled illustration of miniature painting in Italy. These rolls contain the list of those persons, for celebrated women as well as men figure among the lecturers, who were called by the Rector, with the approbation of the civic authorities, to read on or teach various subjects which, with the hours allotted to each, are minutely detailed; two rolls were issued every year, One for the " Jurists " and one for the " Artists. ,, In 1347 people still called gowns tunics, and several for women and children are described as " laboratum ad intayos, „ i. e. open or carved- work, from which punto tagliato originated. Others are mentioned as trimmed with an exaggerated quantity of gold, silver, pearl or glass buttons and richly wrought button holes. The sleeves were the most elaborate part of the costume and reached to an enormous size, vying with the fashion of today; they were loaded with buttons and loops innumerabble, and profuselly trimmed with gold and beaded " Tressas „ or tressed work, which can have been no other than a kind of gimp or passement. One tunic in particular is described as having a " low-cut body „, the first, I find noted, and the usual rich sleeves; trains or trailing skirts are also mentioned as forming part of the women's cos- tumes of this period. 72 Until the end of the Fourteenth Century these superfluous buttons, jewelled borders and fur linings continued to be the fashion despite the con- stant edicts published against their abuse, such as the one of 1299 limit- ing the price of borders to 5 Lire di piccoli per ell; and it must have been their costliness and uncomfortable weight, combined with the fear of prosecution that caused gold, silver and clinquant (plated metal) passements, lace and open work insertions to replace them. The demand for every kind of trimming at this period was so great that their manufacturers became rich and powerful, so that in 1343 they separated from the association of weavers, of which until then they had formed part, and organizing themselves in a separate guild, produced gold, silver, linen and silk thread, cords, lacings^ gimps, fringes, " doppioni " and all other articles used as — or in the production of — trimmings. They received the title of Masters " Bordorum subtihtm de filo subtili" which denomination must have heen considered appropriate to lace- makers, for even after their art became a great source of wealth and glory to Venice, this epithet, de- nominating the guild of which it formed part, remained unchanged. The repeated edicts published by patriarchal and protectionist go- vernments, forbidding the importation and limiting the width and value of trimmings forced mercers to invent some cheaper through effective edgings with which to supply their customers; and they naturally resorted to flax, aloes, and silk as first materials of comparatively small value with which to pro- duce pretty designs in drawn work, embroidered net and bobbin lace, which being easy and rapid of execution coued be sold with profit fat a low price. These edgings, " frizidor „, " smerli „ or " merli „ (so called from the Byzantine, terms merinis, bobbin, and mermiriso to turn) were a novelty and pleasing to the eye; the customers, on their part, found that they furnished the desired trimming for garments with the added charms of cheapness and novelty, and so accepted them eagerly and they became the rage. But as usual, once the fashion established, rivalry in elegance developed and the original object was lost sight of; merchants and consumers alike ever incited the workwomen to fresh inventions, more perfect designs and minute details, until the beautiful thread points of the Golden Age of Lace became far more costly and valuable than the jewelled borders which wrought such havoc with the purses of the Fourteenth Century. In the other provinces the same conditions existed; in 1341 the pa- triarch Bertrando of Aquileja, sovereign of the Patria (Friuli) forbade the use of gold embroidery, but permitted a trimming of cord or lace worth 40 francs per ell, a price not to be surpassed under pain of fines and excommunica- tion. The will of the Countess Pierina della Torre, of Udine, dated 1396, mentions a silk kerchief ornamented with " Merli „ worked in gold leaves, These kerchiefs for head and neck furnished a field for the exhibition of fine embroidery and lace. In a Venetian account book we find carefully re- gistered under various dates from 1437 to 1439, a great number of these ar- 73 tides of feminine adornment which are perpetuated in the shawls, necker- chiefs and Zendade or veils. CCXXVIII. Cases. (See N.° CCXXVIII. in tambour work of I846) still worn by the Venetian patrician ladies on solemn occasions, and by the women of the people daily. — The kerchiefs were made of coarse bitrato linen, silk, muslin, or the finest, silk gauze brought from the Orient and unrivalled by the pro- ducts of modern industry. Those of the Fifteenth Century are described as straforatto (literally excessively pierced) with work in wheel shapes, such as we see in CCCCV1I. Screen and CXXX1V. Cases. N.° CCCCVII. and other samples on the screen in N.° CXXXIV., worked in " Cartiglia „ which belong to Countess Valentinis of Friuli. CXXVI. Cases. N.° CXXVI. is an heirloom in the historical Colleoni family. This kerchief dates from about 1600, is made of the softest silk gauze, and is em- broidered in the finest gold and silver thread with open work and relief round the four sides; it was allotted the first prize assigned to this kind of work at the historical Exhibition of Textile Arts held in Rome in the Spring of I887. CLXXXVIII. Cases. !-? N." CLXXXVIII. is evidently a neckerchief of sheer gauze datin from the same period, and very daintily and artistically embroidered round two sides with gold thread and gold foil, interspersed with conventional flowers and fruits exquisitely shaded in coloured silks ; owing to the daily use to which such objects were destined specimens of them are very rare. The above mentioned Venetian account book also describes kerchiefs worked with chain (openings) in coloured silks; this is a term used at that period for a simple variety of punto tagliaio or trapunto (drawn work). LXXIII. Screen. N.° LXXIII. is a fine specimen of this stitch, having a design consist- ing of chimerical animals left in the linen, whilst the reticulated open work ground is executed in red silk and edged with a narrow fringe worked in the material. lo 74 CCCXXXV. Screen has gold introduced in the ground and fringe CCCXXXVII. Screen is finely executed and dates from the Thirteenth Century ; it is a most interesting sample of that curious work in human figures animals and flow- ers left in linen, with an open-work ground, which was so much in vogue at the time of the troubadours. CCCL1. Screen. Is purely gothic in design, and is a sample of the open work which at that period was imported from the Island of Rhodes. CCCL1II. Screen. Is of the Fifteenth Century, and has a design of acorns and leaves worked in red silk. LXXIV., LXXVI. Cases. These numbers represent two beautiful pieces of trapunto worked in chain and equally finished on both sides ; they belong to Mrs. Arthur Bronson. N.° LXXIV. forms the border for a bed-spread worked in a Byzantine design of mermaids, stags and dragons with little lions and small birds inter- spersed among the principal figures to fill in the empty spaces. These creatures are left in the linen with the features worked by over- casting neatly in yellow silk, and the outlines are formed in the same way, whilst the ground is embroidered in tiny work squares with the same silk; the edge consists of a narrow silk fringe of the same colour wrought in the material which characterizes this kind of work. LXXVI. Cases. Is made in very fine linen, and must have served on a luxurious gown or apron. The design is of the Renaissance, gracefully composed of large interlaced conventional foliage and scrolls ; around this runs a beautiful simple border; the overcast outline and shading are everywhere composed of yellow silk, whilst the fine recticulated ground is made in pale blue silk, the whole being edged with a narrow appropriate footing which was sub- sequently added. 75 CCCXXIV. Cases. Is a pillow-case in fine white linen worked with thread in trapunto, with an all over Gothic design. CCCCLXXXVI. Cases. Is an altar cloth or dresser scarf of the same kind of work, belonging to Signora Costa, and contains birds, animals and letters forming initials, monograms and words which stand ont from the Cavalo ground owing to the superimposed embroidery and raised-work. CCCCXCII. Cases belongs to the same* proprietor, and is rarely fine in material and work. , DC VIII. Cases. N.° DCVIII. comes from Ravenna; it is a table cloth in white linen, worked in a Byzantine design and edged with very antique pointed pillow lace of the Fourteenth Century. DCIV. Cases. N.° DCIV. is a table-cover of the same material and work, but exe- cuted at a later date as is seen from the broad, beautiful Genoese pillow- lace, composed of great wheels in oriental design and artistically executed, which is sewed on either end and indicates the beginning of the Sixteenth Century. In the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries the coloured embroideries called punto a crocetti as well as trapunto, were very much appreciated, and in 1781, when die body of King Ferdinand the Second of Sicily was dircovered in a perfect state of preservation in the Royal Sepulchres at Pa- lermo, it was clothed in a shirt of the finest linen — which had been pre- sented by the Saracens to king Otto IV in 1210 — worked upon the col- lar and sleeves in arabesques and cufic inscriptions. At present this work is again the fashion, and as examples are rare they are eagerly sought after by merchants and collectors and command high princes. The " Crocetta „ embroidery is executed on fine linen with bright coloured silks in scachetti, square, back-chain, cross, and other stitches so neatly executed that the finish of the wrong side is equal to that of the right ; the effect is generally enhanced by fringes wrought with the needle into the, edge of the border with the same tinted silks that compose the design. 76 LXXV1L, LXX1X., LXXXI. Screen. N.° LXXVII. and LXXIX. are samples of this work, the latter is particularly fine in design and dates from the Fifteenth Century ; its chief interest lies in the well drawn and well executed human figures and ani- mals of which it is composed, recalling the embroideries of the most artistic period of the Roman Empire. DCXXXIl, DCXXX1V., DCXXXVL, DCXXXVIII. Cases. These numbers, represent 21 superb examples of this kind of Italian embroidery, composing a rare collection brought together during years of research by, D. 1 ' Silvestrini of Bologna who offers them for sale. Sup- plemented by the trapunto and by embroideries from Achmim-Panapolis exhibited on the screen, these numbers afford rare facilities for the study at their source of the changes which, in the fifteenth century, gradually stole over the art of designing for decorative work, and the successful struggle to regain the congruities of composition. This kind of embroidery continued the fashion until the Seventeenth Century, and was extensively used alike on men's and women's linen as is seen in portraits of this period, such as that of the historical Count Hippolito di Porto in the Museum at Vicenza, and as is recorded in the court inventories and chronicles of Queen Eliza- beth and her contemporaries. Another Venetian document, dated 1439, is an inventory of the wardrobe belonging to Lorenzo Dona, whilom Governor of Friuli, and it repeats the same endless enumeration of fine cloth, silk, velvet and satin garments adorned with fur, gold lace, beads, metal, tinsel and silk gimps and borders under the names of tarnato, fn\o d' oro, and d'oro Valleniane (from Valencia in Spain) chamossa etc., whilst others mention, oro di Cologna (from the city on the Rhine) limbus, grammata, fimbria, tressas and endless other terms applied to the multitudinous trim- mings of that day. Other cities of Italy were not far behind Venice, for the constant in- tercourse with the great commercial centre required by the exigences of trade furnished them with an opportunity for studying the fashions. Count Gandini has spent years in forming the superb historical collection of textiles in the Museum of Modena which bears his name and which is unsurpassed by any other in Europe; he has also patiently studied the masses of inedited documents relative to the Ducal family of Este which reigned in Ferrara for so many Centuries, and among the State Archives he has found mentioned in a Register of the Wardrobe dated 1475 a. c. 25) a frixo in oro da Cologna (frieze in Gold of Cologne) and in that of 1476, dated June 5 th (a. c. 87) an order given for a felt hat' alia Borgognona, trimmed with a silver and silk gimp made with bobbins; besides this (a. c. 96) in the same document is noted a seat made in velvet for the great hall with the canopy trimmed 77 at the sides with a fri\etlo (frill) in gold and silver made in little squares with bobbins; finally in number 112 of the same collection are inscribed the orders for refurnishing an apartment in the palace, given by the Duchess Eleonora, wife of Duke Hercules I. who desired it should be embellished in honour of the expected visit to Ferrara of her sister, Beatrice of Aragon, on her journey to marry King Mathias Corvinus of Hungary ; in this ma- nuscript one of the rooms is described as adorned mith " a frieze of gold made with bobbins „. In Florence in the Fifteenth Century the luxury in clothes was at least equal to that of Venice, and Savonarola in the stirring sermons which he preached from 1484 to 1491 against the follies and extravagances of the time frequently reproached the nuns, especially those of the Convent of the Mu- rate, with devoting their time to the vain fabrication of costly gold laces with which to adorn the houses and persons of the rich, instead of conse- crating, themselves to fasting, prayer and the glory of God in the embel- lishment of His holy temples. CCXC. Cases consists of a large quantity of this lace in perfect preservation, exhibited by Ctiuntess Agostini Venerosa della Seta, of Tuscany; it comprises the trimming for a table-cover and contains the widest and best designs in gold lace I have ever seen. It conies from the fingers of those very women who provoked the great preacher's vituperation, and its glowing splendour justifies his words. CCCLXXXII. Cases. After gazing on these jewels of textile art the eye turns with contempt from the seven samples which are placed beside it, as also from LX XXIII , CCCV. Screen which illustrate the gold, silver and clinquant laces made in other parts of Italy. LXXXV. Screen. N.° LXXXV. is also Florentine of the same period as the gold lace, and its ground is made with bobbins of unbleached thread worked in the same way, but it has two real cartisane (strips of parchment rolled with silk) interlaced with the ground in a conventional pattern to form the design. This kind of lace was called guipure, from guiper (in old French to roll) and its name later became synonimous with all lace made in a cord like design. 78 LXXXIX. Screen. N.° LXXXIX. is an entirely different kind of work namely, of the first kind of net used in Italy as lace on garments. It is made of a very fine linen or silk mesh stiffened with wax and then embroidered in silk thread, and was the origin of laxis. It was in use during the Fourteenth and early part of the Fifteenth Century, as is indicated by the design and proved by an account book formerly belonging to the Cathedral of Ferrara, and now existing in the Municipal Archives of that city. This documents contains an entry, made in 1469, of a bill presented by a certain Battista, wife of Nicolo Andrea of Ferrara, for repairing the very badly worn and damaged gramito (border) of fourteen surplices for the can- ons of the chapter, with detailed specifications of the work, together with the prices of thread and of the candles used for waxing it. But the most complete and authentic list of the laces made in the Fif- teenth Century is found in the lengthy document of which only the part referring particularly to lace is given here. It consists in a descriptive cata- logue of the personal effects and furniture inherited by, and divided between the noble sisters Angela and Ippolita Sforza Visconti of Milan, and is dated September 12 th , 1403. To those who have read that lace was invented in Flanders or in Germany in the latter part of the Sixteenth Century, and copied and developed in Italy during the Seventeenth, the following lines prove how frequently assertions are made without proper research, and that as early as the Fifteenth Century, side by side with the pillow lace made with single threads, like that found in the graves of Achmim-Panapolis, di- stinguished under the name of bone-lace, and the more elaborate and newer lace made with bobbins twirled in pairs and called as today '' fuxi „, and fuselli, all the varieties of needle lace specified in the pattern books pub- lished in the following century existed, such as; pwUo tagliato, punto lirato, rete a maglia quadra, Reticella punto in aria, etc. Although, as will be seen from the Italian terms retained in translating this fragment, the abominable orthography of the epoch often strangely travestied the original term : " One mantle of black satin trimmed round with gold tarnato (lace) „. " One veil in spun gold „. " Four small veils in silk; ten little veils in Neapolitan style „. " One linen sheet of five breadths worked in point „. " One piece of silver tarnato (lace) made in stars „. " One sheet of four breadths worked in radexelo, (net lace). " Four pieces of net lace point radexelo to put on a mosquito net „. " One sheet worked with large insertions „. " One gold veil made in the Neapolitan style with a gold cimossa (edging) „. " One gold veil made with an applied cimossa of black silk. „ 79 " One stomacher made in gold of grupi, (knotted work). „ " One Tarneta (edging) of gold and silk made in ossi (bone lace). „ " One stomacher of gold brocade, with relini {net work). „ " One stomacher of red satin trimmed with gold work a gugia. „ " One sheet in raw silk of six breadths worked in Radexela, (netpoint),, " One small bundle of various kinds of embroideries. „ " Fire pairs of sheets, one worked in radexela (net point) „ " One sheet af four breadths in radexele. „ " One painted box whith certain fittings of embroidery made on veils. „ " Four pieces of redexela for a mosquito net. „ " One knotted embroidery on which were the pearls of my lady Bianca. „ - " One broad radixela for a sheet. „ " Six new pieces of tiny raxela (net lace). „ " Two tarnale of gold. „ " One band worked a poncto de doii fuxi (literally in point ot two bobbins, in contradistinction to the bone lace named above). " Half of a bundle containing certain designs for the women to work. „ " One sheet of bombaxe with certain fine workings; one sheet ditto worked in radicelle. „ That lace made with " pairs „ of bobbins was a novelty is indicated by its being especially thus described in order to distinguish it from the older and simpler bone-lace, and we have an illustration of it in the unpublished authentic portrait in oils of Christopher Columbus, belonging to Cavaliere de Ferrari of Genoa, of which we give a sketch, and which is the, only portrait of the explorer in existence in which he is represented as wearing lace. This quality of lace was made in Genoa and Spain, and is therefore most appropriately perpetuated on the collar of the man whose greatness brought lustre, wealth and power to the nation of his adoption, and added a glorious name to the long list of brilliant sons possessed by the classic land which gave him birth. But another historical character whom we must ever honor in speaking of Columbus has left an impress on this lace. It will be remembered that when Queen Isabella of Castile joined her husband in the Spanish crusade against the Moors of Grenada, she made a solemn vow not to change her shift until that city had submitted to the Cross. — Many weeks passed and that historical garment assumed a very doubtful unbleached hue ere Granada fell. This Great Queen, despite the political cares and grave state questions, which she never shirked, was a clever and devoted apostle of the needle, and especially excelled in drawn work and lace in which she also personally trained her daughters to work with the noble maidens under her intelligent supervision in the vast hall, near their private apartments, consecrated to the use of the ladies of the Court, so that they acquired, and when they married into England, Portugal and Burgundy carried with them the passion for the innocent and graceful Art which they had learned at their mother's knees. 80 All Christendom at that moment had its eyes fixed on Spain in admi- ration af its enterprise and victories, and so the new colour was adopted for laces and frills all over Europe in compliment to the Queen, yellow starches were invented, and this shade of buff is still designated under the litle of " couleur Isabel „ . This tint was especially given to the bobbin laces of Spain and Genoa called '• gothic „ whether made in silk or in thread, of which, owing to their great fineness and antiquity, examples in a good state of pre- servation are excessively rare. DCXXVIIL, DCXXX. Cases in buff silk, belonging to D. r Silvestrini, are wonderfully fine and delicate in quality and design, and come from Spain, probably worked there by the Jews before they were expelled under the Inquisition. CCCCXL., CCCCXLII. Cases are two pieces, exquisite in design and execution, of bone lace made in Genoa. They have an especial historical in terest for Americans as they were brought to Perugia by a member of the Meniconi Bracceschi family of which a distinguised condottiere of the Middle Ages, Bracciaforte da Mon- tone, was a member. This nobleman being sent by the Pope as Ambassador to the French court frequently passed through Genoa, and as the friends and family of Columbus were poor and industrious it is possible that the fingers which intertwined these linen and silk threads may have clasped the hand of the great explorer; Such thoughts cause us to touch with reverence these waifs of a bygone Age, and to realize the truth in the words of Fambri, the great prophet of the revival of lace-making in Italy, when he described the gentle maids and matrons of the Renaissance as mouldered to dust beside the heaps of ruins which once constituted the strongly fortified stone castles they inhabited, whilst the filmy work of their frail fingers lives on through cen- turies, ever freshly adorning generation after generation of the human race in every part of the world to which culture has penetrated. In the milanese document of 1493 the most frequently recurring qua- lity of lace is reticella (net or Greek point), and the process followed in its manufacture is described in onr Introduction. From a simple form of open work embroidery it rapidly developed into a perfect point lace not to be distinguished from " punto in aria „ ; it was a universal favourite side by side with point and bobbin lace all through the sixteenth century, the coarser qualities being especially adapted to body and house linen, and Burato is a modification of it. Long before the publication of books of patterns every household and convent had its sampler more or less complete, from which the stitches and designs daily reproduced were copied by the women and girls. XCVIl, XGIX., CI. Screen. DXCVIII. Cases. N. os XCVIL, XCIX., CI., are some of these most antique samples ; N.° DXCVIII. of the Sixteenth Century is exceptionally large, and forms a complete illustration of the stitches used in this kind of lace. Pimio Tagliaio lies between Trapunto and Reticella, and is simply the latter with part of the linen ground left visible, just as Cardiglia touches the other extreme, being made entirely whithout linen though appearing like reticella. We have innumerable examples of all these kinds of work, each more beautiful than the other and all alike interesting, for the Italian women of that period were quick to see its beauties and its advantages, as it did not alter in the least in washing, and in the super-refined extravagance of the Renaissance it was used to adorn sheets, pillow cases, towels and table lin- en, bed spreads, curtains and canopies with insertions and borders; and the passion for it went to such lengths as as to cause the bright coloured walls of the summer apartments to be entirely covered with it, which a chronicler of the period says produced a charming effect. The Sforza document speaks of sheets of four and five breadths; this was because the old looms did not admit of weaving linen wide enough to make them all in one piece, and as seams are unsightly, pretty insertions were used to unite the widths; and this tradition remains in Italy. DCL VI. Cases. And in N.° DCLVI. is exhibited a homespun sheet, such as is still in daily use among the Friuli peasants and which illustrates these observations. The simple fact that I was forced to lend a sheet to take its place during its voyage to America shows that such work is considered not luxurious but simply neat. CCCCLXXXIV. Cases. N.° CCCCLXXXIV. is the heading of a sheet from an old castle in the neighbourhood, and other pieces exhibited in this group have served the same purpose; to match these sheets pillow cases with reticella or bobbin lace borders and openwork hems were of course necessary. CXLII, CXXX., CXXXVIIL, CCCCLXXVIII, DCLVIIL, DXCII. Cases. N.' CXLII. belongs to one of our peasants, and numbers CXXX., CXXXVIIL, CCCCLXXVIII, DCLVIII, are all pillow cases in the same kind of work, executed at different epochs more or less finely according to the ability or wealth of the housewife, and shaped to fit, for centuries, the heads of successive generations of humanity from the cradle to the grave. 11 82 CCLXXXVL, CCLXXXVIII. Cases. Form the cover and curtains a dressing table composed entirely of beau- tifully "worked reticella paralellograms which adorned a Tuscan bridal sheet of the Fifteenth Century, they are edged with fine antique Genoese pillow lace. CCCXXXIV.. CCCCXLVIIL, DCIL, DCVIIL. DCX.. DCXII. Cases. Belong to several beautifully executed table coths, dresser covers and towels, all forming interesting examples of reticella and punto tagliato ; each is different from the others and some are adorned with pillow-lace edges and fascinatingly complicated little tassels at the four corners. CCCCLVL, CCCCLXIL, DIL, DIV. Cases. Are also examples of Reticella and punto tagliato which have served on household and church linen, and are exhibited by the patronesses. CCCCLXVIII. Cases. N." CCCCLXVIII. is particularly worthy of attention on account of its fineness of quality, perfection of execution and the curious little doge's caps and vases introduced in the design. DCI. Cases. N.° DCI. is also interesting as showing an entirely contrary treatment of the material, and constitutes Punto tagliato Reale, the designs being cut out and diversified with graceful stitches, and the ground left in plain linen as at the school in Burano, where the clever workers have recovered the secret of its fabrication. LXXXIX., CIX., CLXXL, CCLXXXIII.-CCCLX1X., CCCLXXXIX., CCCXCL, CCCXCIX., CCCCL, CCCCIIL, CCCCV., CCCC VII. , CCCCIX.,CCCCXL, CCCCXIII.,CCCCX VII, CCCCXIX. Screen. Consist in eighteen samples of Punto Tagliato and Reticella exhibited on the screen, and as each one is furnished with the date of its origin and name of place of manufacture no further comment is necessary; N.° LXXXIX. is of purely gothic design and is the oldest piece of drawn work on this list. CCCXCVII. Screen. N.° CCCXCVII. is a fine example of the variety of lace called cardiglia, which in appearance resembles Reticella but is worked as is Venetian point. These varieties of work are so beautiful, so characteristic and so little known out of Italy that they have been chosen to form the subject of the 83 illustration representing the fashion of using lace from 1500 to 1600. This sketch reproduces an anonymous portrait, preserved in the pinacotek of Bo- logna, of a delicious, jolly baby of the olden time, literally smothered in laces, Iyging wide awake in a monumental crib furnished with pillow, spread, ca- nopy and curtains of this work, and with even the corner columns swathed in bands of it; these latter were also used alone or mixed with pillow lace for swaddling the babies of the Italian Aristocracy and of wealthy Hebrews. The latter, howeverer, in accordance with the prescriptions of the Tal- mud, were wrapped in bands diversified by quotations from the Law em- broidered between the stripes of lace. CCCXX. Cases. N.° CCCXX. is one of these, worked in Burato and worn to rags by several generations of Jewish babies, while. III. Screen. N.° III. on the screen, and N. os CCCXIV., CCCXVIIL, CCCXX. Cases. Have undergone the same process in the service of a multitude of little Christians. DLIV., DLVI. Cases. N. os DLIV., DLVI. are two unusually long and richly worked bands of Punto Tagliato and Reticella from Bologna in a state of perfect preservation. They are edged with delicate, pointed Genoese lace, and cause us to regret that more of this artistic combination has not survived the ravages of Time. These two pieces exactly correspond in length, width and design with those on the canopy produced in the sketch, and may have served on this very crib or on that of some other little Bolognese aristocrat of the same epoch. The list of laces in use during the Fifteenth Century remains to be completed; we have reviewed the pretty ladies of the Court, but have left unmentioned the queen and greatest beauty of them all; she enters last and all eyes turn to her as she ascends the throne of needle work from which no changes of fashion have been able to banish her: 'b' DCV. Wall. We are here stand in the presence of the earliest real Venetian point, Punto in aria. Since first invented this lace has ever enhanced woman's charms, and men have been so attracted by its clinging grace that they have carried 84 it upon their breasts and sleeves in court and camp, and sometimes dyed it it crimson with their life blood, whilst inordinate love for it has played such sad havoc with family coffers that estates have been mortgaged, and whole families reduced to penury in order to satisfy the craving for its posses- sion; many laws have therefore been promulgated against it but all in vain. From its origin it was very expensive, and the Venetian Republic tried to eliminate a fresh excuse for extravagance by suppressing it at the outset, and so in 1476 the Senate decreed that no Punto in Aria whatever, executed either in flax or in silver or gold thread should be used on the curtains and bed-linen in the city or provinces ; but the women were accustomed to disobey the laws, and if necessary to rebel against which were measures inspired by a desire to control their expenditure, thongh it were for their own good. They had tasted the sweets of victory in their great rebellion against the patriarch of Venice, Lorenzo Giustiniani," who had, in 1437, dared to forbid females, under pain of fines and excommunication, the use of costly jewelry and of every kind of superfluous adornment. But the women of that period, like the artisans of to - day, bravely " went on strike „ , refused to attend the churches, and appealed to the Pope. Their Ambassadress must have possessed not only rich and becoming garments, but also an eloquent tongue and a persuasive smile, since she in- duced the Pontiff to side with the women and to order the Patriarch to cancel his injunction. And when we observe N. Q DCV, belonging to Signorina Angiolini of Bologna, which is a framed example of this most antique Venetian Point, of about 1460, resembling in its design some pure spirit flower, we can under- stand the women, excited over these exquisite blossoms of their inventive needles, refusing to have the rare exotics destroyed by ruthless laws, and battling fearlessly to preserve these creatures of their mind and hand for their own particular adornment; they had grasped the possibilities of effect which it possessed, and had realized that the twining of its graceful tendrils in and out around the hems of their veils and coifs added a needed dedicacy to their superb costumes, and that its lily blossoms brightened by contrast the shellike tinting of their hands and necks and the rosy freshness of their cheeks. Ph^t IV. ®lje (&mtn Jlge jf gau. From 1500 to the French Empire. The love of lace developed into a passion daring the Sixteenth Cen- tury when all that was beautiful found crowds of faithful worshippers. The first Artistic talent of Europe was inspired to compose designs for the com- plicated weaving with needle and bobbins : designs which were pubblished in book form and passed through numerous editions. Tradition has it that no less a painter than the great Titian in person not only counselled his nephew Veccelio in the composition of his pattern book, but himself sometimes laid aside the brush and deigned to draw designs for a favoured few. Reprints of the most celebrated of these pattern books published during the Sixteenth Century are exhibited in the collection of books, and the dedication of one of the rarest extant, addressed to the princess Mar- gherita d'Este, Duchess of Ferrara, in 1592, is reproduced at the beginning of this volunne, for as seen from the aboe they were offered in homage to the highest ladies of the land who gladly accepted the dedication, consi- dering it a great honor and compliment to the industry and skill of their households. For round them were gathered the daughters of many noble families entrusted to their care for instruction in the arts becoming high born woman hood; thus each great honse formed a kind of training school in literature and manners a custom that was replaced by the convents of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries and the select boarding schools of to-day. In the great hall on the second floor devoted to the women and their occupations the mistress of the palace caused the young girls to execute the wondrous works of skill and patience copied from these pattern books, in which were often introduced, for the easier execution of the design, samples of the different lace stitches, as in the unique example DCXIV. Cases. N.° DCXIV. by Vecellio, which belonged for generations to the pious ladies who occupied a picturesque old convent in Perugia now suppressed. There was a healthy spirit of emulation among the maides of a household, 86 each girl putting her whole soul and ability into the work alloted to her, for not only was she striving for a word of encomium more flat tering than that given to her companions, but all the women of one palace united in straining every nerve to have their work surpass that of some other great household equally celebrated for its points. This rivalry among the women went to such exaggerated lengths as to give rise to insults and bitter quarrels among the men. Princesses and Queens complied with the industrious usage of the times, and Catherine de Medici carried this Ita- lian custom into France in the Sixteenth Century just as the constant in- tercourse between Italy and Spain during the Fifteenth Century had introduced it into Spain. This remarkable Italian woman — who had inherited the tal- ent of her father Lorenzo de Medici — while directing the affairs of state found time each day to spend several hours with tha young princesses and ladies of the Court in the sunny work room of the Louvre, looking out upon the river Seine. There her danghter Margaret, the pretty, clever, giddy wife of Henry of Navarre, spent the most innocent hours of her life embroi- dering the squares of Reticella and net which are called after her pseudo- nym of Reine Margot- CCCX. Cases., CCCXY. Screen. N." CCCX. and CCCXV, (of this work copies in the form of tea cloths are exhibited by the school of Brazza in the modern section). Here her daugter-in-law, the beautiful Mary Stuart acquired love of sunshine, gaiety and laughter while defty plying the needle, and when in her emprisonment she worked the veil (still religiously preserved) which framed her pale features on the scaffold, how sadly must the sweet memories of her happy youth and gay companions in France have entangled themselves among its threads. The mother of Henry the IV. of France and Navarre, Jeanne d'Al- bret, at her father's great castle in Gascony had also learned to apply herself to the needle, and when she married Antoine de Bourbon in 1556 she gathered about her the noble ladies of Navarre, and in the following- years of strife she whiled amay the many anxious hours caused by the per- secution of her coreligionists in making, with the assistance of her compa- nions, yards upon yards of superb embroidered net, part of which consti- tutes the bed cover, curtain, and dressing table valance all edged with dainty Gothic pillow lace exhibited under CLXVI1L, CLXX. Cases. N os CLXVIII. and CLXX. Net lace or Lads being easy to work and not requiring great application, was a favorite faney work among high born lace makers, as is seen from the royal account books. 87 CL. Cases. N.° CL. is a beautiful piece of the earliest variety, made on the bias; it is from Genoa, the property of Countess Gambaro, and is edged with very fine Genoese lace in deep points. DCLXII. Cases. N.° DCLXII. is still older; it is a pillow case composed of squares of bias lacis illustrative of stories in Holy Scripture and of the virtues and vices; it has illegible lettering forming a border to each square, and the human fi- gures are clothed in the costume of the Renaissance. XC1V. Cases. N.° XCIV. is a towel or credence cover, with either end formed by a very deep border of net, embroidered with unicorns drinking at a foun- tain; DC XXII I. Cases. N.° DCXXIII. is also the end of a dresser cover and repeats the same design of unicorns, although in this they are represented as suppporting the arms of the proprietor. In the Sixteenth Century the unicorns was a favourite design with which to ornament all objects used in connection with food, such as as platers, cups table linen and the like, because of the prevalence of the crime of poisoning at that period, and the belief that the horn of the uni- corn destroyed all venom ; so, that though this fabulous animal never existed, a regular traffic was carried on in manufactured horns by the apothecaries, and the Neapolitan use of small carved horns to conjure the evil eye is a survival of the superstition. It originated in the legend of a poisonous lake which killed all animals that drank of its waters ar well as birds that flew accros it, until, a unicorn came there to quench his thirst, and at the touch of his horn it was purified; verses allusive to this were frequently inscribed upon cups and there are many pattern books of the Sixteenth Century in the designs ot which the unicorn is introduced. XCIV. is copied from one of these, and is executed with great attention to correct drawing. These pieces, like all net lace of the same variety from Italy, are made in a straight band and edged with a " campane „ of bobbin lace ; the Germans however finished their oldest net laces with tee"th edged with overcasting or with button-hole stitch, asin. DC XXV. Cases. N.° DCXXV. embroidered in the imperial castles, because bobbin lace "was not manufactured among them until later than net lace; little tassels were sometimes added in both countries to the turretted borders. CCCCX VI. Cases is like CCCCXVI , which is a piece of Italian pointed net af the same period. CCXXIV. Cases is a border formed of a very fine quality of Isabelle coloured net, most ar- tistically embroidered in interlaced vines among which cupids and dogs are portrayed as playing, it is edged with a fine campane and the composition is in the perfect Italian art of the Sixteenth Century; this exquisite piece of lace belongs to the Santa Lilia family which came to Naples from Spain with Charles III. DCIX. Cases. DCIX. is af the same period, made in silk, and effective because of its brilliant colours; it is very coarse and was evidently made to be used on furniture. Another variety of net lace is called Modena; it is not generally em- broidered but the pattern consists in knitting the meshes together in diffe- rent shapes. DC VII. Cases. DCVII. is an interesting example af this work, as in it the squares of embroidered net and Modena are alternated while the border is entirely com- posed of Modena. This lace has always been identified with Tuscany, and the peasants of today in the mountains round Florence use bed spreads and mosquito nets made of it. DC. Cases. Is a curious cover composed of squares of old Burato work alternated with squares of Modena executed in cream and buff coloured thread of aloes. This was formed in a sepulchre at Ferrara belonging to the marquises of Caliagnini and is of the Fifteenth Century though it is mentioned here be- cause placed with the other work in net. 89 CVI1. Screen. A curious needle lace, of which I ignore the name, was made for a short time during the Sixteenth Century and must have been invented in Spain, as its stitch resembles more closely that composing the Hispano- Moresque head dress thart any other lace; it looks something like knitting or finest net, but contains no knots, and is worked without a foundation com- posed of a material as is Venetian point, but differs from this in having no threads sewed down to form the outline of the design DXCVI. Cases. is a small table cover the border of which consists of this lace executed in a design of alternate peacocks, emblems of jealous vigilance, and doves, emblems of gentle faith. Another lace which never had great success in Italy, but was very much admired in Spain and also in France was the heavy silk Guipure of the Sixteenth Century. This was made either in bobbin lace of silk in various colours or mixed with metal, and was also made with the needle. Its characteristic consists in a narrow strip of vellum which, on account of its brittleness, was soon replaced by a coarse cord, wound smoothly in silk, or whatever other thread was to be used, and edged with tiny loops; this was fastened down round pieces of silk brocade or tinsel, see CCCXL., CCCXLI1I. Screen. or close lace stitches forming LXXV. Screen. flowers, LXXV. or else caused to curve about alone, forming stems and ara- besques held together by loops. These were sewed borders on heavy mate- rials such as velvets, cloths, and brocades, but the Italians preferred to use embroidery where the lighter varieties of gold and metal laces and the delicate silk polychrome lace edgings were not appropriate. Their fondness for co- lour and appreciation of its value was greatly developed, as is evinced by the beautiful piece LXXX. Cases. of conventional design executed in pillow lace, N.° LXXX., which is unri- valled by the most scientific combination of today, Burato and reticella were also executed at this period in coloured silks mixed with thread, and added diversity of effect to the house linen. 12 90 LXXXIV. Cases. is a table cover of burato worked in colours: it is varied with net and pil- low lace, and edged with fringed pillow lace. CCCXXVIII. Cases. Is a band of the same work adapted as a bell- pull. LXXXII. Cases. Is a broad band of Cartiglia made of white thread and yellow silk in a Moor- ish design of discs; it comes from Spain. CCCXXXII. Cases. In CCCXXXII. a similar effect is produced by a fancy work which has of late become the fashion in Italy, and which consists in sewing remnants of an- tique white pillow lace guipure upon canvass, and filling in all the space be- tween the designs with Sicilian stitch executed in coloured silks. The great connection betwen Spain and Italy began with the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, and continued until the middle of the Sixteenth Century when Spainish families had obtained dominion over the greater part of Italy, and the Italian nuns imported into Spanish convents and ; the Spanish girls educated in Italian convents exchanged with their new compa- nions the knowledge of the arts of the needle as practiced in their respect- ive countries. With France continued intercourse began with the Peace of Bologna in 1530, although from the beginning of the Sixteenth Century Italy, full af beauty and art, had become the coveted prey of all Europe, and on its historic soil were fought out the battles for supremacy between France and Spain, which in those days meant also Austria. The nobles and princes who commanded the invading armies on both sides carried back with them the artistic spoils of its civilization, and all the laces and embroideries exe- cuted until the seventeenth Century are copies or modifications of Italian designs. Florence, Genoa and above all Venice as the most flourishing cities originated the fashions till the brilliant and extravagant Court af Louis XIV definitely established the sway of Paris as their absolute dictatress. Notwith- standing the opening of the Universities to women, which began in the Fif- teenth century with the establishment of a mixed College at Mantua un- der the direction of Vittoria da Feltre, the Italians did not become that qual- ity of literary women which neglects the feminine arts. At Venice, as early as 1414, Giovanna Dandolo, wife of Doge Pasqual Malipicro, whose intelligence enjoyed such renown that the first book printed in Venice was dedicated to her, founded and protected large schools in which the productions of the bobbins 91 and the needle reached such perfection that they founded the supremacy of Venetian laces, and assured for the future their great reputation in all the courts of Europe. The schools and ateliers opened by this benevolent women continued to spread the art after her death. The needle laces produced at this period in Venice as well as in Spain are generally known under the name of Spanish point, to distinguish them from the more elaborate designs executed in the same lace of a later period. DCLIX. Cases. N.° DCLIX. is very antique and is edged with deep Spanish point; it represents the transition from reticella to Punto in Aria, destined for church uses and illustrating in fine stitches the Pasqual Lamb, emblems of the Pas- sion, the gates of Heaven, angels, birds, etc. This has been reproduced at the school of Burano. DXV., DXII. Wall. are photographs of some curious and antique pieces of this quality of lace consisting of elaborate and complicated figures composing entire Biblical or mythological stories. CCCVIII. Cases. is very old and represents tiny figures of women ; it comes from a convent at Udine. DXCIV. Cases. is a band of „ Punto in Aria „ from an old family of Mantua. DC VI. Cases. is a table-cover composed of deep artistic reticella inserted in fine linen and edged with bobbin lace. CCLXXXIIL, CCLXXXV. Screen. N.° CCLXXXIIL is a piece of the same lace placed on the screen beside CCLXXXV., which is a modern imitation of it made in Switzerland by machinery, and has been very much the fashion for dress trimming during the past two years, but can compare in no way with the original. 92 CCCCLV11L, CCCCLX. Cases. Are beautiful examples of Cartiglia of the Sixteenth Century. CCCCLVL, CCXLVIIL, CCCXII. Cases. CCCCLVI. is Punto in Aria of the same epoch, as are also N. os CCXLVIIL and CCCXII; the latter consisting of an artistically designed deep lace, com- posed of different sized conventional thistles, executed in Spain DC 'XVI. Cases. t is another band of Punto di Spagna. CXXV1. Cases. is of interest as illustrating a special variety of Venetian Guipure made in linen thread during the Sixteenth Century; it is executed partly in needle and partly in bobbin lace; CCXVI. Screen. N.° CCXVI. is a second example of the above. CXIV. Cases. An example of the artistic embroidery most admired in Venice during the Sixteenth Century is furnished by the table cover composed of deep red an- tique satin and velvet, richly embroidered in gold tendrils entwined with scattered flowers of delicately tinted silks worked with the exquisite shad- ing and excessive fineness of execution called needle. In 1557 another Duchess, Zilia Dandolo, wife of Doge Lorenzo Priuli, who like the gifted Dogaressa Malipiero occupied herself in benefitting humanity, merited by her noble character and charitable deeds the honour of being personally crowned, a distinction which was not accorded to the wives of all the Doges. The cos- tume she wore on this occasion is described as having been copied from that of one of her predecessors. Her head dress consisted of a cap of gold bordered with deep Venetian point from which a white veil trimmed with point lace hung to the ground; and the same chronicler relates that the great ladies, and the high officials' wives who attended the ceremony wore the immense collars of point lace, spangled with gold, jewels and pearls, which are seen in the portraits of the Medici family ; these were supported by fine metal bars called verghetli which were manufacture in such abundance on account of the great demand for Venetian lace caps, collars and ruffs, that 93. the inabitants of a whole quarter of the town were occupied in their pro- duction, and their name, which it still bears, was given to it in consequence. Others of the ladies wore lace caps and bavari or bibs for which so many designs were published during the following fifty years; others wore long veils edged with deep bands of Punto Tagliato a fiorami : the superb Ve- netian raised, or literally, sculptured point. CCXLIV. Cases. is an example of this lace in the pure design which first characterized CLXVII. Cases. it, and CLXVI. shows the splendour to which it developed in the Seven- teenth Century; this rich and rare cape, belonging to the Countess Telffner, was evidently destined to adorn the red mantle of one of the ambassadors sent out by the Doge and Senate with special orders to dress in superb style, so as to prove to all who saw them how rich and grand was the proud Republic they represented. CCXCVII. Screen. is a cuff made in Venetian Punto in Aria representing animals (hares); it has the raised edge in use at the middle of the Sixteenth Century, DCXI., DCXI1I. Cases. as has also N.° DCXI., belonging to M. rs Cuthbert Slocomb, which is finished in deep points and composed of a running design with which the dogs of the Cararrese, peacocks, scorpions and eagles are intermingled. This is an example of the Carnival lace especially manufactured for grand occasions such as marriages, births etc. and which always contained the emblems of the great families in whose honour the celebration was to take place. To this flounce belong 16 oval pats such as were used in slashed sleeves; these to- gether form a worthy relic of old Venetian costume which receives added interest from CLXXIV. Cases, a piece of fine Frigio bobbin lace, exhibited by Countess Papafava dei Carra- resi, for this contains also the dogs belonging to the great family of Car- rara, and the quartering of peacocks used at that epoch, but this time combined with lions and foxes, so that the two pieces record different mar- riages in the same house, one in the Sixteenth and the other in the Seven- teenth Century. 9+ CL V. Screen. is another interesting example of emblematic lace, consisting of deep Gen- oese points which must have formed the edge of some ruff or standing collar, and represents the double headed crowned eagle of Austria and the shield with the white cross of the arms of Savoy. The Italian bobbin laces also made rapid progress during the Sixteenth Century. First of all among them continued to rank the delicate conventional gothic laces which were modified into ever varied and new patterns, DCXX. Cases. following, however, two systems of design, the one being round and wheel- like, such as the Maltese and Moorish laces, see DCXX; the other pointed like pine trees or the Oriental date palm leaf pattern which frequently com- posed the entire design of these latter laces. DLXX. Cases. N.° DLXX. is a beautiful creation, and CCLXXXII. Cases. is very gracefully composed in the form of a collar edged with needle lace reticella. DLXXIV Cases. belongs to the same epoch, as do also C1IL, CLAY., CLXXXV. Screen. with deep points, and many other examples on the screen. CXIX. Screen. is the end of a towel with palm leaf insertion and a turretted border. CXXI. and CXXXV. Screen. have a graceful running design executed in the same lace. CXL. Cases. is a pillow-case with a deep insertion of this lace, forming beautiful, conven- tional flowers and leaves alternated with the same design which begins on 95 the opposite side, and fits into the space left between the repititions of the group of flowers; it is edged with a narrow insertion which repeats the same flowers and leaves in a different combination. CLXV. Screen. and several other samples of this variety of lace, Punto Tagliato, reticella and Cardiglia, which are here all marked with the place of origin and date of manufacture, were imitated with bobbins, producing a similitude of effect and wearing equally well on linen, whereas the fatigue and cost of production were vastly inferior. CCCCLXVI. Cases. is an example of this lace, as are CCCLXXL, CXXIX., CXXXV., CCCLXXXI. Screen. and many other pieces exhibited on the screen or introduced in the household linen. CCXXXI. Screen. is a simple insertion made in enormous quantities and used in sheets, pillow cases and coarse underwear; it was infinitelly varied in design, and coarse effective borders were produced to match it, of which CXLV., CXXXI1L, CXXXV1L, CLXIX., CLXXV. Screen. and many others, such as DCXLVIIL, DCL. Cases. are examples. These were made in every part of Italy from the Alps to the extreme point of Sicily, In Genoa the design of this quality of lace, as well as of the others already mentioned was influenced by Spain ; as seen in the guipure DCXIII. and the table-cover DCXL., DCXIIL, DCXL. Cases. but it also learned an entirely different stitch from Malta, CCCXIX., CCCXXXV., CLXV1L, CCI. Screen. as is seen in the examples CLXVI1, the insertion CCI., CCCXIX. and in CCCLV. which has a decidedly Moorish effect. 96 From the Moors the Genoese and Venetian mariners of the XVI Cen- tury also acquired another kind of artistic trimming to which they gave the name of Punto a Groppo (knotted point) now called by its Moorish name of Macrame. This complicated fringe, composed of fine knotted threads, is equal to a lace in design and execution, and when treated with long threads wound about bobbins it becomes one. CC. Cases. Signora Enrichetta Ruggi of Padua has composed the entire group, CC. illustrating the evolution of this kind of work from the simple knotted fringe to the most complicated lace, and Countess Avogadro of the same city con- tributes a rich and interesting Album CXCIV. Cases. of antique laces containing, at N.° 20, an authentic bit of the original groppo, which is very rare. This lace is made extensively around Genoa, and is used to edge house and table linen, as are also the fringed, coarser guipure and torchon laces copied from those of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries as already mentioned, and of which N. os CCCLXXIIL, CXXXIX., CXCIII. Screen are original samples. In Venice also, and in Sicily and Naples, as in the countries and is- lands of the Eastern part of the Mediterranean, the bobbin laces were affected by trade with the East, and developed designs resembling those for embroi- dering or braiding, CCCXXV. Screen. The following are a few as examples of these; CCCXXV. and other samples on the screen, as well as CCCCXC, CCCVIII. Cases show the character of Greek lace with one or two coarse threads passing along the ribbon design which is identical with modern Russian and Hunga- rian Guipure ; CLXXXVI. Cases is the same kind of design but different in treatment, having a mesh ground and thick cord following its arabesques, in the middle of which large holes 97 are left to vary the heavy effect, and here is found the original idea which developed into Neapolitan and Milanese point. CCCXXL, CCCXXIII. Screen. CCCXXI. is a sample of white, and CCCXXIII. of yellow close guipure which, as well as CL are from Corfu. N.° CCCXX1H, however is composed of the renowned fibre of aloes produced on that island. The laces from Cyprus and the Southern Islands of the Mediterranean, as well as those in Madeira, although oriental in design, see CCLXVIIL, DVIIL, CCCXVI. Cases, resemble the cloister laces of the Eighteenth Century which, though fine in effect, were not very difficult to execute and so were taught by the Nuns wherever they founded schools, see CVI. Cases. and qthers. The oriental and Greek designs rapidly developed in the artistic atmo- sphere of the Renaissance into very beautiful and costly laces, the workwomen adapting their advantages while suppressing their defects, and these simple laces therefore soon developed into the highly prized points of Genoa, Naples and Milan, and into the beautiful guipures of Ragusa and Venice which have always retained an oriental character in their flowers and arabesques. CCXXII. Cases is a superb example of the ability of Venice in this kind of lace. It is a very deep flounce, composed entirely of tendrils, leaves and flowers, follow- ing each other in varied combinations of perfect naturalness and grace, exe- cuted in a ribbon of close stitch bordered with a fine cord, held together by purled bars and having the hearts of the flowers composed of fancy com- plicated stitches. It belonged to the patrician family Buoncompagni of Bo- logna, and is said to have been made for Pope Gregory XIII. when he was yet Cardinal Ugo Buoncompagni. See Photographic Album. The Italian Artist whose pictures most faithfully reproduce the em- broideries, laces and splendour of costume which distinguished this cen- tury, was Lavinia Fontana of Bologna, born in 1552. She was greatly pa- tronized by this house and received frequent orders from pope Gregory XIII. ; she not only enjoyed a deservedly great reputation in her own country, 13 98 (some of her paintings having been attributed to Guido Reni) but her name was known far and wide, and the king of Spain considered her work worthy of occupying a prominent place in the Escurial. CCCCLXX., CCCCLXXXIL, CCCCXLII. Screen. Other examples of Venetian Guipure are CCCCLXX., CCCCLXXXIL and CCCCXLII, a beautiful piece of this lace belonging to a lady of Genoa, and CCCV., CCCLIX. and others on the screen. CCCVIL, CCCLXIII. Screen are made in another variety of bobbin guipure, purely Italian in style and execution which has never been copied in other countries; it was produced in Italy alone, and there only about Venice, Ragusa and on the shores of the Riviera by the fisherfolk who destined it for the service of the church. In order to distinguish it from the numerous other varietes of Genoese gui- pure it is here designated by the name of Rapallo, to which village, with the neighbouring Santa Margarita, is attributed the earliest manufacture of this kind of lace. In the Register of the parish church at Santa Margarita exists an old parchment design for working this lace (which has been repro- duced in the school Brazza) ; it must be of very antique origin for on its back is noted a list of old fishing nets and laces presented as a votive offering to the church in 1592 by the fishermen after a successful season of coral fishing. CCCVIL Screen., DCLII. Cases. In N.° CCCVIL, and among the samples exhibited by the Nuns of the Ursuline convent at Cividale in Friuli, DCLII. who guard the only Longo- bard temple still existing, CCLXVIII. Cases. and in CCLXVIII. 2. we have samples of this lace, of which a beautiful piece is in the possession of the chapter of St. Daniele in the same pro- vince. The finest specimens are only to be found in the churches, but the Government does not permit real Art treasures of any kind to leave the country and we were too pressed for time to have them photographed; no more perfect example could however be desired than this rare and beautiful lace, which when it is made so very fine is called vermicelli, exhibited on the surplice 99 CXLVI. Cases. N.° CXLVI. Here the design, is formed entirely of narrow cords, wo- ven in the most difficult of all bobbin stitches to work continuously and with regularity, as is done here. This lace is placed at the foot and around the neck and sleeves and on the shoulders where it is mixed with reticellas of an antique surplice, the seams of which are held together by curious buttons and loops. This garment possesses a twofold historical interest. In the first place because it belongs to the son of Angelica Banco, the clever noble- hearted woman of the people who, in the second quarter of this century, devoted her entire zeal and intelligence to the successful revival of the lace industry in Liguria, and whose name has, among lace makers, become a synonym for thrift and intelligence. Secondly, because this antique lace and the Indian Muslin of which it is composed was presented to the* great Car- thusian monastery in Pavia by the Emperor Napoleon the First; who knows where that great collector and redistributor of antiquities had picked it up. In the sea-beaten willages situated on the shores of the Gulf of Genoa where these laces were made, whilst the men were engaged in fishing, or on long voyages in the great Venetian and Genoese merchant vessels, their wives and daughters who staid at home worked diligently with the bobbins or needle, producing well paid laces the price of which added to the family comfort, or formed a sum with which to start in honsekeeping when the lover returned from the perils of the deep to claim the yonng girl whom he had courted during the previous winter; the arsenals and foundries in Spezia and about Genoa, combined with the work of that great port have modified customs in Liguria, but this simple story is repeated year by year at Burano and round Venice, thanks to the thrift of the female population and to the prosperity produced by the earnings and educational influence of the Lace schools. The romances of the lace makers have crystalized in a pretty tale abont the invention of the fairy like " Rose point, e se non e vero e ben trovato, and worthy to be repeated. It appears that at the epoch when every second woman in Venice, rich or poor, was occupied in making point, lace, a sailor lover brought home to his sweet heart some strange and lovely growths which he had picked up from the bottom of the sea while gathering coral, and thinking of her. On his return home he offered her these " frutti di mare „ — or sea-fruits — as the Italians appro- priately call them, as a simple memento of his summer toils and as a proof of his faithful memory of her, and then shortly afterwards started on another much longer and more perilous voyage from which he would return with plenty of honestly earned gold with which to begin in comfort their youug wedded life. In parting he sought to console her with pictures of his glad return, and jestingly warned her not to put out the fire of her bright eyes with too much useless weeping, but to use it to direct her needle in making such 100 a beautiful wedding veil, as would cause him to find as smart a bride as any lord's awaiting him on his return. Her loving heart treasured up this parting advice, and she determined to follow it by picturing in lace each simple gift of his, so that on her bridal day they would shew who occupied her thoughts during the months of separation. With true artistic talent and infinite patience she wove in finest thread the reproductions of the tiny shells and of the frills upon frills that composed tha delicate sea weeds, and among these she cosily placed imitations of starfish, sea anemonies and other marine gems, all held together by delicate tendrils copied from fine sea weeds, and when the happy day dawned that was to crown their faithful hearts, the simple Venetian maiden, blushing beneath her handiwork in such a veil as no crowned head had ever prided itsef on wearing, stepped forth to meet her lover and presented to the sunlight the first example of that ra- rest and most delicate of all laces, the inestimable " Rose Point „, of which many of the beautiful Venetian point laces MXXXIII.-MXL. Royal laces. from MXXXI1I. to MXL., exhibited by Her Majesty the Queen of Italy are composed. CXIV. Cases. The small fichu X. n CXIV. and the deep cuff CLXXII. CLXXII. Cases. are such fine and complicated examples of this lace that they are worthy to be placed with their Royal sister to illustrate the story. While the professional lace makers toiled with inventive zeal, they were not forgotten or neglected by the high born patronesses of all that was beau- tiful ; a Lady Mary of the great name of Morosini, which is synonymous with the honor and glory of Venice, had no sooner married than her bright intel- ligence, inspired by a fervent desire to benefit her country women, made use of the experienced gained in the work room of her father's palace to start a school and large atelier which she personally superintended, and soon became one of the greatest and most indefatigable protectresses of artistic design and perfect execution in the various Venetian points. Another daughter of the same house, another Lady Mary, who married the Doge Marin Grimani, also devoted her privy purse to found a great atelier in the quarter of Santa Fosca, endowing it with a permanent teacher and directress who was gua- ranteed every comfort and a pension for life; this school produced the cle- ver work women who executed those beautiful laces which tempted the wealthy of the whole of Europe, and which caused Cardinal Mazarin, and 101 afterwards Colbert to cast such envious glances on this source of prosperity for Venice; probably its busy work rooms were those visited by the French Ambassador whom Colbert had instructed to spy out all details concerning. the production of bobbin and needle lace; and probably also it was there that this same French nobleman bought the very pieces of point which he writes to Colbert he is sending him to illustrate his report, and to serve as- experimental patterns for the French work-women. The directresses of this exhibit have been unsuccessful in their enclea- voous to open the ancient wardrobes of this great family, and to draw from perfumed darkness some rare bit of old Venetian point which would carry to America the memory of this old atelier, and of historic and philantropic deeds in the old Republican city with which the name of Morosini is insepa- rably associated in the mind of every school girl ; notwithstanding there are- no lack of illustrations furnished by great Venetian Families, as the Countess- Papadopoli has contributed a rare collection of historical laces which will be described later on and the family CCCC XXIII., CCCCXXV Wall. of Falier which has counted so many doges, ambassadors and senators among*' its sons has had its historic laces photographed for the ladies, CCCCXXIII. shewing, interlaced among the delicate blossoms of Rose point, the doge's horn and double Fs forming the monogram of the personage for whom the lace was executed. Lucca Cathedral also sends a superb photograph CCCC XX I. Wall. of the Dame quality of rose point ; and the princess Corsini, one of the Queen's ladies of the palace and who is also a Patroness, contributes a most, interesting collection of photographs of the superb Venetian lace existing among the innumerable art treasures which form part of the heirlooms of that great Italian house ; of these CCCCXLI.A. Wall is taken from a superb piece of Reticella of the Sixteenth Century, com- posed of leaves and discs and edged whith deep turrets. CCCCXLI.B. Wall is the photograph of a magnificent deep flounce in Rose point of the Seven- teenth Century, whith a monogram and princely crown surmounted by a ca- nopy, representing the special distinction of the " baldachino „ or canopy- accorded to Roman princes. 102 CCCCXLIII.A. Wall Belongs to the same trimming, and constitutes the lower end of one of the lace aprons which were the fashion in the Seventeenth Century. CCCCXLIII.B. Wall Represents a perfectly preserved square collar in the form of a jabot, such as is worn by Colbert in his portrait, trimmed with richly worked Punto Tagliato a fogliame. CCCCXLIII. C. Wall is reproduced from a cuff and border of rich rose point belonging to the same family. DXLIII. to DLXXI. Album. DXLIII. DXLV. and the succeeding N.° DLXXI. are all photographs of Venetian embroideries and laces of this epoch, still existing in the pro- vince of Udine. The Rezzonico Family, of which pope Clement the VII. was a mem- ber is represented not only by the superb Venetian Point lace, MIV. Cases. of the Eighteenth Century, belonging to her Majesty Queen Margaret, and which has been so frequently and so perfectly copied at Burano, but also by a surplice, CXCVL Cases. in exquisitely embroidered muslin, with insertions of pillow lace, and bordered with chow lace of the kind made by the Salesian Nuns. This surplice is lent by the lady patroness who now occupies the vast and solemn palace built in the childhood of that pontiff, and which of late years became the last earthly dwelling place of the glorious poet Brown- ing, whose son she married. CCCLXXXVI. Cases. N.° CCCLXXXVI., near by, was also made by Nuns of the same or- der. Tradition says that this surplice was made for the Rezzonico Pope, Clement VII. as an offering from his native city; and the admirers of the 103 great poet presented it to him in recognition of his love for Italy and Ve- nice, and above all as a memento of the mighty Pope who, in his youth, passed musingly in and out of its great saloons and marble courts. DIV. Cases is another surplice and the most antique in the historic group ; it dates from the Sixteenth Century and is composed entirely of bands of finest Burato, worked in trapunto and trimmed with insertions and borders of Genoese point; it is the property of the old Boiognese family of Dallolio a dangther of which has perpetuated its name and fame by her poems. Other beautiful flounces and bits of rose, and the different Venetian Fonts which have been left unmentioned are : DCXXII. Cases. a jabot of fine rose point CCCLXXX1V. Cases. CCCLXXXIV. a cuff of the earliest quality of the same. CCCXLIII. Screen. a square of elaborate rose point CCCXLV. Screen. a cuff of the same a piece of ivory point CCCXXIX. Screen. CCCXLIX. Screen. a square edged with Punto Tagliato a fogliame. C, CII. Cases. two flounces one of Punto in Aria and the other of ivory point, belonging to tho most flourishing period of this lace, and 104 CCLXVI. Cases. is interesting as forming the square border, in the same lace, of one of the immense handkerchiefs which necessarily supplemented the jewelled snuff-boxes inseparable from the deep pockets of the period. Finally we linger beside CCLVL, CCLVI1L, CCLX. Cases. 3. flounce consisting of the softest, most exquisite quality of Venetian Punto in Aria, composed entirely of fine leaves and delicate tendrils; this was the favourite lace of Louis XIV, and which Colbert sought but too successfully to have copied by Frenchwomen and established as a French product. CCLX. consists of the deep cuffs or revers worn at that period; and CCLVIIL of the narrow trimming of the same lace. This superb lace ori- ginally belonged to the house of Navarre. It is not generally known how much the wise statesman coveted for the industry of his country the well-filled sacks of golden coin which were sent each year to Italy in exchange for these delicate fabrics. From MDCXIII. under Richelieu, severe restrictions followed by abso- lute prohibitions such as the famous Code Michaud and the supplementary ones which continued to appear from time to time, had been promulgated in vain against every kind of lace, and have been most wittily recorded in the satire called the Revolle des Passements, dedicatd to Madmoiselle de la Frousse Madame de Sevigne's (*) neice. But these wise laws by which Cardinals Mazzarin and Colbert tried to limit the terrible extravagance of the French nobility had been enacted in vain, and the fashion for lace was as great, and the resistance to their decrees as obstinate as the determination to follow the example of the young Rot soleil and his gaudy butterfly court could inspire. For the young king was the first to defy the law, having inherited from his Italian grandmother a love for fine clothes and a special fondness for Venetian lace which set a ruinous example to those who surrounded him. His weakness was so well known that a rich Englishman, desirous of ingratiating himself with the king, travelled in his private carriage all the way to Venice, where he had a wonderful hat manufactured of the finest Venetian point all in soft, white, human hair to offer as a rare and be- coming present to the youthful Monarch on his coronation, a little attention which cost the rich Briton forty eight thousand lire for the hat, without counting the expense, worry, anxiety and fatigue incident on a journey with so precious an article at that period. Colbert's quick intelligence realized that the time had come when the rich would have their luxuries at any price, and that the only way to stop (*) This piece is very curions, and full of information about the laces in use in the time of Louis XIV. and as it has not heen given in any modern publication we have considered it worth while to reprint it entirely in the appendix, at the end of this book. 105 the progressive impoverishment of the country was to be able to rival with home products, executed with the same means and effects, the alluring beau- ties from afar; for this Italian lace especially seemed to bewitch all who saw it, and to exercise a fatal attraction to reckless extravagance; he therefore studied the question thoroughly, prepared everything with minute care, and when he had found a soil suited to the coveted product, he managed, by promises of great rewards and special favour, to persuade skilled workwomen to come and teaeh their secrets to the less able lace makers of France. Ma- zarin had done the same with other trades, and Venice, who now saw her cleverest artisans slipping away from the workshops, was forced in self defence to promulgate a severe decree inflcting imprisonment, and even death, on the families of those emigrants who should continue to absent themselves, at the same time promising not only full pardon but also hon- ours and lucrative employment if they returned ; it was however now too late; the barrier was broken down; cupidity on the one side and French intelligence, high patronage and the irresistible will of the Grand Monarque, backed by the genius of Colbert on the other, had conquered, and the Queen of Commerce was destined to see her monopoly of the manufacture and trade of her laces slowly ruined by the fierce competition, business en- terprise and clever statescraft of other nations. Ten years o( able manage- ment permanently established the manufacture of point lace in France. The exclusive right of manufacture had been ceded for this period to a society having such directors as Pluymers, Lebie and Lebie de Beaufort in whose hotel at Paris the emporium was opened and the board sat. The King's smile was, in those days, worth all the most attractive mod- ern advertising. When His Majesty went after supper to the Hotel Beau- fort to seethe new laces, designated them by the sounding title of Grand point de France „ and declared himself highly pleased with them, who could fail to be pleased also ? and when, soon after, he opened the wonderful new pa- vilions at Marly, and each lady of the court who was his guest on that occasion found a complete garniture of this same lace awaiting her in her dressing room as a delicate attention from the king (a prize packet advertisement worthy of so great a personage) how could she fail to discard her Venetian point and to wear instead the new lace in honour of the most amiable of hosts? And when all the lucky women who went to Marly had French lace, how could the unlucky ones who were not invited appear at Court in Italian point as a per- petual reminder of their enforced absence? Thus was floated a new industry in the Seventeenth Century, and it strikes me that behind its high flown compliments and graceful elegances was hidden all the business astuteness of nineteenth century work-a-day Paris. This clever stroke is recorded by Boileau in his epitre au Roi. " Et nos voisins frustes de ces tributs serviles " Que payait a leur art le luxe de nos villes. „ The gains of the Society were naturally very great, but on the expir- 14 io6 ation of the monopoly it was not renewed, as Colbert desired prosperity among the people and a more rapid diffusion of the new industry than could possibly take place under even the most extensive of monopolies. Ne- vertheless, the Society had started schools in Aurillac, Sedan, Duquesnoy, Arras, Loudun, etc. but these places soon lapsed again into making the bobbin-lace for which they had been previously known ; it was in Alencon, in the neighbouring town of Argentan and surrounding villages that the new variety of needle lace took root, and this is easily accounted for by the fact that the tradition already existed there : Catherine de' Medici had received the county of Alencon as her dower, and on her long visits to the Castle she surrounded herself with ladies of that province whom she inspired with her love for working in reticella, embroidered net, and the laces of her time. These ladies taught all their friends, and the fashion gradually spread, so that when Colbert, in 1545, began to look round for favourable spots in which to start the new industry, the intelligent Favier Duboulay, who in his official position at Alencon had every opportunity for observing, wrote to him that all the women and children in and around Alencon and Ar- gentan were busied in producing velin, which was what they called reticella on account of the parchment on which it was worked, and this term was afterwards retained by them to designate the needle point which supplanted it. He also wrote that for several years a certain Marthe Barbot, dame la Perriere, who had learned the Art in Venice, had been perfecting so many of the abler workwomen in point lace, that there were 8000 who were engaged on the finer qualities and M. m6 la Perriere was able to sell the products of her ateliers, for which there was great demand, at very high prices. It would seem that here the monopoly should have immediately and greatly prospered, but the people were accustomed to work at home, and re- sisted the innovation in every possible way ; still, forced to submission by the government officials, they produced beautiful work and, through the company and the Italian teachers furnished by it, learned what Colbert desired. This story is less romantic than that telling of M. me Gilbert, of Colbert's niece the Abbess, etc. and of Colbert's moated castle of Lonrai in which Mrs. Palliser says the manufactory was started under the direction of the wonderfully clever though mythical Madame Gilbert, who at great expense, had brought thirty lacemakers from Venice, and of which she gives an illustration in her history of lace. This frail fabrication however crumbles before the fact that the castle of Lonrai did not come into the Colbert family until his eldest son, Jean Baptiste, married Catherine Therese de Martignon to whose family it had long belonged and who brought it as her dower, in 1679, fourteen years ofter the opening of the lace schools by the Company. The lace which the women preferred to make at Alencon was not the regular point de Venise, although this was executed when ordered, but was the lighter Burano point which came into fashion when that pretty, porcelain beauty, the Fontanges, 107 decided to cover her skirts as well as her head and arms (she would rather have died than have hid her graceful neck) with rich though light laces, wishing to produce an airy effect suited to her style of beauty ; of course the old and fat ladies of the court then adopted this style of dress also, and the more severe Venetian Punto Tagliato a fogliame and Spanish points better suited to their proportions were abandoned to the men and the priests, for the little Seventeenth Century moths, who aped the butterflies and were known as abbes also preferred the light laces adopted by the women round whom they eternally fluttered. Pupate or babies, as the great lay figures dressed in the latest fashions were called in England, were sent every year from the French capital to all parts of the world. The costumes of the Italian ladies were as superb as those of the French Court, as is seen by the gold embroidery : CXC. Cases. made at Florence, and by portraits of the period. French taste was every thing; French cut " de rigueur „ and when Louis the Fourteenth visited Italy, the ladies who received and feasted him endeavoured, as we see from the paintings illustrating his three visits to Bologna in 1785-6-8, to appear more French than the ladies who accompanied him. CCCVIL, CCCIX., CCCXI. Screen. For the costumes of this golden age of lace were, from 1530 to 1796, minutely portrayed six times a year in animated scenes peopled by cele- brities, plainted in water colours on parchment and bound in sixteen large volumes wich are preserved in the State Archives of Bologna. These are the cartoons of the Insignia (from " Cose insigne „ or remarkable) and are the recosds of the names and arms of the Gonfaloniere of Justice and the eight " Ancients „ two for each quarter or gate of the city, who governed Bologna for two months and were then succeeded by other nine of the most prominent nobles and citizens. It was the custom to illustrate the most important events of these short administrations, and to this we are indebted for these most remarkable paintings. Now and then comes a sad note of pe- stilence or death, but as a rule we are treated to exact and minute repro- ductions of great receptions, processions, feasts, tournaments, games, spectacles and religious ceremonies in honour of some visiting prince or potentate. Here we see represented the black lace and deep point d'Angleterre, flounces which Madame de Sevigne writes about as having just come into fashion under the name of jupes transparentes, and as being so bewitching. The passion for black lace was so great ajt the period when it first came into use, that the designs were even printed in black upon linen, and dresses were trimmed with these borders to simulate the original and 108 expensive new variety of lace. A piece of this old-fashioned " print „ is exhibited in the Insignia on CCCI. Screen. Deep flounces and black laces are worn by the ladies, with coiffures a la Fontange (coxcombs of lace) filled in with feathers behind and exaggerated out af all resemblance to the dainty lace kerchief which the fair one, whose name they bear, tied so gracefully about her pretty head when the truant wind played havoc with her tresses at the king's hunting parties. These same ladies have dresses cut as low as they were worn at the French court, and are edged with lace or passement. They wear long gloves and carry their muffs every where with them just as our elegantes did their boas three years ago. We see these muffs at the banquet given by the Gon- faloniere Francesco Ratta in 1692, which was so very grand and solemn a function that every guest appeared with her invitation in her hand to prove her right to be present, and there seems to havt been no end of jealousy, coufusion and disgust about places according to rank; the sketch illustratiug 1600-1700 was taken from this painting. The muffs, the Fon- tanges, and the low necked dresses accompained their mistresses also to the solemn aula of the University when they went to hear the wonderfully learned and equally yonthful and clever Laura Bassi lecture on philosophy, while they ogled the men who wore quite as big wigs, stiff coat skirts and elegant cravats and other lace furbelows and whatnots as did their cousins at the French court at Versailles. It is to be hoped that all these dressy Bolognese were patriotic enough to wear the Burano point, from which the Alencon was copied, and had not imported all their laces with the fashions from France as they did dur- ing the Empire; for this old Burano lace is so beautiful and soft that it truly deserved a better fate. CCLXVIL, CCLXIX. Screen. CCLXXVIL, CCLXIX. on the screen and CCCCLXXVI. CCCVIII. in the cases are examples of how it was worked, being pieces left unfinished in the convents by nuns long since gone to their last home. CCCVIII. Cases. N.° CCCVIII. cases is especially lovely in design, with its tiny cornu- copias full of microscopic flowers. CCLXXI. CCLXXIII. Screen., CCCIL, CCCIV.A. B. C. Cases. N. os CCLXXI. and CCLXXIII. screen and the collection CCCIL and CCCIV. A- B- C. cases, are pieces of it, many of them are in a very ragged cfiS ■A Party A Ite. <\*is\s $t Hit >l"c~h ^iWi- QlVehfcj too and neglected state, but they still serve to prove the beauty of design and workmanship of old Burano lace. CCCIV. shows the shape of the sleeve-falls made in the eighteenth Century. CCLXVI.A. and B. Cases. CCLXVI. A. exhibited by signora Area of Padua CCVIIL, CCXIV. Cases. CCVIII. is a flounce, and CCXIV. a barbe belonging to the Countess Papa- dopoli of Venice. CCCCXXXVI. Cases. CCCCXXXVI. barbes belonging to the Countess Biacceschi, are all rarely beautiful pieces of this Italian lace, and nothing from Brussels, Alencon or Argentan has ever surpassed it. That the ladies of Italy in the Eighteenth Century appreciated the French adaptation of their art is illustrated by the following lists which form a catalogue of the foreign laces which their de- scendants send to the Exhibition. To begin with Alengon, as having been the first French centre of lace making : MXLI. Royal lace. Her Majesty Queen Margaret exhibits: MXLI., one of the trimmings which, starting from the neck and reaching to the edge of the skirt, were the fashion during the reign of Louis XV. in the Eighteenth Century. MXLII. Royal lace. A cap of the same period. MXLI1I. Royal lace. A Flounce. " ditto " ditto MXLIV. Royal lace. MXLV. Royal lace. 110 MXLVI. Royal lace. " ditto „ and MXLVIL, MXLVIIL, MXLIX, ML, are all small pieces of the diffe- rent laces Her Majesty has lent to the school of Burano to be copied. Other ladies who exhibit interesting pieces of Alencon are the Countess Papado- poli, who contributes the Jabot worked in tiny bees worn by Jerome Bona- parte, king of Westphalia, at the coronation of his brother the emperor Na- poleon. It was presented to the Countess Angelica Aldobrandini by his son, prince Napoleon, on her marriage with the great-grandfather of the present Count. The reliefs in this piece of lace, as in some of those of her Majesty are stuffed with horse hair, as was the early Venetian point lace, but it is not pleasant to wear as the sharp ends come out after a time. CCXII. Cases belongs to the same lady patroness, and has a charming Louis XVI. design of tiny bunches of flowers held by bows. CCXVI. Cases also belongs to the same, but is of the reign of Louis XV. CCLXX1I. Cases- is exibited by Signora Anais Forlani of Padua. CXXII. Cases is a round cuff of the same lace, exhibited by Countess Colleoni CLX. Cases belongs to the Countess Bonin, and was inherited from the Empress Maria Louisa through her family ;*it is copied in the design 48 made at Burano. DXX. Cases. Two broad scarf ends. DLXIV., DLXVI., DLXVI11. Cases. Three trimmings of the same. Ill DLXXII. Cases. a pretty edging of the same. On the screen are exhibited numbers CCLXXV., CCLXXVII. and a bit of machine-made imitation, CCLXXIX, for comparison. The Alencon lace manufacturers worked each in his own name and on his own reputation, and objected to any one of their city participating in the special privileges attendant on those days on the title and position of purveyor to the king; but at Argentan two or three ateliers enjoyed the coveted title, and most of the laces for the use of the Royal family, and especially for the Royal treasury were made there. Her Majesty Queen Mar- garet possesses the most beautiful existing examples of this lace, and exhibits the following pieces. MI. Royal Laces. Is an immense bed-cover which is used by Queens of the House of Savoy during the ceremonies and receptions following the entrance of their Royal offspring upon the stage of life; it served in the Carignano palace at Turin, at the birth of his Majesty Victor Emmanuel in the room of which Her Majesty sends a photograph. MIL Royal Lace. Is a deep flounce consisting of a pastoral design containing ladies swinging; it is said to have been designed by Watteau, and served, with N.° MI., in the rich decoration of the princess's apartment. Mill. Royal laces. Is a deep flounce, designed with illustrations of animals taken from Esop's fables. MV. Royal lace. was made expecially by order of Napoleon the First as a present for Car- dinal Retz, and MVIII. among the narrow flounces, is the trimming that matches it. This lace is composed of large medallions containing flowers and doves on a fine tulle ground, held together by bows and garlands of ribbon on a large mesh ground. It illustrates the innovation of shading the flowers — petal one being made in close stitch, and the other in sheer stitch — which was introduced in 1807, and gave rise to a tremendous amount of criticism; but it had so lovely an effect that it established itself in lace making. 112 CVI. Royal laces. is a flounce which has a design of balustrades and stairs, and vases, such as was very much the fashion in the floriate rococo decoration prevalent in the first half of the XVIII. century CVIl. Royal laces. is a flounce on which grasses and swans are represented. MIX., MX., MXL, MXIL, MXIIL, MXIV., MXV., MXVL, MX VII., MX VIII, MXIX., MXX. Royal laces. MIX. to MXX. are all pieces of narrower lace of the same quality, many of which have served as models in the Burano Scool, MXL, MXIL, MXIIL, MIV. being shaped to form the Berta-like trimming worn round the shonld- ers, and first introduced by Madame de Maintenon ; and MXIX., one of the rich frills for elbow sleeves worn at the same time. Among other ladies who exhibit pieces of this beautiful lace CLXIV. Cases. M. rs Hungerford sends CLXIV., with a design of lakes and bridges in the finest possible quality of Argentan, and CLXXX., CLXXXII. A. B. are pretty examples consisting of 2 barbes and a trimming of one design. Marie Antoinette loved to adorn her delicate beauty with all that had a soft airy effect, and the world followed her example, for she was literally the Queen of fashion in the Eighteenth century, as she held long and serious consul- tations with the great milliner, Mademoiselle Berti, who was called to Ver- sailles for the purpose as a real prime minister would be, to decide grave questions of shades and forms, and who on her return to Paris, published the autocratic decrees of fashion from which there was no appeal. This Queen, surrounded by her family, has therefore been taken as the subject for the prevailing fashion in lace during the Eighteenth Century. Her love of all that was light in effect, and of the Indian mull embroideries which resemble lace, such as CCLVI1. Screen. called Broderie des Indes, but which were not quite light enough to satisfy her fancy, must have originated the lace composed of designs in fine linen /fOO*J80QA» 113 lawn, delicately worked in lace stitch round the edge, and held together by bars as in Venetian point: CCLXII. Cases. N.° CCLXII. belonging to M. rs Orville Horwitz; or applied on a ground composed of all the 65 varieties of Argentan stitches as in the flounce XCVL Cases. which seems the embodiment of the graceful Royal pastorals at which the youthful Queen played in the park at Trianon, CCXCII. Cases is a veil, most artistically embroidered in thin lawn dots on the finest Point de Paris, which is a variety of the bobbin lace made at Malines, engrafted on the coarser pillow taces made about Paris in the Seventeenth Century, This veil belonged to the Empress Marie Louise, as did the soft laces CCXCIV., CCXCVI. Cases. which, were worn by Napoleon, together with the three Jabots CCC. Cases, one of which is worked in roses, and the other two in lotus flowers, evi- dently in honour of the Egyptian campaign. Another piece of lace, CCXCVIII. Cases which belonged to the Empress Marie Louise, is an exquisite example of fine Valenciennes, and was also made when everything Egyptian was the fashion in France. CLXXV1II. A. and B., CCLXXVIII. Cases. are other examples of Point de Paris, belonging to different Patronesses. CCXCVII. Screen. Many other thread pillow laces were made in France beside the blondes of Normandy and the tambour laces of Brittany CCXCVII. em- 15 114 broidered on tulle — net — in chain stitch, darning, or applied mull, such as CCCLXIV. Cases. a veil from Spain, embroidered with the royal crown and initials, which was made for Queen Christina, wife to Ferdinand the Seventh ; CUV., CCLXXVI. Cases. And N. os CCCXXXI. Screen. are of the same kind of lace from Italy. French laces in the style of Torchons were made in the mountains as at Le Puy, and the same laces were also produced in large quantities in Switzerland, in Germany and in all the other nations of Europe. Laces in the style of Valenciennes were made on the sea-coast at Dieppe, Havre, Honfleur, etc., the other finer qualities resembling those of Belgium CXI III. Cases. were made principally at Chantilly and at Mirecourt, Arras, Bailleul, and, above all, at Lille in the North. CCCCLXX1I. Cases. is of a particularly fine quality of Lille lace, and belongs of the reign of Louis XVI during which it was very much the fashion, as were all the Flanders laces from which it originated. In Germany the art of bobbin lace making developed in the Sixteenth Century, but it is only of late years that needle lace has been produced in any quantity by the Teutonic races. Augsburg, being in most frequent co- munication with Italy and Belgium, was the centre of trade at that time; and here pattern books were published, so that this city and the surrounding country became the German centre of lace making. Barbara Ullmann was a native of this city or of the neighbouring Nuremberg, and when she married into the then wild district of the Hartz nountains, finding the miners' wives about her new home making nets of bone lace like that of Panapolis, she un- dertook to teach them the perfected lace she had learned as a girl. Her pupils were apt, and the industry grew rapidly under her intelligent direction, bring- 115 ing money and civilization to the inhabitants of the entire province in which Annasberg, where she resided, was situated, and when she died in ripe old age, in 1575, she was mourned by thirty thousand workwomen who had learned the new trade, and 68 children and grand children accompanied her body to the grave, thus fulfilling the prophecy of a gypsy who had foretold to her that for every stitch she should teach the poor people God would send an increase to her family. The story must have grown out of the coin- cidence of numbers, but it is firmly believed in all Saxony and Bohemia where her name is greatly revered, and a superb statue has been raised to her memory in Annaberg. The Huguenots and Protestants who took refuge in Northern Germany, Denmark, Sweden and England spread the manufacture of pillow lace wherever they settled down, as it was the handiest means of self support, and always paid well, both in selling and in teaching its se- crets to others. In England it also spread owing to the yearly distribution of special prizes to encourage perfection in his class of handy-work. In Ire- land, as in all catholic countries in which lace has been introduced, Nuns taught it to their pupils. In Scotland, Elizabeth, Duchess of Hamilton, tried in 1745, to estab- lish it, but with small success, and its manufacture gradually died out. Pieces of lace and samples from all these countries, as well as from South America and Ceylon are included in this exhibit, but are marked with the name of the country in which they were manufactured, as they exerted no influence on Italian lace making. With Flanders it is different; its wonderfully even and superior threads had enjoyed a great reputation in Italy as early as the Thirteenth Century, if not before, and were exclusively used for lace making in Venice. During the latter part of the Sixteenth Century it furnished most of the laces used in Spain, and was always the most celebrated producer of pillow lace, but how this art developed to the transcendental complication it reached in the finest Binche and Brussels laces, of which it takes a clever workwoman a year to produce half a yard of edging three inches wide, see CXXIV., CCLXX.D. Cases, I have not had time to find out, and hearsay is a poor staff to lean upon unless well coated with solid documentary evidence. In any case the manufacture of those delicate airy laces which have never been equalled by pillow laces from any other part of the world began in the XVII. century. In Holland and Belgium each town had its speciality, attractive and different from that of the others. Brussels, the capital of all, worked both in needle in the style of Burano, see 116 CCLXX. A. Cases. in pillow lace resembling, the oldest Mechlin lace, see CCX1I. Cases. and in point d'Angleterre which is a mixture of the two, originally invented for the English market, hence its name, see CCL1. Screen. which, with the laces surrounding it on the same leaf of the screen, illustrate all the varieties of fine Flemish laces, with the exception of CCXL VII. Screen, which is old Devonsire edging, copied from Trolle kant CCLIX. Screen. which is Cretan lace and CCLXI. CCLXIII. Cases of which CCLXI. is machine-made imitation of old Brussels, and CCLXIII. of old Mechlin placed with the other laces for comparison, The city of Brus- sels has been able, until this past year, to hold the dominant position in the lace trade despite the enormous size of Paris and London, but rumours from Belgium announce that she cannot continue to stand the competition of the rest of the world, because her work-women are paid much more "than those of other nations who have learned the secrets of her art. Queen Margaret exhibits in Flanders laces: MXXV. Royal lace. A superb flounce made at Brinche. MX XL Royal laces. A large bed spread, strewn with flowers and butterflies in Flanders Point. MXXII. Royal laces. A scarf of Brussels needle Point. 117 MXXIII. Royal laces. A cap of Point d'Angleterre. MXX1V. Royal laces. A deep flounce that matches the Flanders bed-spread, with butterflies and flowers MXXXL, MXXVII. Royal laces. Trimming for a costume in the style of a Bertha, and lace to natch. M XX VIII. Royal laces. A Barbe of old rococo Flanders lace, sometimes called Brabant point. MXXIX. Royal laces. A pair of lappets. MXXX. Royal laces. An edging. Other ladies exhibit in Point d'Angleterre and Flanders Point: CVIII. Cases. A fine scarf with Apollo represented playing on the lyre and surrounded by birds. XVII Century Flanders Point. CX. Cases. A deep flounce with birds of Paradise and swans in Flanders point, belonging to the XVIII Century. CXI. Cases. A narrower flounce to match. XCIL, XC. Cases. Trimmings of Point d'Angleterre. 118 CL I r lll. Cases. Ditto belonging to Baroness Treves. CCII. Cases. Ditto belonging to Countess Paolucci CCl'I. Cases. A deep flounce with double heading of applique Point d'Angleterre specially made at Brussels for the Queen of Westphalia to wear at the coronation of the Emperor Napoleon the First, and worked with the arms of that kingdom. This piece of lace was presented by Prince Jerome Bonaparte to the Countess Maddalena Aldobrandini Papadopoli of Venice. CCCLX. Cases. A flounce in Point dAngleterre. CCCCXXXVI. Cases. Lappets in old Brussels pillow lace. DXVIII. Cases. A veil in Point dAngleterre with a design of holly leaves and berries ; made in the beginning of this century. DXX. Cases. Two lappets in Point dAngleterre, belonging to Marchioness Grimaldi, of Bologna. DLVIII. Cases. A flounce of very graceful design. DLXXII. Cases. A veil in Brussels Point. DLXXIII.-DLXXX. Cases. Two trimmings in Point dAngleterre. 119 DCXXIV. Cases. A jabot ditto. CCXX. Cases. A baptismal veil, adorned with Empire figures executed in Point d'Angleterre, wich belonged to Queen Carolina of Naples, sister of Napoleon and wife of Murat ; inherited from her by her great-grand daughter Countess Guerini. Pepoli of Bologna. CCCXCIV., CCCXCVL, CCCCLII. Cases. The cobweb laces CCCXCIV., CCCXCVL, CCCCLII. etc. were made at Binche. The delicate narrow flowered flounces and ruffles, dear to the heart of graceful Marie Antoinette, are from Malines. The fine and solid Valenciennes were made at Ypres and elsewhere. From Bruges came the soft silk and thread laces in simple, graceful designs such as: CCCLXIL, CXXX. Cases. as also the beautiful Flanders chain lace CCXLII. Cases. belonging to Marchesa Fianetta Doria, Directress for Genoa and one of the Queen's Ladies of Honour. At Antwerp special laces were adopted, such as the Troll Kant, CCCCXXXV1II. Cases. and the Potten Kant of which examples are also exhibited, which were suited to the plaited caps of the Dutch housewives of high and low degree; and so on and on through a long list, containing the less celebrated but al- ways pretty laces manufactured for home consumption, or for expor- tation in vast quantities to England, France, Italy and above all to Spain. Those in guipure with a broad bold design were made in the north and in the province of Hainault, and resemble this same quality of lace made at Genoa and Milan, see : 120 CI]'., CXX. Cases. The pretty rococo designs came from Brabant and the centre, and were so perfectly reproduced in northern Italy, where they were very much ap- preciated, that they cannot be distinguised from each other, see: CCLXVIIL, CCCLXV1IL, CCCCLXXIV , CCCCLXXX., CCCCXCVIII. Cases. and CCCXX]'1L, CLXXVIL, CCXXIII. Screen made in Friuli. These laces have all been described in the introduction, and the fre- quent reproduction of the simpler qualities, combined with the immense quantities of the finer qualities which are still treasured in Italy, are illustra- tions of the esteem which Flanders laces have always enjoyed there. There are Italian bobbin laces which are worthy of being placed beside the beautiful needle points above described, and the pillow laces are all artistic and have a style of their own; they originally served as models for the early Flanders laces, but are quite different from the fairy products belonging to the latter half of the Seventeenth and to the Eighteenth Century which we have been passing in review. They are suited to the rich, stately type of Italian woman- hood personified in the Roman matron, draped in deep hued velvets and heavy satins; they are suited to the solemn services and rich decorations of Basilicas frescoed by Giotto, and of altars from which the pure madonnas painted by Raphael calmly gaze down on us. The Italian designs for laces never represented pastorals, etc., and so were specially adapted for church linen and vestments as well as for personal and household decoration. Milanese Point, like Venetian Guipure, originated in Passement, and at the end of the Sixteenth Century rapidly developed into a superb lace. The lace made in the Abruzzi resembles the Milanese lace which is made with a mesh ground, whereas the Milanese and Genoese guipures are in- distinguishable; but all pieces of antique guipure having a floreate design are ascribed to Milan, and all those composed of arabesques to Genoa. Queen Margaret exhibits two pieces of Milanese point : MXXXI. Royal laces. Is a deep flounce of the finest quality with vases and lambroquins, and 121 CCCLXLVI. Cases. Is a pattina. MX XXII. Royal laces is a trimming of fine quality. Other Ladies have contributed the following Milanese laces : CCXXVI. Cases. Is a flounce in flower design, CCLXII. Cases. Is a flounce, ditto. CCLXXXIV Cases. Is a square Sixteenth Century collar. CCCCYI. Cases. a fine flounce exhibited by Countess Agostini Venerosa della Seta Directress at Pisa. CCCCXIV. Cases. a trimming. DLXXXVIII. Cases. a Flounce and several other pieces and samples, among others CXXVIL, CLVIL, CCV., CCXIIL, CCCLXXV., CCXXXW Screen. The following are Neapolitan laces of the quality known as old Abruzzi, so named fron the mountainous district between Rome and Naples in which they were manufactured and in which a large production of- infe- rior laces continues, only requiring the breath of vivifyng commerce to re- pristinate them in their original beauty : CC XVIII. Cases is a flounce with flowers issuing from bases in a conventional design of the time of Louis XIV, belongs to the Countess Papadopoli. 16 122 CCCXCVIII. Cases is a beautiful fine piece of the same lace which was made during the Six- teenth Century in a Convent destroyed by the ill-famed Marchese Ruffo. CCCCIV. Cases. is a flounce of a very fine quality, exhibited under the Patronage of the Countess Agostini della Seta. CCCXXXJ7II. Cases. is a piece of lace bought in Spain; the design consists of the imperial Au- strian double headed Eagle of the time of Charles the V, and of a Marquis's coronet, as this Emperor conceded as a great distinction and mark of special favour, the privilege of bearing the imperial arms, so often repeated in the design books of the Sixteenth Century, to several Italian as well as Spanish families. CCIX., CCXIX., CCXXIX. Screen. are examples of this lace made in Naples; and CCXV., CCXV1L, CCXXVIL, CCLXXXIX. Screen., of the same made in the Abruzzi. Black silk laces such as CCLXXXIX. were made at Ischia. Much Abruzzi lace was formerly made at Offida in the Marche, as also a kind of Blonde in thread, CCLXXIV. Cases. and all the ordinary antique household laces, as in every province of Italy. Besides the guipures with coarse cords , a lace resembling the Milanese Guipure was made in Venice. DXV. CCCV11I. Cases. DXVIII. is a surplice trimmed with an antique piece of the trefoil design which was universally made in Friuli in the Eighteenth Century, and CCCXLVII1. is an exact reproduction of the same design made by a clever old Venetian lace maker named Victoria Tranquilli, who also reproduces " Blondes „ in perfection. 123 All the ordinary laces which were made elsewhere in Italy were also produced in Friuli, as well as a special quality resembling old Swedish and Danish lace, see CLXXXVII. Screen, and CUT., CCCLXXX., CCCCLXIV., DCLX. Cases. At Pelestrina and Chioggia, near Venice, there was such a large production of torchon lace that Pelestrina divides with Cantu the honour of having this quality of lace called by its name, while Chioggia is identified with a certain starred mesh, CXXXI. Screen., CCCCX. Cases which is used with great effect even in the finest of Belgian Pillow laces ; there is much variety in these simple old laces, as well as of appropriateness of design to the uses for which they were destined; many examples of them are exhibited on the screen and in the cases. The following CCCXXXVI. Cases, is a table-cover composed entirely of samples of the antique Venetian laces; it belongs to M. rs Bronson who also sends a complete collection of samples of the ordinary modern laces made at Pelestrina and the other Islands round Venice. The Ligurian or Genoese guipures have four entirely distinctive cha- racters. The first, or Hispano-moresqtie and Maltese variety has been exam- ined with the gothic laces, as also another consisting of the Vermicelli lace from Rapallo and Santa Marguerita. A third is dentical with Milanese guipure, see samples CXXIIL, CXXV., CXLL, CLL, CCA., CCCLXXVII. Screen. CCCLXX., CCCLXXIV. CCCXC, CCCXC1I. Cases. The fourth is different from all the other varieties of lace and is called " fugio, „ (I fly) as it is very soft and airy. It is an adaptation of guipure-like ribbons of weaving, with open work variations, held together by very few bars, the arabesques being combined in such a manner as frequently to touch and so to obviate the need of extraneous supports, see CCCXXXIII. Screen: 124 Contessa Pignone Gambararo of Genoa sends two beautiful flounces, CCXL VI., CCL. Cases, of this lace; CCCCVIII. Cases. is another flounce of the same, and CCCCXCVI. Cases. and many other examples of it are to he found in the cases. With the exception of the Blondes, we have now passed in review all the laces of Italy. These soli; alluring, glistening, clinging tissues were ever beloved by the daughters of Andalusia, who remained faithful to them when the fickle fashions of France, which had created them in the Seven- teenth Century, abandoned them in the Eighteenth, and in consequence, these laces when re-presented to the world were known by the name of the coun- try of their adoption as Spr.nish Blondes. The usual white and colored blondes with metal introduced, lack that softness of material and grace of design which, combined with durability, are the chief attractions of lace, see CCCCXL1V., CCCCXLVI. Cases. and DXC. cases, but some of these hybrid laces compensate by their splen- dour for the defects of their less artistic sisters. Of these Lady Layard exhi- bits a superb collection made during her sojourn in Spain: CCCXLVI.A. B. Cases. is a piece of antique blond, and with it is placed a modern copy of it made, as also the following copies of other laces, by Vittoria Tranquilla of Venice. CCCL. Cases. is a Rose Blonde, trimming, in white and silver. CCCL1I. Cases. is a blonde scarf worked in white and silver in a design of the Rose, Sham- rock and Thistle which are the emblems of great Britain and Ireland. CCCL1V. Cases. is a blonde scarf in white and gold 125 CCCLVI, Cases. is a blonde bertha in white and silver. CCCLVIII. Cases. is a white and silver blonde trimming. Other ladies exhibit blondes composed entriely of white silk, which were the rage in Italy under the Empire. DLXXXII. Cases. is an entire Empire costume with Mantilla composed of this lace, belonging to the Countess Grabinska of Bologna. DLXXXIV. Cases. is another costume of the same which was worn by princess Maria Malvezzi Hercolani, Dame of the Croce Stellata and Lady in Waiting at the Vice- regal Court of Prince Eugene Beauharnais in Milan. DXXXVL, DXC. Cases. Are flounces, of white Blonde, worked with a honey-combed ground. These soft silk blondes with their supple folds and great splashes of reflected light have a certain attraction, and in any case Italian hearts owe them a deep debt of gratitude, for they alone carried the traditions of lace making among the Venetian, Ligurian and Cantuese women across the sad years of overwhelming taxation and foreign aggression which for Italy composed the first half of the Nineteenth Century. These blondes of inferior quality kept the bobbins flying, and though there was no demand for point laces, the mending of those belonging to the Cardinals and Churches kept the needle at work according to the traditions of the age, and that sufficed as a found- ation for the intelligent revivaf which began on the Ligurian coast, about 1848. with the production of a pretty lace resembling Points de Malines and de Lille well suited to the style of costume then worn, see CCLXXX., CCCCX1L, CCCCXXIL, CCCCXXX1L, DXVI. Cases. a cape, and DXVI. Cases. a flounce belonging to the Marchesa Cavriani. This, when the fashion changed, was followed by the copying, about Genoa and at Cantii, of the white and black Brussels laces of which 126 CCL1Y. Cases. is the first piece executed at Santa Marguerita, in 1868, for the Countess Pignone Gambero; these laces required great exactness and re-developed the intelligence and ability of the work-women, so that if the demand in- crease in proportion to the hopes of the clever lace-makers and to the good will and necessity of the poorer classes, Italy will, in the Twentieth Cen- tury again become what she was in the Sixteenth, the guiding genius of good taste in this art and the purveyor of the most truly beautiful laces. For though greater regularity may be found in the coarse laces of other countries than exists in those of Italy, even the most ordinary of her bobbin laces possesses, in company with her unrivalled needle laces, the quality of true artistic sentiment when the designers are allowed to fol- low the old traditions which gives them the prestige of originality, for they are not modern lace, this term, as distinguised from that of an- tique lace, being simply synonymous with mechanical perfection. The finest modern hand-made lace is composed of perfectly even, machine- spun silk, thread, or cotton, dyed a beautiful black, bleached to a dead white, or coloured a brilliant cream, worked, with great manual dexterity, in nicely shaded designs copied from dravings of real birds, butterflies, flowers and fruits, interspersed with meaningless scrollwork and cast iron devices which are vulgar even on cafe pavillions. These component parts are all worked separately, one woman making the cast-iron devices, another all the roses, another all the butterflies, etc., so as to obtain individual perfection at the sacrifice of artistic completeness, for no two human beings can execute work exactly similar. These pieces are then united with per- fect nicety, carefully pressed, and a quality of work is placed upon the market which has no individuality and can be imitated by machinery, and no one but the starving lace-maker thus deprived of her means for earn- ning a livelihood is the loser. Italian laces makers, as will be seen from the reproductions of old designs exhibited in the Italian Section both in the Woman's Building and in the Palace of Liberal Arts, have an indestructible sentiment of art and are capable of producing antique lace, with all its rich, inimitable forms and rich soft tones, but in strong, new thread and in unlimited quantity with the consequent lowness of price necessary to suit the present requirements of artistic homes; but alas, beside the evidences of what can he done, are placed pieces of laces which prove the lack of intelligent guidance, and the ignorance of poor, neglected workwomen who toil unceasingly, striving to follow foreign fashions which are already extinct, aping the ever chang- ing productions of great factories in flimsy, worthless imitations copied with defective, puerile drawing, instead of reproducing the lace of their own old house-hold linen, or that before which they kneel every Sunday in church, or is brought them by their priest from time to time to be mended, 127 and which dealers seek to buy at any price to sell again in countries were it is appreciated: Until now they have neglected their opportunities,, as they themselves have been neglected ; but a new era has dawned for the art life of the lower classes: in each great city and industrial centre schools for artistic and manual training have been opened, and in those for girls decorative drawing and lace making are ewerywhere taught; whereas even in small villages in the more advanced provinces industrial night schools for the instruction of the artisan and the poorest peasant alike are everywhere springing up. A sunny day is dawning for the industries of Italy, the morn- ing glow of which will be found reflected in the objects mentioned in the following pages, the bright star which has long risen for lace-making being the Cooperative School at Burano. Phi^t Y. Potent Qatt, its makers mt& its framing. The Italian Section containing the Historical lace exhibit here de- scribed, is situated near the southwestern entrance to the woman's building in the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, all the buildings of which are designed in the style of the Italian Renaissance in honour of the Great Explorer, the Fourth Centenary of who,se discovery of two continents this exhibition has been organized to celebrate. The Italian Directresses there- fore considered it appropriate to furnish their Section, which is entirely oc- cupied by the Lace exhibit, in the prevailing style, and their department in consequence represents an Italian Sala or salon of the Sixteenth Century, the cases destined for the rococo laces alone being designed to suit their contents. The artist who seconded the ladies, and has furnished so beautiful a framing for the art treasures sent across the seas, is Cavaliere Valentino Panciero Besarel of Venice, an Artist of the type of the same period with the de- signs he creates, as the Italian Renaissance is bred in his bones. Son of a clever wood carver who lived up to the traditions of Venetian Art although he passed all his life in the little village of Zoldo, among the first spurs of the Dolomites, those glorious Italian Alps which have ever been fruitful in artists, Panciero Besarel from his childhood determined to follow the calling of his father and his father's ancestors whilst climbing the heights of art, ever faithfully following in the footsteps of Andrea Brustolon, the greatest of Venetian wood carvers. Like many an American millionaire, like all the best artists of the Sixteenth Century, he began life by working at the hard- est and most menial accessories of his profession, struggling with every nerve to obtain the pittance which would suffice to maintain him while studying at the School of Design in Venice, to change his aspirations into an art, and he succeeded. But the love of the beautiful and the good, the striving for ever after an unattainable ideal are sure to breed the noble sen- timent of patriotism which is so often the forerunner of persecution and even martyrdom, and this above all in Italy, the country whose atmosphere is saturated with beauty, poetry, and art. Strangers love to linger there and ever return, trying to call the land their own, while liberty and its country is the dominant passion of the Italian heart. So when usurping Austria sought to lure the young Besarel with offers of high honours and rich emoluments to 17 130 Vienna he turned a deaf ear, and sent his work to the exhibition at Flo- rence, where his faithfulness and talent were rewarded by a medal and sales to the amount of 600O francs which procured him fresh persecution as he devoted the entire sum to assisting his unhappy countrynen in emigrating from under the foreign rule. In 1873, however, well merited success crowned his efforts, for his now established reputation obtained for him a large order from the Prince of Wales, and since that period he has received gold me- dals at all the expositions in which he has taken part, has been knighted, and is the recipient of honours from the Royal Houses of Austria, England, and Italy, and from the French Republic. He has always remained the same simple child of nature and of art, although his curly locks have been bleached by time and by a terrible accident which deprived him of three fingers of his right hand, which for all that did not lose its cunning. In the spacious salons of the palace on the grand Canal, which are crowded with the children of his hand and imagination, he is visited yearly by Royalty, Ambassadors, and the first of Italy, and Her Majesty Queen Margaret orders of him the artistic furniture and bibelots with which she loves to surround herself, and never stays in Venice without visiting his studio. The lady patronesses who know him look upon him as a friend, and therefore naturally turned to him as one who would do honour to the faith reposed in his generosity and good taste. His pretty daughter trips about the place with all the charm of an old time Venetian maiden, and her smile is as attractive as that of the delicious little cupids she sculptures ; for this demure young lady, who cannot count twenty summers, has inherited her father's talent and it is to her clever hands we owe the modelling of the lace maker, who, peace- fully beneath the great crucifix carved by the Cavaliere, sits dressed completely in clothes the material of which was grown, spun, woven and sewed by the industrious peasants of Friuli (*). Casa Besarel forms a charming household, and while I write the words of a cultured American, uttered as she descended the worn marble steps and entered the gondola which was floating on the lazy blue waters of the grand canal, ring in my memory, " Thank you, you have (*) The flax used for the underwear worn by this lay figure was cultivated and spun by Maria Pazzarini, aged 20, of the village of Ceresets and cost 5o cents. The lace was made at the school of Fagana by a girl of thirteen years named Giudita Lestani, and cost 20 cents. The dress is composed of silk refuse from the cultivation of silk worms at Brazza, and is used to make home-spun hunting suits and most durable garments by the peasants. The carding, spinning, dying and weaving of the dress, and the furnishing of the necessary findings cost Sll 3.5o and is all the work of Armellina Zanor, aged about 23. The same young woman also wove the shirt and chemise for Sll 1.80, the sewing of which was done by Amalia Cervezzo of Fagagna for 35 cents; she also made the picturesque rag and cord slippers worn by the peasants in the house, the entire material and execution of which cost cents. 30. The woollen stockings are made from the wool of sheep belonging to the Michelet family 131 not only showed me the most artistic carving I have ever seen, but you have taken me back into the Venice of the middle ages; I felt, it almost sacrilege to take any thing from where it stood, for all seemed part of a picture, and so unshoplike,, ; alas the only fault of Besarel is that he is an artist and " un- shoplike, „ and will leave his children richer in honours than in money, form- ing a great contrast with many of the modern "Merchants of Venice,, who go so far in their chase for foreign gold as to pay the gondoliers, couriers and guides who conduct wealthy strangers to their doors. Signorina Besarel is not the only young Italian^ girl who has contri- buted her work to grace our exhibit. Signorina Costa of Rome, the daughter of one of the Lady patronesses, has spent many busy hours over the painting in Italian tempora of the Renaissance Garland of flowers which forms the frieze about the sala, whilst Signorina Celotti, of Udine, worked upon the old tapestry painting of the album to contain the example of the Brazza Lace school for which she. has a kindly affection; and as if goodness and beauty were synonymous all three of these industrious girls are so pretty that it is only a pity their clever work cannot be rendered still more attractive by their photographs. The graceful wrought iron gate, transparent as a curtain in black gui- pure, through which the visitor gains admittance to the Italian Section, 'as well as the Album full of beautiful designs for antique wrought iron objects, and those made in chiselled metal are the handiwork of Antonia Lora of Tris- sino, another typical Italian Artist whose father, a carrier between this vil- lage and Vicenza, apprenticed his son at eighteen years of age to a wood carver of that city whence he soon moved to Verona, and finally, attracted by its art traditions to Venice, where he maintained himself for twelve years by hard work whilst he studied design at the Academy and perfected him- self in niello (one metal incrusted with another) and the lost art of casting a cire perdue, so that Guggenheim, Richetti, and all the merchants of anti- quities found constant use for his talent. of Fagagna, and was combed, carded, spun, dyed and knit into stockings by Angela Michelet, aged 17, who also made the garter customary in her village; this all cost cents. 5o. The wooden shoes called Zoccoli are hand-made by the men of the family; those exhi- bited were made by Giuseppe Peres of Fagagna for 30 cents, the work in wood costing 10 cents and that in leather 20 cents. The peasants buy their aprons and kerchiefs unless they make them in crochet work, and these form the great objects of luxury in their costume, costing in all, of a quality such as is exhibited, about Sll 3. The lace on the apron was made by Ernesta Schirati of Fagagna, aged thir- teen, and cost Sll 60 cents, so that the entire sunday outfit of a well-to-do peasant made in the most durable of materials amounts to the value of about eleven dollars, but it costs them less, as much of it is made of unsaleable material prepared at home at odd moments. The lace over whicb the figure is represented as busied, was made and mounted on the pillow by the peasant girl Italia Canciani, aged thirteen, after ten months' instruction in the school of Brazza, and every- thing connected with the figure has been produced by peasants whose families frequent this school or its branches established in the neighbouring villages. 132 The green silk, the soft lustre of which adds beauty to the laces within the antique carved furniture, and causes those of Her Majesty to appear like lacy white caps and foam upon the beautifully tinted naves of the Me- diterranean, was spun, dyed, and woven entirely by women in the silk and damask manufactory of Signor Doinenico Reisere, Figlio, founded in 1848 m Udine, who also exhibits an album containing a few samples of his rich damasks and velvets, exact reproductions of the celebrated antique Venetian silks, and which are sold as they come from the loom, to adorn our drawing rooms, without any preparatory dressing, and are therefore like those which have survived the wear of centuries, quite indistructible. During this time he also modelled the Jn'onze basrelief erected in Venice to the memory of Sirtori, Garibaldi's Aide de Camp, and carried carried off prizes at the Universal Expo- sitions of Vienna, London etc., as well as in the National Exposition. The beautiful gates in wrought iron of the Museum at Turin are his handi- work, as wefl as others in London, Odessa, Frankfort, Berlin, and even in the United States; while for an amateur of Paris he has executed a perfect copy of those of the renowned monument of the Scaligeri in Verona. His work in niello is equally pure in design and beautiful in execution, and who- ever visits Vicenza and finds attraction in the traditions of the life of the Middle Ages cannot but feel an interest in taking the pretty rond out across the laughing plains and the high bridge over the roaring Agno which leads to an old-fashioned peasant house in a quaint court-yard full of cackling hens, and with low, rough rooms out of which the family has heen crowded by the products of the master's art. Antonio Lora in metal-work is like Besarel in wood carving, an artist of the Renaissance, as were the great examples whose work they seek to emulate, and both belong to a type which has survived the hurry of the nineteenth Century in classic Italy alone, and if one wishes to stand face to face with the life led by genius in the past, he need only seek Besarel among his pupils in a remote corner of his palace on the Grand Canal at Venice, or Antonio Lora in the simple smithy at Trissino, frowned upon by the bleak, ruined castles of the proud Montecchios and haughty Capulets which he told us once smiled on the loves of Romeo and Juliet. Here, like his prototype Vulcan, this master of the anvil limps about among his workmen helping them to twist the glowing iron tendrils into artistic flowers, and into exquisite forms of lanterns, gates and balconies, products of his creative genius which the great dealers in Bric-a-brac sell as treasured remains of the Renaissance for triple the sum paid grudgingly to the artist. Above the court yard, and behind the busy forge, rises a hill crowned with superb gardens, terraces and green-houses, in the midst of which stands the beautiful castle of Trissino, which forms the summer studio of Countess Loredana di Porto, the most distinguished lady photographer in Italy, whose works are known far and wide far their wonderful artistic grouping and perfect execution, and have won for her the gold medal at the Internatio- nal Exhibition of Photography in London, and elsewhere. 133 Collection of Photographs. MMLI. She exhibits 42 groups MMLI. which speak for themselves, and when the best are offered, will our visitors complain of the restrictions which li- mited space caused us to place on this branch of woman's work ? The mother of this gifted lady, the Countess Bonin, another of the Lady Patronesses who lives on the other side of Vicenza, favours an in- dustry which saves from want the unoccupied of all the villages of the Seven Communes, the inabitants of which are the descendants of the ferocious Cim- brians who could boast of having routed two great armies composed of the flower of Roman valour, and yielded at last to the effects of the climate, not to the attacks of their disciplined enemy. * Albums from Marostico. MMLIIL, MMLIV. MML1II. and MMLIV. are two Albums composed of samples of plaited straw made in Marostico and in the remainder of these communes, where all the women and girls, with infinite ingenuity and ceaseless industry, twirl and plait straw instead of flax and hemp into laces which are afterwards sewed together to form hats, or are exported to foreign countries where they are much prized for their lightness and solidity. Another Italian lady, the Marchesa Negrotti Passalacqua of Genoa shows that she has inherited the talent of her ancestresses. CCXXXIV., CCXXXVL, CCXXXV1II. Cases. She exhibits a large table cover CCXXXIV. and the front of a gown CCXXXVL and CCXXXVI worked by herself alone in unbleached thread in Punto Tagliaio a fogliame before which all must pause in admiration, and realize that the poor lace maker, if only guided by such refinement and ar- tistic talent as she possesses must produce superior work: and for this reason we will turn to the schools, as it is in these lace makers are trained and ladies seek to improve the work produce by cultivating the young girls. These institutions are divided into two distinct classes: those which are organized as cooperative societies, the pupils continuing to work in or for the school after their training has ceased, and enjoying an augmentation or suffering a reduction of pay as the market fluctuates ; and the merely in- dustrial schools, which train the pupils for a fixed period, selling their work to help to maintain the institution and instruct as many as possible, the pupils once having left being forced to provide personally for the sale of whatever they may produce. We will begin with those founded or directed by the lady patronesses, the most important exhibitor being Burano School, which sends over ten thousand dollars' worth of lace tQ Chicago. 134 The 400 industrious merry, laughing girls whose fingers gaily worked these beautiful needle Laces while singing the sweet boat songs of Venice are now sorrowful, and the whole school in silence, mourns, for the intel- ligent, the good, the beautiful, the pious Countess Andriana Marcello who for years had been its guardian angel, and whose last work for them, three short months ago, was to plan with infinite care all the details, for this wonderful exhibition. The golden cord of her noble life has been snapped, and she has been prematurely called to enjoy the reward of a life spent for others. The echo of her dirge has scarcely died into silence, and the ripples caused by the passing of her funeral across the lagune — which for so many years gaily bore her to and from the school at Burano — are yet breaking upon the shores of that mourning Island. The emotion of one who for the past six months worked daily, guided by her experience and noble rectitude, and who in turning to each branch of this exhibit finds proofs of her activity, is such that no words can express, but the visitor who gazes on the sweet loveliness contained in the simple black velvet frame, placed near her beloved laces, will realize all that Her Majesty Queen Margaret, • the Committee of Directresses, the school of Burano and Italian womanhood have lost. It was Paolo Fambri who first thought of raising the poor fisher-folk out of their squalor, rendered deadly by the fearful winter of 1872, when the frozen lagoons presented a stony breast on which they beat in vain for bread. He tried having fishing nets made, but they had enough of these already, and other fishing communities made their own, and so his kindly heart caused him to revert to the talent for lace-making which lingered among the people, and seeking out old Cencia Scarparola he found the embodiment of the tradition and decided to revive the art. The Patricians of Venice seconded him with sympathy and money, and among them he chose two of the noblest as of the most beautiful, both since ladies of ho- nour to the Queen, both patronesses of this new enterprise to carry across the Seas the work of these girls redeemed from misery by their efforts. The Princess Nana Giovanelli, with her long absences from Venice could not carry on the work; The young widowed Countess Andriana Marcello saw in it the realization of a dream of her noble husband's and threw herself heart and soul into the work. God has blessed her faithfulness, and Burano with its 6000 inhabitants is now bright, prosperous and contented, and has drown- ed the memory of the horrors of 1872 in the tender, protecting smile of the Countess Andriana, but she is gone for ever, and it depends upon all who love noble, untiring devotion to carry on the work which she has founded, and so perfectly organized that its only necessity is to sell, and that we, out of our abundance, should buy for our adornment rather the artistic work of these intelligently-guided work-women than machine-made or less artistic lace. All of the designs of Burano lace are taken from the best antique mo- dels, and Her Majesty — who as Princes Margherita di Savoia accepted the 135 Honorary Presidency of the school — has allowed the superb Crown laces to be copied there, and entrusts them to no other hands for repairs. For this rea- son, and because they can brave the most rigid comparison, these laces are placed near those of her Majesty, and each one copied from a Royal lace is so marked. The beautiful bridal veil — which alone we have space to mention here — is copied from the historical Argentan flounce given by Napoleon the first to Cardinal Retz, and design N.° V, is copied from the superb Royal piece of Rezzonico lace in Venetian Point which has been reduplicated for crowned heads to present to Royal brides. Coccolia School. MMXVII. Another cooperative school, but younger and much smaller, was founded in 1884 by a lady patroness, Countess Maria Pasolini, at Coccolia in her vast possessions in Romagna. This property is situated near the pictur- esque historical town of Ravenna — of which she sends a collection of photo- graphs — where lie the ashes of the immortal Dante, and in which for many years lingered the sweet, inspired and discontented Byron whose happiest hours were spent in adored and adoring Italy. The cultivation of the fer- tile plains forming the surrounding Province of Romagna, the inhabitants of which are a sturdy indipendent race, is conducted on the system called ma\\adria, the proprietor furnishing the land and houses, the peasant the cultivation, and the two equally dividing the profits. The population increases rapidly and the superfluous members of the family must seek occupation by emigrating to some other farm or become labourers. The men have there- fore organized cooperative societies which undertake important contracts in other provinces and in neighbouring nations, and these are executed with ra- pidity and exactness to the satisfaction of those who employ them and to the mutual benefit of all parties concerned, Countess Pasolini, who is as in- telligent and active as she is charitable, has thoroughly studied the econo- mic questions of her surroundings, and has published the result of her observations in several pamphlets which have been reprinted in the first periodicals and found so important by French economists as to deserve translation, being considered invaluable authorities for consultation on this subject. The Countess observed that the weak point of the whole system was the disoccupied life led by the women and girls belonging to the. families of the labourers. There are no factories around Ravenna in which to employ them, and in this day of machine-made stuffs there is no economy to be found in home spinning and weaving unless the first material is produced on the farm, and so the Countess decided on founding a lace school for these women, permitting them to work at home as soon as they become proficient in the execution of the finer laces, which as they share the artistic temperament of the Italian race, they learn to make with great facility, and the products of their industry, copied from antique designs, are worthy of 136 the exquisite vellum album MMXVII., and the rich satin leaves on which their noble hearted directress has placed them. The school of Coccolia deserves encouragement, and besides its album exhibits all too few pieces of its beau- tiful work, preferring to execute the complicated designs in filling orders to running the risk of having expensive laces left long unsold. Bra~ x a School. MMXX. A still younger school is that under my direction at Brazza, near Udine in the province of Friuli; it was founded September 8 th 189 1 . at a small show of peasant products and industries held at our country home by the seven communes which surround it, with the object of developing the small household industries and thereby forming means of accessory oc- cupation and emolument for the large peasant families during the long winter when the ground is frozen or snow bound. Six girls, of which four remain among the best workers of the school, had been personally instructed by me in the rudiments of the art for only ten days, and did such justice to their intelligent natures and short training whilst working before the visitors that the vast public remained enthralled and could not be persuaded to move on, and the Jury of the exhibition decided that this handicraft was adapted to the requirements and circumstances of this part of the Province. Three schools have been opened in quick succession symbolized in the trefoil or clo- ver leaf chosen as the trade mark for their products; a fourth small leaf is budding which promises to bring the proverbial good luck if only the chil- dren continue good and industrious, and the public be lenient to their defects. The oldest of the baby schools has scarcely doffed its swaddling clothes, though brave and sturdy, for on the anniversary of its first birthday the precocious infant, with its sisters, had a hundred pairs of hands at work at the peasant show at Fagagna in 1892, received a diploma for merit and good conduct, and many of the little hands closed over small pecuniary pri- zes. In fact the infant developes with such unheard of rapidity and consumes such larges quantities of pins, thread and bobbins, upon which indigestible articles it thrives, that it quite frightens its foster mother who must appeal to all the friends of honest industry to buy the products, so that a lack of plenty of fresh food, thread, pins etc. may not stunt the child in its happy growth. The girls who attend the school vary in age from seven to twenty, and when they are seen twirling the bobbins and merrily singing in chorus the musical snatches of Friuli, or seated under the great chestnut trees of the park, eating their frugal meal which they bring with them in neat baskets, or romping across the lawns, the heart involuntarily exclains, " God bless them, and send the work to their willing hands, and to those of their children and children's children, that they may never be raised for wrong doing through dire necessity or lack of work. „ For some of these girls are orphans or 137 lame or otherwise deformed or miserable, and on the slender threads wound about thejr bobbins, hangs their whole means of honest existence. The Brazza schools are conducted on the principles of a sweepstakes, each one being rewarded according to her deserts, and the work is paid for by the piece, the prices fluctuating according to the amount that can be re- alized by its sale, the standard taken being the wholesale Paris market ; new and original designs command naturally a higher price than more hackneyed ones. At the end of each year prizes are distributed to the most regular, best and cleverest workers of each separate school, and there is a grand prize for the first among all the schools; but, like in a race among young colts, the last sometimes carries off the honours, as she suddenly blooms out into an artist of the bobbin to the joy and surprise of every one, and most of all of herself. The schools of Brazza exhibit a large album, MMXX, and a quantity of the work done by the girls, mounted into objects for household use either by the girls themselves or by their seamstress sisters — who are peasants also. — Pleading the excuse of a parent's loquacity, let me pass on to the Charitable Institutions and Industrial schools which exhibit, and first among which ranks the Institution of the SS. Ecce Homo at Naples, for its size and because se- veral of the Lady Patronesses are on its board of Direction. This institution, which had lingered along as a sleepy refuge for indigent old women and crippled children, sprang into terrible activity during the fearful Cholera scourge of 1884> which swept away all the grown people of whole families and left hundreds of hungry ragged orphans wandering about the streets. Daily this institution, Christ-like in action as in name, gathered scores of the little innocents under its fondling care, and the King, the government, and the city helped in the good work so that to-day it contains 350 inmates and instructs 280 day scholars, many of whom belong to the most miserable class who come to its great industrial school rooms to learn different trades suited to women, and are strengthened in body by its nourishing soups. Album from Naples, MMXII.A, B. All kinds of laces are made there from the antique (see MMXII.A, B) Valenciennes, Venetian Point, Cardiglia, Reticella, Torchon, Neapolitan-Abruzzi and Milan Point, fugio, and a wonderful new lace formed by copying the exquisite gothic designs published by padre Pissicelli in the palaeographia of Montecassino. Reproductions of Reticella. MMXVI. A, B, C. Other beautiful examples of cardiglia and reticella in exact reproduction of the Antique are here exhibited by Signora Enrica Franchetti of 68 Via della Carita, Rome, who has been honoured by Her Majesty with orders for the finest work. 18 138 An Industrial school of which the Lady Patroness Countess Agostini Venerosi della Seta is one of the most active directresses, is that of San Ramiri at Pisa, which exhibits an Album MMI. in which the work is well executed. Album from Pisa. MMI. This school was instituted in the middle of the last century by the Grand Dukes of Tuscany to teach weaving to the girls of the poorest class, but this industry, as well as that of straw plaiting met with no success, and so it was turned gradually into an Industrial school in the modern sense of the word, in which hand and machine knitting and sewing, the making of artificial flowers and of needle and bobbin lace, decorative designing and em- broidery, cooking, washing and the rudiments of education adapted to women of humble extraction are taught. This metamorphosis into the existing type of Italian Industrial schools was accomplised in 1879, an d here, as in all of these institutions, there are always more applications for admittance than can be accepted, although there are about three hundred Pupils in constant attendance and the maximum of instruction is concentrated into three years. Bologna. MMXII1. Schools establised on the same system are those of the Institution of San Pelegrino at Bologna, which sends in MMXIII., two beautiful examples of its work in lace and Sicilian Trapunto. The Educatorio of St. Paolo in Modena, of which Queen Margaret is Patroness, sends an artistic and perfectly embroidered screen Modena. MLI. executed for Her Majesty by the girls, who enjoy the immense advantage of artistic education under Count Gardini, and can embroider quickly and per- fectly copies of any of the celebrated antique pieces of Italian work contained in the collection of textiles in the Museum. This collection has already been twice copied by them for German in- dustrial schools, to the great advantage and instruction not only of the girls who did the work, but of the hundreds of foreign children who could thus profit by the unique possessions of the Modenese Museum in textile art. Sardegna MM II. On the Western Slopes of the great mountainous island of Sardegna, which rises like an immense foot out of the Mediterrean, surrounded by a shoal of smiling islets, is perched the picturesque city of Sassari, and here, 139 in 1832, seven poor orphans girls were taken charge of by a benevolent soul and placed under the pine trees and among the olive groves in a tiny private house that they might no longer wander homeless. This was the foundation of the Great Institution still called by the name given to them of " Figlie di Maria,, (daughters of Mary) which under the direction of the grey sisters of Saint Vincent de Paolo has gradually grown and been transformed into the centre from which education, civilization and all the virtues go out to the whole Island; for, under the administration of the able suor Ago- stina Gassini, no less than one thousand five hundred orphans, deaf, dumb or abandoned children, or little ones whose parents are otherwise occupied, or rich girls whose parents desire them to profit by the remarkable educa- tional advantages offered in it by these cultured women, are daily taught and cared for in the various departments of this great beehive, which in- cludes also night schools for men and for women and which therefore exer- cises an influence for good which may be imagined. We can only speak here of the deaf and dumb children who are the exhibitors of the net lace con- tained in the Album from Sardegna. MMII. Number MMII. Their merry faces are reproduced in the photographs placed with their work; and no one would ever believe they belonged to poor mutes; the reason is easily found, for the motherly hearts of these childless grey sisters have appreciated the longings of the maimed for the company of the more blessed normal children, and so here during meal and pay hours they are constantly with the orphans, and amid smiles and romps and gestures, they learn to imitate their young companions, and guided during the hours of lessons by the wisdom of the sisters, quickly learn to lisp the few uncertain words of which they possess the power of articulating ; but better far than this is the effect on the character pro- duced by this busy common life, and no words can depict the transformation from sad moroseness to gay kindliness which occurs in the poor deaf mutes who bask in the sunshine of this sweet and simple though great community. Florentine Albums. MMV., MMVL, MM VII. Another orphanage and refuge for abandoned children is that of Saint Silvestro, Borgo Pinto 14 Florence, which sends a large Album, MMV. and six photographs of laces which have been executed by inmates of this institution which is greatly assisted in its noble work by the proceeds from peddling its excellent lace from house to house and in the hotels of Florence. Album MMVI. contains samples of the work executed in the Institution of Santa Teresa Via dei Serragli 108, in Florence which is one of the poorest schools and is under the guidance of the Teresian nuns. MMIII. is the Album of 140 lace samples sent by another Forentine institution in which the young idea is taught to shoot and the young fingers are trained to useful occupations : it is from the Leopoldina Industrial school, which is conducted on the same principle as that of San Ranieri at Pisa. Cantii School of Art. MMIX. A., B. Two immense portfolios MMIX. A., B. represent the work executed by the Pupils of a different kind of Industrial School, that in which only one kind of trade, and the designing for it, is taught. These are from the School of art applied to the manufacture of lace at the small town of Cantu, which is situated near Lake Como and forms the centre of one of the greatest lace producing regions of Italy. The lace industry was planted here in the Sixteenth Century by nuns of the Benedictine order, and until about fifty years ago was confined to the production of torchons and simple patterns. To appreciate what it was at that period and the rapid progress since made, compare work exhibited in these Portfolios of the School of Design, or in these of the Cantuese producers, with Album from Offuia. MMXIV. the Album from Ascoli Piceno sent by the Lady Patroness from the Marche, Signora Tinti, which is composed of the most rudimentary quality of pillow lace, for to such depths the once celebrated industry of Offida has fallen, this, lace being now noticeable for its remarkable cheapness alone, or with Piedmont. MMXIX. consisting in a collection of simple samples of the laces worked in the Valley of Aosta, sent by one of the Lady Patronesses from Piedmont, the Countess Francesetti ; those Ladies trust that in obtaining a ready sale for these simple laces, the poor workwomen will be encouraged and the antique industry be revived. Lace at Cantu is mostly produced as an accessory to the other oc- cupations of the inabitants. Many factories exist in this part of the country and the fields are rich and require much work at certain seasons, and so whenever a spare moment is found amid the cares of housekeeping the mo- ther picks up her cushion and sets the bobbins flying, the children come home from school, and fetching their cushions, seat themselves beside their mother, and later, when the factories close and the sun has set on the fields, grown up daughters come home and taking the remaining cushions set merrily to work while recounting the simple adventures and gossip of the day. This kind of sociable busy life can but produce au elevating effect on the morals of a community and it has been noticed that wherever this 141 industry flourishes, the people enjoy the reputation of being both thrifty and moral. About ten thousand women work at lace making in the immediate neighbourjlod of Cantu alone, beside which a great many more support their families by this means in other parts of the Province. The work is produced either independently and sold to merchants who- go from house to house for the purpose of buying it, or at the weekly market, or else it is executed upon the designs and with the guidance fur- nished by the shopkeepers and lace merchants of Cantu. Some of these have representatives travelling from city to city at certain seasons, selling their products to the great shops, or established in one city or another; many others execute work by contract for the lace emporiums, not being allowed to sell the designs furnished to them; among others the house of Jesurum at Ve- nice finds it worth while to have certain work for which the Cantuese enjoy a special reputation executed there; and I seize this opportunity to thank, in the name of the Commitee, the Cavaliere Michelangelo Jesurum, head of this house, for the flattering interest he has evinced in our undertaking, and the loan of some of the beautiful. Polichrome laces. MML. made in his Venetian School of Maria Pia, to complete his illustration of the present condition of Italian Lace-making. This system is defective, for the producer is very poorly paid and the middleman is in constant fear of being crushed between the anvil and hammer, but many of these Cantuese Merchants have, through inheritance or personal industry acquired a small capital which enables them to stand alone, greatly to the advantage of their work women, of their own self respect and of the public. The cleverest among these are the following, who have produced really artistic work and already enjoyed distinctions, medals and diplomas at various Exhibitions. Antonia Meroni, who is head of an intelligent, artistic, kindly and cle- ver family, and is most honorable in all her dealings and therefore a favorite among the patronesses, sends an Album Meroni Cantii. MM XV. containing samples of perfectly executed lace, and a large collection for ex- hibition and sale, consisting of beautiful designs from the antique, as also Duchess silk Blondes and torchon laces. Large orders for pillow lace can be more quickly executed by the firms of Cantu and those of Liguria than in the schools because they have more skilled hands at their command, but the object of our organization is to distribute the work, when necessary, among several different producers so as to satisfy a great demand in the shortest space of time. 142 Colombo Cantii. MMXV1II. Angelo and Giuseppina Colombo exhibit an album containi% 127 sam- ples, as also a quantity of lace for sale which is superior by far to the sam- ples, and contains pretty veils, scarfs and handkerchiefs in Duchess Blonde and antique laces. Mar Mi Cantii. MM VII. Marelli Benedetta, the present head of a very old firm, exhibits also an Album of samples and a large quantity of torchon silk blonde and Guipure laces, besides distinguishing herself with some fine black Brussels lace scarfs and shawls, and by great exactness in all her designs. Gabri Carimate presso Can tit. MMIV. The family of Marelli, through one of its daughters, Maria Marelli, who married an Arnaboldi, also founded in 1821 at Carimate near Cantii the firm now belonging to Vittorio Gabri which employs about 650 lace makers The trade was established and flourished entirely for many years on or- ders received from France. This firm has always enjoyed an enviable repu- tation for the good quality and excellent designs of its work, especially for delightfully soft silk blondes. Another great and productive centre of lace making is the beautiful Riviera di Levante, between the ports of Genoa and Spezia. Strangers who linger in the Maritime Alps cannot imagine the charm of this exquisite re- gion when the Riviera di Ponente has already become hot, dusty and ener- vating, and this favoured region enjoys two seasons, that of the strangers in winter, and that of the Italians in summer, for the latter find it more beneficial than watering places farther away from home, as it possesses the rare com- bination of sea and mountain air, with a good surf greatly charged with salt and iodine. But foreigners in the summer pause alike to watch the diligent lace makers who remain peacefully at home attending to their household duties and supporting themselves and their little ones by the yards of snowy lace which roll off the cushions from under the fingers of the entire family, while their husbands on fishing smacks and ships scour the sea to bring home a patrimony for their children. Genoa is the centre of the lace trade; Sta Mar- guerita and Rapallo are the greatest producers of pillow lace on the coast, and Chiavari is entirely devoted to that speciality of the Riviera, the fascinat- ing knotted lace fringes for household linen called Macrame. Chiavari Macrame. MMXLL, MMXLII. Vincenzo Badarucco MMXLL and Nicola Bianchi exhibit quantities of exquisite and artistic towels executed in this antique work. 143 The lace makers of Rapallo, who exhibit under the patronage of the wife of the Mayor, Signora Castagnetta Ricci, have sent an Album com- posed of leaves, each dedicated to a different exhibitor. School of the Providen\a. Rapallo. MMXXIII. The School of the Providenza comes first in the portfolio, followed by Nicoletta Castagnetto Tessara. MMXXIV. whose laces are beautifully executed and have received diplomas and medals. Luigia Campodonico. Rapallo. MMXXV. Number MMXXV. represents the well known and long established shop of Luigia Campodonico, who exhibits both samples and laces of thread and silk, and has been honoured with medals and diplomas. Teresa Canevaro. Rapallo. MMXVI. MMXXVI is the Number assigned to Teresa Canevaro who sends all the kinds which are made in the neighbourhood such, as Lille, Malines, Chantilly etc. Like many of the others she also has enjoyed distinctions, but we desire all these laces to stand or fall on their own merits, and will cease the lengthy enumeration of their qualifications. ■ Maria Schialtino. Qitirolo. MMXXVII. Maria Schialtino of Quirolo exhibits samples and laces of the same type with the above, as does also Gheraldella Campodonico. Rapallo. MMXXVIII. Every variety of Ligurian lace is made by Rosa Lavata. MMXXXV, but her speciality is an artistic quality of Chantilly. She exhibits a pretty design of roses of which she sold a quantity to Her Majesty the German Empress Frederick on her last visit to the Riviera. 144 Angelo Morelli. Rapallo. MMXXIX. Gaetano Vassallo. MMXXXI. Colombo Caprili. MMXLV1II. Anna Barbieri. MMXLIX. all exhibit the same qualities of lace, but with no samples. The following are the exhibitors from the neighbouring commune of Santa Margherita, the most celebrated of which is, of course that of Angela Baffico. MM XXXIII. whose intelligent enterpsise has been mentioned as the cause of the present prosperity of the lace trade in Liguria ; her heir, Lorenzo Barbagelata, sends an album as well as a quantity of lace, principally by the yard, and a fine deep flounce of Chantilly made in one piece with thousands of bobbins. Felice Foppiano. MMXXXIX, exhibits laces alone, and Marianna Marigliano. MMXXXVI, samples alone, but accompanied, as are the goods of several other exhibitors, by a Pillow with lace upon it in process of fabrication. Maria Raffo Costa. MMXXXVI1. has a speciality in Blondes, Point de Lille and Duchess Laces. From Sampierdarena almost at the gates of Genoa, Ernestina Zanotti. MMXXXVIII, sends most artistic lace of perfect execution in gold, silver and white thread ; her lace is of the highest merit and deserves to he universally copied in Liguria, for she has returned to the original famous type of work. Genoa. MMXL. Giuseppe Russo, of Genoa, exhibits a large collection of samples of modern laces made in Liguria^ and H5 Doctor Vittorio Macchiarello. MMXXX1X, 10 panels illustrative of lace-making in the same provinces. Perugia. MMXI. is part of an album exhibited by the ladies of Perugia and contains 101 samples of modern lace which they manufacture in their leisure hours, but this is not the only exhibit of modern lace from Perugia. We have already mentioned the superb, antique volume of Veccellio full of designs and samples which belonged to a suppressed convent in that city. The nuns have, since the secularization of their convents become a busy race without losing any of their taste, and not only direct the children in the Asylums and nurse the sick in the hospitals, but gather round them the miserable and disoc- cupied everywhere. Some of the gentle sisterhood have descended to the lowest step of abnegation, and in their humility have undertaken the super- intendence and instruction of the most debased class of woman hood — that of the convicts in the prisons, so that by their constant presence and loving, pitying care they may redeem them, if possible, and show them that they are lost by association and not by nature. To these the being taught lace-mak- ing has proved invaluable, as it not only interests their artistic temperament, but it permits long hours of personal civilizing intercourse, unsuspected by the shy, shamed outcasts, who at the same time learn a trade which furnishes them with an easy means of support for the first moments of sad liberty when want and misery often impel to fresh deeds of crime. Album from Perugia. MMX. Number MMX. is the Album composed of beautifully executed samples of torchon and Brussels pillow lace exhibited by the Sisters of Providence, and worked under their direction in the great woman's prison at Perugia. Messina. MMXXI. is the album from the female prisons at Messina, where pillow laces and Si- cilian drawn-work are perfectly copied from the antique. Tuscan Homespuns. MMXLVII. Another field of the Sisters' activity in Tuscany is illustrated by the rich toned material which covers the walls and drapes the (*) windows of (*) The fringe is also woman's work, being dyed and woven by Maddalena Salvadori, Calle di Pietro u. 5o87, San Bartolomeo, Venice, whose speciality is the copying of antique fringes. 19 146 the Italian Section. Album MMXLVII. is formed of varied samples of this quality of picturesque homespuns, made upon hand looms by the peasant girls of Tuscany, under the direction of Suor Denis and the sisters of Cha- rity at Migliarino, Province of Pisa, where these indefatigable women, with no capital but faith and perseverance, have struggled on and planted a small though flourishing artistic and deserving industry, the material which they use being of the best, and the combinations of effect chosen with the unerring good taste which is possessed by ladies of culture alone, no matter what humble garb may conceal their identity. These ladies hope that the appreciation of their artistic products, which must arise when they are known, will bring them many orders which will enable them to increase the looms, employ a larger number of destitute girls, and form a small capital in cotton bought at wholesale prices which would procnre for them the possibility of selling more cleaply the artistic materials, dress cottons and coarse homespuns, which are purely woman's work and essentially original, as being produced wit'nout any assistance whatever from the stronger sex. But the gentle nuns have occupations further afield, wherever there is ignorance and misery, and they do not hesitate in their self-abnegation to seek the most distant lands in which to cultivate the industrious cha- racteristics dormant in the laziest savage natures. They only follow the example of their sisters of the Sixteenth century who meekly followed in the destructive footsteps of the fierce and brutal conquerors of Peru and Mexico, seeking to bind up the hearts which the latter had broken, and to cure the wounds inflicted by their barbarity. They sought too, with the healing balm of Christian charity, to soothe the distracted minds of the poor aborigines com- mitted to their charge, and to train the trembling hands to firm self-reliance through the practical arts of industrious peace. They caused the men to build houses and churches under their direction, while they taught the women to sew and make lace to adorn the altars of Him for love of whom they toiled so patiently among these desolate races, and that their work was not in vain is proved by the curious lace DXCIX. Cases. which has become identified with the inhabitants of Paraguay, and with the lace makers still Jbund among the Pacific Coast Indians of North America, who have been considered worthy to form part of the great World's Fair which constitutes the apotheosis of Woman's development throughout the ages. The Italian missionary nuns of to day follow in the paths laid out by their predecessors, humbly thanking God that the inventions of the nineteenth century render their task less arduous, 147 and in Ceylon DCXV. Cases. in the Islands of the Archipelago, in far Japan, and in isolated China DCXIX., DCXCV1I. Cases, in every land where Christianity has penetrated they train the girls in womanly occupations, so that the little heathen orphans entrusted to their instruction owe them a knowledge of lace-making which, practiced with in- dustry, even should other means fail, would always keep them from mi- sery and starvation. Since History began Italy has ever marched in the van- guard of progress, and when under the barbarian invasions which followed on the fall of the Roman Empire all Europe was one battle-field of strife and bloodshed engendered by envy, hatred, malice and all uncharitableness, fair Italy first awoke from her shame, and raising her head shook off the insidious barbarism of the middle ages which was trying to destroy all re- cord of her great Latin past, and uprose with a mighty determination to redeem her reputation, and recivilize and educate mankind. The other nations of Europe stood awestruck by the products of her fertile genius. The writ- ings of her great sons penetrated every corner of the continent and quickened the hearts and souls of intelligent men to higher aspirations. The beautiful remnants of her frail laces, stranded in every town of civilization, are but the straws left by the current to indicate where its vivifying waters have passed. But alas, the taste of these was very sweet and strong, and proved as in- toxicating as wine from Sicilian vineyards, and so each nation determined to call the fountain head its own, and the clamour of strife re-echoed from the Alps to the Apennines and once more the sons of the soil were ground down beneath a usurping foreign heel. The Powers of to-day still gaze longingly towards the sunny hills and blue skies of United Italy, and the young nation is forced to spend all that it can earn to arm itself to the teeth and defend its hearths and homes against the covetous, instead of using it upon the education of her poorest children. Oh, proud and rich Columbia, if you want Italians to remain at home and keep far from your cities and your ports, open these instead to their trade ; let the oil and the fruits, and the silk and the flax, the beautiful artistic carvings in wood and in stone, the original paintings and the repro- ductions of the glorious works of the past, the soft laces and rich embroideries executed by the women, enter your land in their stead; they love their simple homes with a passion that is unquenchable and will bless you for the alternative. Cause your happy citizens to remember the pleasant weeks of travel they have enjoyed among the beautiful views of Italy, the foreground ever composed of wondrous monuments and works of art; cause them to think of the potent charm which has moved them in your theatres or in their own houses while listening to the superb music of Italian composers, 148 the rich voices of Italian singers; or when alone beside their hearths, winter cold and summer heat have been alike forgotten in conning the enchanting descriptions of Virgil, Pliny, Tasso, Petrarch, Manzoni and half a hundred others. Cause them to think of the teachings of Saint Augustine, of Sava- narola, and of Galileo, and of the emotion experienced when first stirred by the overwhelming, awful language of great Dante, and the next time they have to do with poor benighted Italian emigrants, let them remember that the same rich soil gave birth alike to all these, and if this fail to touch their hearts, and charitable Americans should still desire to close your door on these brothers in faith and feature, whose only fault is lack of education, let them pause and remember: God did not send one of the great Italians in 1492, across the ocean to discover " an America for the Americans „ as these existed already in your first dusky sons who have been cruelly sacri- ficed to the exigences of progress, but to found a home full of prosperity and freedom alike for the persecuted and enterprising sons of all Europe in which they might grow and develope into a grand new nation. Cristoforo Colombo of Genoa, who sailed from Spain with a crew composed of reckless souls from all the ports of the Mediterranean coast, brought no money in his hand, no treasures in his ship; his riches were Intelligence and 117//; the early settlers, fleeing from persecutiou were no better provided, and as the centuries have rolled on and you have grown, rich and powerful, the personal condition and the character of the Italians who seek your shores has not changed; Oh hearken, fair, mighty, glorious Columbia! God-child and name- sake of the great Genoese ! it is one of your own daughters who calls to you across the waters he traversed in search of you: Close not your doors against his kinsmen, lest in the throng you shut out one of his own child- ren, heir to that genius to which you owe your very being. Castello di Bra" x a, March 11 th 1893. Pai^t VI. $ist of tlje nam* of tlje goon subscribers uno Committee for tije $tolion §att ©rljitrit in tijc Roman's guiloing ot tljre Porto's Columbian (JBrhJbition in ©(jirogo, ilniteo states of ^Uneriro, curing tJje sum- mer of 1893. Initiators constituting the Board of Administration. The Countess Cora A. di Bra\\a Savor gnan, nata Slocomb, elected president and representative of the Committee in America. Her Excellency the Marchioness Paula Pes di Villamarina, Grand Mistress of the Ceremonies to Her Majesty the Queen of Italy. The Countess Teresa Agostini Venerosi della Seta (vice her mother the late Countess Andriana Marcello) Lady in Waiting to Her Majesty. Princess Elizabeth Brancaccio di Trigiano, nata Field, Lady of the Palace to • Her Majesty. Countess Maria Pasolini; nata Ponti. General Secretary and Italian Correspondent, Signorina Dorina Bearzi : assistant, Signorina Victoria Fanna. Address Claviano, Provincia di Udine. Secretary in America, Signora Eva Marcotti. Italian Section, Woman's Building, Chicago. I. Ancient Venetia. Divided into two parts — Venetia and Friuli. 1. Venetia — Capital Venice. Directress. — Countess Andriana Marcello (since deceased) Lady in Waiting to Her Majesty. For Burano School L. 800 Patronesses. — Duchess Bianca Bianchi di Casalanza, Mogliano „ 100 Signora Teresa Paccagnello, nata Pigazzi, Mogliano „ 100 Countess Maria Bonin, nata Nievo, Vicenza „ lOO Countess Carolina Colleoni, nata Giustiniani Bandini, Vicenza . . . „ loo Carried up L. 1200 150 Brought forward L. 120O Princess Giovanelli, nata Chigi ; Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty, Lonigo „ 100 Countessa Loredana di Porto, nata Bonin, Vicenza „ 10O Countess della Torre, Vicenza „ 10o Countess Maria degli Azzoni Avogadro, Padua „ 103 Signora Stefania Ombone, Padua „ 100 Countess Papafava dei Carraresi, nata Menicone Bracceschi, Padua . „ lOO Signora Anais Forlani, Padua „ lOO Countess Brandolin nata d'Adda, Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty, Venice „ lOO Mrs. Arthur Bronson, Venice „ 100 Mrs. Robert Browning, Venice „ 100 Countess Eleanor Papadopoli, nata Hellenbach, Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty, Venice „ 100 Countess Miniscalchi Errizo, nata Ponti, Verona . „ lOO Total Venetia _ . . . L. 2403 2. Friuli — Capital Udine. Directress for the Province. — Countess Cora di Brazza Sa- vorgnan, nata Slocomb — for Lace School of Brazza . . . . L. 8°° Collected ,,285 Patronesses — Mrs. G. Pendleton Bowler „ 100 Mrs. Cuthbert Slocomb ,,100 Signorina Jenny Cecconi ( , .. „ b -L, . _ . of Mount Ceccon „ 200 Signorina Elvira Cecconi ( Directress, City of Udine. — Contessina Vittoria Cecconi Bel- trame ,,210 Signora Camilla Pecile „ 160 Signora Elio Morpurgo „ 150 Countess Vera di Brazza, nata Marchesa Simonetti „ lOO Contessina Giulia di Concilia „ lOO Signora Emilia Girardelli Muratti of Trieste „ 100 Total Friuli , L. 2305 Total Venetia „ 2403 Grand Total Venetia L. 4708 The ancient divisions of Ilaly are ranked in this list according to the sums of money collected within the provinces which composed them. 151 II. Roman Provinces. Directresses, l. Her Excellency Marchesa Paula Pes di Villa- marina. Grand Mistress of the Ceremonies to Her Majesty, Rome . L. 100 2. Princess Elizabetta Brancaccio di Trigiano, nata Field, Rome . „ 400 Italian Patronesses. — Signora Antoinette Costa .... ,,120 Countess Barbiellini Amidei, nata Lewis, Rome ,, 100 Countess Caprara, Rome „ 100 Marchesa Gravina, Rome „ 100 Countess Giannotti, nata Kinney, Rome „ lOO Countess Santa Fiora, nata Santa Croce. Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty, Rome „ 100 Marchesa di San Severino., Rome „ 100 Countess Ada Telfner, nata Hungerford, Rome „ 100 Marchesa Vanni Pasqua, Rome „ lOO Princess Venosa, Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty, Rome . . „ lOO Duchess Lante, nata Davis, Viterbo „ 100 Total L. 1620 Foreign Patronesses residing in Rome: — Mrs. Orville Hor- witz, of Baltimore „ 300 Mrs. Stanley Hazeltine, of Philadelphia „ 100 Mrs. Hungerford, of California „ lOO Mrs. Nathan Sargent, American Legation „ 100 Foreign patronesses, total w L. 600 Italian Patronesses „ 1620 * II. Total, Roman provinces L. 2220 III. Tuscany. Directress for the Province. — ■ Countess Teresa Agostini Ve- nerosa della Seta, nata Marcello — Pisa L. 420 Patronesses. — Countess Larderel, Leghorn „ 120 Signora Maria Mimbelli, Leghorn „ 100 Other ladies of Leghorn „ HO Countess Bernard^ Lucca „ 180 Signora Costanza Huffer, Lucca . . „ 100 Other ladies of Lucca „ 40 Total L. 1076 152 2. Capital Florence. Directress. — Marchesa Anna Torregiani, nata Fry . . . . L. 210 Patronesses. — Princess Anna Corsinr, nata Barberini, Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty , „ loo Marchesa Gentile Farinola, Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty . . „ 100 Mrs. Fahnestock, of New York „ 100 Countess Josephine della Gherardesca, nata Fischer ,. lOO Marchesa di Montagliari „ lOO Marchesa Lily Spinola, nata Page „ lOO Marchesa Giulia Torregiani, Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty . „ lOO Total, Florence L. 910 2. Other cities „ 1079 III. Total, Tuscany L. 1989 IV. Sicily. Directress for Messina, Countess Marullo Lady of the Pa- lace to Her Majesty, and a Committee of Ladies organized by her in Messina L. 958 Directress for Palermo. — Princess Sofia Trabia di Butero, nata Galeotto, Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty „ 225 Patronesses. — Princess Baucina, Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty „ 100 Princess Sofia Belmonte Montroy, Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty . „ 100 Signora Tomaso Crudeli „ 100 Signora Florio „ lOO Countess Mazzarino, Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty „ lOO Princess Maria di Sant Elia, nata Menabrea, Lady in Waiting to Her Majesty „ 100 Signora Tina Whitaker „ 100 Palermo total L. 925 Total Messina „ 958 IV. Total Sicily L. 1883 153 V. Lombardy. Directress. Marchesa Maria Trotti Lady in Waiting to Her Ma- jesty L. 150. — Patronesses for Milan. Signora Cramer, nata Pourtales . . „ 160. — Marchesa Maura di Cassini, nata Ponti „ 100.— Marchesa Isimbardi „ 100. — Signora Remingia Ponti „ 100. — Signora Virginia Ponti „ 100. — Countess Erminia Sala, nata Trotti, Lady ofthe Palace to Her Majesty „ 100. — Princess Ida Visconti di Modrone „ 100. — 1. Total Milan L. 910.— 2. Patronesses for Other Cities. Countess Suardi, nata Ponti, Bergamo L. 200. — The Administrative Committee of the Industrial School at Cantu . „ 100.— Signora Ester Isingrini, nata Ponti, Monza „ loo.- — Countess Gwendolina della Somaglia, nata Doria, Lady of the Pa- lace to Her Majesty, Monza „ 100. — Signora Charles Leonino, Varese „ 100. — 2. Other cities L. 600. — Total Milan „ 910.— V. Total Lombardy L. 1,510. — VI. Romagna. Directress — Countess Maria Pasolini, nata Ponti, for the school of Cocolia^ near Ravenna L. 8°°- — Collected by her „ 120.50 Patronesses — Marchesa Virginia di Mazzocorato, Bologna . „ 167. — Duchessa Massari, Ferrara „ 100. — VI. Total — Romagna L. 1,187-— VII. Liguria. Directress — Marchesa Fiammetta Doria, Lady ofthe Palace to Her Majesty, Genoa L. 700. — Patroness — Princess Camilla Centurione Scotti, Genoa . . „ 100. — Total — • Genoa L. 800. — 154 Other Cities. Duchess Canevaro di Zoagli, Chiavari L. 200 Signora Castagnetto Ricci, Rapallo „ lOO Total L. 300 Total — Genoa „ 8°° VII. Total — Liguria ... ... . L. 1,100 VIII. Naples. Directress — Donna Maria Spinelli dei Principi di Scalia . . . L. 100 Patronesses — Baroness Baracco, Lady of the Palace to Her Ma- jesty „ 100 Princess Colonna Stigliano, nata Mackay „ loo Signora Sofia di Luca, nata Kennedy „ 100 Princess di Moliterno, Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty „ 100 Princess Pignatelli Strongoli, Lady in Waiting to Her Majesty . . „ 100 Marchesa Santasilia . „ lOO Duchess Tommacelle della Torre, nata Haigh „ 100 Baroness Tosti „ 100 VIII. Total. Naples " L. 900 IX. Piedmont. Patronesses — Her Majesty's Ladies L. 150 Baroness Blanc „ 100 Countess Natalie Francesetti, nata della Rocca „ 100 Countess Incisa di San Stefano, nata Sambuy „ 100 IX. Total, Piedmont L. 450 X. Emilia. Patronesses — Marchesa Rita Schedoni, nata Princess Manouk- bey, Modena L. 135 Countess GaddL nata Pepoli, Lady of the Palace to Her Majesty, Forlimpopoli „ 125 Total, Emilia L. 260 155 XI. Umbria. Patronesses — Marchesa Chigi Zondadare, Sienna . . . . L. 100 Countess. Meniconi Bracceschi, nata Brazza-Savorgnan, Perugia . . „ lOo XI. Total, Umbria L. 200 XII. Abruzzi. Patroness — Marchesa Cappelli, nata Hirsch, Aquila . Total L. lOO XIII. Marche. Patroness — Signora Antoinetta Tinti, Ascoli-Picena . Total L. too XIV. Sardegna. Signorina Giordano Apostoli, Sassari Total L. 100 Patronesses Residing in Foreign Countries. Signora A. Ravagli, for the Italian Colony in Cincinnati, United States of America L. 295,25 The Consul for the Italian Colony in Chicago, United States of America „ 129.60 Countess Cesnola, New York, United States of America . . Baroness Fava, Legation at Washington, United States of America Signora Bruni Grimaldi, Denver, U. S. A Countess Galli, nata Roberts, Paris, France Marchesa Maria d'Adda Salvaterra, nata Hooker, Paris, France . 125.00 100.00 100.00 103.50 100.00 Total L. 953-35 Subsidy from the Italian Minister for and Agriculture Commerce „ 1,000.00 156 Recapitulation. I. Venetia . . . L. 4,708.00 II. Roman Provinces „ 2,220.00 III. Tuscany „ 1,989-00 IV. Sicily „ 1,883-QO V. Lombardy ... „ 1,510.00 VI. Romagna „ 1,187 50 VII. Liguria „ 1,100.00 VIII. Naples „ 900.OO IX. Piedmont „ 450.OO X. Emilia „ 260.OO XI. Umbria .... „ 200.00 XII. Abruzzi . .... „ 100.00 XIII. Marche „ 100.OO XIV. Sardegna „ 100.00 Patronesses residing in foreign countries „ 953,-35 Contribution from the Royal Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce „ 1,00000 Total L. 18,660.85 The Countess di Brazza dedicates the entire royalty accruing to her, as authoress, on the sale of this book to assist in defraying the expenses of the Lace Exhibit. 157 Books collected by order of Mr. Christopher R. Cummings, of Chicago. 677. L'Ecole de Dentelles a Burano, Vene\ia, Imprimerie. Kirchmayr ft Scozzi, 1892. 678- I Merleiti ad Ago a Punto in Aria di Burano. Richiamo Storico di Pasqualigo Co., Dr. Giuseppe, Trieste, Tipografia Pastori, 1887- 679. Cenni sull' Industria dei Merletti. Michel Angelo Jesurum, Venezia, Tipografia del Commercio. 680. La Storia della Conquista di Due Medaglie d'Oro. Merletti di Ve- nezia, nel 1878. da Fambri ; Firenze, Tipografia Lemonnier, 1879- 681- I Merleiti nel Circondario di Chiavari. G. B. Brignardello, Firenze, Tipografia G. Barbera, 1873- 682. Scavi di Claterna nel Comune di 0\\ano deU'Emilia. Roma, Tipo- grafia della R. Accademia dei Lincei, 1892. 683- Designs for Point Lace. W. Barnard, 119 Edgeware Road, London. 684- Hand-book of Point Lace. W. Barnard, 119 Edgeware Road, London. 685- La Paleografia Artistica nei Codici Cassinesi. Applicata a Lavori Industriali Merletti, dalla Tav. l, alia Tav. 20, Litografia, Monte Cas- sino, 1888- 686. Descri\ione di Alcuni Minutissimi Intagli a Mano. Properzia di Rossi. 687- Spit\en Munsterbuch Museum fur Kunst und Industrie. Wilhelm Hoff- mans. 688- Histoire du Point d'Alencon depuis son origine jusqu'a nos jours. Mme. G. Despieures. 689- La Vita dei Vene\iani, nel 1300. Le Vesti, B. Cecchetti. 690. Tessuli e Merletti, Esposi\ione, 1887. Erculei. 691. Rapport sur les Dentelles, les Blondes, les Tulles par Felix Aubry. Esposition de Londres. 692. II Fiore delle Donne Italiane dall'Av. Franciosi. 693. Lecons Pratiques pour Executer la Dentelle aux fuseaux, de la Bonne Managere. 694. Donne Illustre Italiane, Proposte ad Esempio, dedicata a S. M. la Regina Margherila per Eugenio Comba. 695. Histoire de la Dentelle par Mme. de X., — Paris, 1843. 696. Note per le Gwvanette Studiose. 697. Alcune Donne Illustre Italiane di Giuseppe Spallicci. 698- La Dogaressa di Vene\ia, per Pompeo Molmenti. 699. Costumi del Tre Cento. 700. Guide to Old and New Lace in Italy, by the Countess Cora di Bra\\a. 158 Collection d'ouvrages anciens sur la dentelfe de Venise. Ferd. Qngania, Edit. 701. Vecelho. — Recueil des nobles et vertueuses dames, en quatre livres dans lesquelles on voit en 119 dessins toutes les especes de pare- ments, de points ouvrages d'ornements, de fleurons, etc. ; fac-simile de l'edition originale de 1600, etc. Venise, 1876 80 fr. 702. Franco J. — Nouvelle invention de divers ornements tels que le point en l'air, 24 dessins de dentelles, etc. ; fac-simile de l'edition originale de 1596. Venise, 1877 2o fr. 703. Lucre.ce Romaine. — Ornements nobles pour toutes les elegantes da- mes, ouvrage contenant des cols, dentelles d'une tres grande beaute, 20 planches in-4" ; fac-simile de l'edition originale de 1620. Venise, 1876 30 fr. 704. Pagan Math. — Le bon exemple du desir louable qu'ont les dames d'une grande adresse a preparer les points ouvrages en feuillage, 31 planches gravees ; fac-simile de l'edition originale de 1550. Venise, 1878 30 fr. 705. Zoppino (Nicolas d'Aristotile dit). — Recueil de belles broderies an- ciennes et modernes dans lequel une rare adresse soit d'homme soit de femme pourra s'exercer dignement avec l'aiguille, etc. ; 52 plan- ches gravees; fac-simile de l'edition originale de 1537- Venise, 1877- 30 fr. 706. Vavassore And. (dit Guadagnini). — CEuvre nouvelle universelle inti- tulee: Recueil de broderies oil les respectables dames et jeunes filles trouveront des ouvrages varies pour faire les cols de leurs camiso- les, etc ; fac-simile de l'edition originale de 1546. Venise, 1878- 3° fr. 707. Ostaus Jean. — Tres belle maniere de tenir les jeunes filles occupees, c'omme le faisait la chaste Lucrece Romaine avec ses femmes, alors qu'elle fut surprise, travaillant avec elles, par Tarquin accompagne de son mari; fac-simile de l'edition originale de 1567. Venise, 1878- 3° fr. 708- Pagan Mat. — Ouvrage nouveau, redige par Dominique da Seva, dit le Franciosino, oil Ton enseigne a toutes les gracieuses demoiselles a travailler en toute sorte de points, etc. ; fac-simile de l'edition origi- nale de 1546. Venise, 1878 40 fr. 709. Paganino Alex. (Burato) — Livre premier des broderies au moyen duquel on apprend de differentes facons la maniere de broder, chose qui n'a encore jamais ete faite ni montree, maniere que le lecteur apprend en tournant la page; fac-simile de l'edition originale de 1527. Venise. 1878 • > 40 fr. 710. Serena. — Nouvel ouvrage de broderies dans lequel ou trouve diverses sortes de points en natte et de points a fil, etc. Venise, Dominique de Franceschi ; fac-simile de l'edition originale de 1594. Venise 1878 30 fr. 159 711- Zoppino (Aristotile dit). — Exemplaire d'ouvrages ou les jeunes filles et les grandes dames pourrpnt facilement apprendre la maniere de travailler, etc. ; fac-simile de l'edition originale de 1530. Venise, 1878 30 fr. 712. Parasole Isabella Catanea. — Joyau precieux des femmes vertueuses. Ou Ton voit de tres beaux travaux en point en 1'air, a reseaux a maille et a fuseaux, dessines par I. C. Parasole Publies de nouveau par Luchino Gargano; i'ac-simile de l'edition originale 1600. Venise, 1878 ■ • • • 40 fr. 713. Tagliente. — Nouvel exemplaire qui enseigne a coudre et a broder aux femmes, et a dessiner a quiconque, etc., 1531 ; fac-simile. Ve- nise, 1879 50 fr. 714. Bitrato. — Livre premier des broderies, au moyen duquel on apprend, etc. (voir N. IX. Paganino). A. b. c. — ■ Livre deuxieme, troisieme et quatrieme des broderies au moyen duquel on apprend la maniere de broder, etc. Ouvrage nou- veau. Alex. Paganino 1527; fac-simile. Venise, 188° (tres rare). 90 fr. 715. Urbani de Gheltof G. M. — Traite historique et technique de la fa- brication des dentelles venitiennes (Venise-Burano). In- 12 avec 7 plan- ches et 27 vignettes. Venise, 1878 15 fr. La traduction en francais par M. Le Monnier, gratis. 716. Urbani de Gheltof G. M. — A technical history of the manufacture of Venetian laces (Venice-Burano) in 12 with 7 engravings in fac- simile and 27 vignettes, translated by Lady Layard. Venise, 1888- 15 fr- 717. Corona Delle Nobili et Virtvose Donne Libro Qyinto. — Nel quale si contengono molti, and varii Diffegni di diuerse forti, and special-: mente che feruono per Bauari ch'in Venetia fi coftumano, and in * molte altre parti del mondo. Opera molto vtile, and neceffaria per quelle virtuofiffime Donne che si dilettano di lauorare con Aco, punti in Aria, punti Tagliati, and a Reticelli, cosi fopra Cambradi, e Renfi, come sopra altre Tele. Venezia, appresso Cesare Vecellio, 1596. Prix fr. 20. Parasole C. 718. Teafro Delle Nobili et Virtvose Donne. — Dove si rappresentano Varij Dissegni di Lauori nouamente Inuentati, et disegnati da Elisa- betta Catanea Parafole Romana. Roma, 1616 .... Prix fr. 40 719. Urbano di Gheltof Francese. 720. Corona delle Virtuose Donne. Libro quinto, Vecellio, Venezia, 1590. 721. Prima Parte de'Fiori e Disegno di Varie Sorti di Ricame Moderni come Merle, Bavari, Manichetti etc. in Vene\ia. Appresso Francesco dei Franceschi, Senese all'Insegna della Pace. 722. Catalogue Ongania. i6o 723. J. Beal, dentelles et broderies, 14s 'planches. 724. J. Beal. Nouvelle edition dentelles anciennes, Paris chez Calaves 68- Quai de Lafayette. Foglie 26. 725. E. Kumsch. Spitjen und Weiss Sticker ei des XVI, XVIII, Jahrn. K. Kunst gewerbe Museum zu Dresden. Foglie 50. 726. Prof. B. Hoffman, director der K. Indusirieschule Stilisirte Plan\en- formen in Industriella Verwendung. Serie I. Spitzen 12, blatt. 727. Photographs of the Clunj Museum, published by A. Calavvas, 68 Rue Lafayette, Paris, 35 foglie. 728- R. Forrer. Die Graeber und Textilunde von Achmim Panapolis. Strass- burg, 1891. Druck von Emil Birkhauser Basel. 729. R. Forrer. Romische und Byzantinische Seiden Textile aus den Gaeber Felde von Achmim Panopolis, Strassburg, i-e, 1891- Druck Emil Birkhauser Basel. 730. Prehistorische Varia aus dem Unterhaltungsblatt fur Freunde der Alterthums kunde Antiqua. Herausgegeben von R. Forrer und H. Messikommer Zurich, 1889- 731. Reproduction of Ancient Lace Plates of the end of the last century, very rare, called: Nova Espositore di Recami e Disegni alia Molto Illu- stre Signora Ippolita Manfredi, appresso Giacomo Antonio Somascho. 732. Quental. Ornament und Stickmunsterbuch von Peter Quental, 1527- iS2g. 80 Tafelm, Leipzig von A. M. Golze. 733. John Sibmacher's Neues stick, Spitzen Musterbuch von Jahre, 1604. Herausgegeben von Dr Georgeus, Berlin, Ernest Wasmuth. 60 Tafeln, 2 boeder blatter. 734. Livre d'Heures, editeur Alfred Maine et Fils, Tours, Dessins, Henri Carot, Illustre d'apres les Dentelles de toutes les Epoques et toutes les styles. Foglie 360, et Introduction au sujet de la Dentelle. 735. Quarilch's Reprints of Rare Books. Ill — Pagan Mathio, La Gloria et l'Honore de Punto Tagliato e Punto in Aere. Venezia, Mathio Pagan, 1558- London Bernard Quaritch., 15 Piccadilly, 1884- 736. Idem. 737. Parasole Isabella, Catania. — Studio delle Virtuose Donne, Roma, Antonio Facchetti, 1597. 738- Teresa Guattrocolo Giaglio, Guida ai Lavori Donneschi. Libreria G. B. Petrini, Torino, 15. Via Garibaldi, 1890. 739. Alfredo Melani. — Svaghi Artistici Femminili, Editore N. Hoepli, 1892. 740. Livre de Dentelles No. 1. Chez Amand Durand sous la Direction de Emmanuel Bocher. 69 Rue du Cardinal Lemoine., 1883- Foglie 20. 741. Idem, No. 2. Foglie, 20. 742. Idem, No. 3. Foglie, 10. 743. Idem, No. 4. Foglie, 21. 744. Idem, No. 5. Foglie, 20. Appendix. RECUEIL DE PIECES EN PROSE LES PLUS AGREABLES DE GE TEMPS COMPOSES PAR DIVERS AUTHEURS ( 5 volumes ) A PARIS CHEZ CHARLES DE SERCY au palais, dans la salle Dauphine, a la Bonne -Foy couronnee M DC LXI. Avec privilege du Roy. Bibliotheque Nationale: Z/ 2182 /A. 4. Inventaire. La revolte des passemens A MADEMOISELLE DE LA TROUSSE: Belle et scavante de la Trousse Mon humeur aujourd'huy me pousse De Vous decrire les combats Les regrets et les embarras, Les retraittes et les tueries De Mesdames les Broderies Des inutiles ornemens Des poinds, Dentelles, passemens, Qui par une vaine despence Ruinaient aujourd'huy la France; Leurs vains efforts et le depit Qu'elles conceurent de 1' Edit, Lequel l'an mil six cent soixante Rendit chacune mecontente ; De plus leurs imprecations, Leurs belles resolutions, Les desseins de chacune d'elles La conversion des dentelles Qui voulaient par devotion S'enfermer en religion Lorsqu'une pauvre malheureuse, Qu'on appelle, dit on, la Gueuse, Sans en craindre le dementy Leur fit prendre un autre party Ou deslors qu'elles consentirent Bien-tost apres se repentirent De s'estre mises au hazard Mais il estait desia trop tard ; Et pour punir leur entreprise Je croy qu'une telle sottise, Meritait, comme on fit aussy Que 1'on leur fit crier mercy. 164 II etait environ les cinq heures du soir, lorsque les broderies, les poincts et les Dentelles, entendirent parler des passemens. Vous pouvez vous ima- giner leur surprise, apres l'ectat ou elles s'estoient veue's a l'Entree et comme elles se plaignirent de la Fortune, de ne les avoir elevees jusqu'au Trone, que pour les precipiter dans la boue. Aussi-tost que cette fascheuse nouvelle fut divulguee par tout, et que le bruit universel luy eust donne une entiere croyance, on ne rencontroit plus dans les rues que des broderies en carosse, qui se plaignoient les unes aux autres; que des poincts, qui dans leur affliction ne prenoient pas seulement la peine de se mettre en linge blanc, et que des Dentelles, qui d'elles mesmes, s'efforcoient de quitter la toille d'ou elles de- voient bientost etre separees. II y avoit desia quelques jours qu'elles deplo- roient leur malheur, lorsque le poinct de Genes, se trouvant dans la Com- pagnie du poinct de Raguse, du poinct de Venise, et de quelques autres, se plaignit en cette maniere. C'est aujourd' huy, noble assistance, Qu'il faut abandonner la France. Et nous en aller bien et beaux Pour n'estre pas mis en lambeaux: Ne croyez pas que je me rie II faut revoir notre patrie A mon gre fort pauvre ragoust Pour estre le baille-luy-goust D'un mari de qui l'oeil severe Redoute toujours l'adultere Ou nous serons mis en prison Dans quelque maudite maison Et toi pauvre poinct de Venise Tu dois craindre pour ta franchise Et que t'en retournant sur mer Par un malheur bien plus amer Un corsaire, ou bien pis encore Ne te traitte de Turc a. More: Que peut-estre dans le serail Ou le jour par un soupirail Vient le long d'une sarbatane Tu ne serve a quelque Sultane Qui peut-estre, pour ton malheur Sera femme du Grand Seigneur. Encor si ce coup de tonnerre Nous fut venu durant la guerre Peut-estre ma foy qu'en ce cas Je ne m'en tourmenterais pas En retournant dans ma patrie 165 J'eusse fait quelque menterie J'eusse dit quelque faussetd Que c'eut ete la pauvrete Et le manquement de finance Ou chacun avait veu la France Qui m'eut fait revoir mon Pai's ; Et du Danube au TanaTs On aurait cru pas ma sortie Que j'eusse quitte la partie Au lieu que l'on voit clairement Que nous sortons honteusement Encore pour vous poincts de Raguse Vous qui n'etes pas ma buse II est bon crainte d'attentat D'en vouloir purger un Estat ; Les gens aussi fins que vous estes Ne sont bons que comme vous faites Pour ruiner tous les Estats; Mais pour nous autres poincts, helas Et vous Aurillac ou Venise Si nous plions nostre valise Et si Ton nous presse si fort C'est je vous jure bien a tort. Les autres parlerent a leur tour, a peu pres aussi douloureusement que le poinct de Genes, lorsque d' un autre coste, les broderies ayant ete rendre visite aux Dentelles d'Angleterre, une vieille broderie d'or, qui avrait desia vu un autre decry et qui ne scachant plus que devenir, s'estait mise, en tour du lit, et puis auroit estii employee a la housse d'un cheval a l'en- tree de la Reyne, s'efforca de consoler ses Compagnes, eu leur parlant de la sorte. Sans faire la petite bouche II est vray que ce Decry me touche Et m'attaque aussi fort les sens Come a vous autres jeunes gens : Car dites-moy je vous en prie Poincts, Dentelles ou Broderies Qu'avons nous done fait a la Cour Pour qu'on nous chasse haut et cour Nous par qui la noble jeunesse Meprisant toujours la bassesse N'avait point d'autre passion Que la glorie et l'ambition 166 Pour nous seules faisant depence Vivoit quasi dans l'innocence Mais ces discours sont superfius Mes compagnes n'y pensons plus Et sans en deviner la cause Soyons desormais autre chose Et dans un semblable conflit Faisons nous toutes tour de lit C'est une agreable corvee Pour moi, je m'en suis bien trouvee La dessus une grande Dentelle d'Angleterre prenant la parole dit, Compagnes, mes cheres amies, Apres toutes ces infamies Qui doivent bien crever le coeur A> toutes Dentelles d'honneur Cet infortune sans seconde Me fait bien renoncer au mondc Et ne fait connaistre assez bien Que l'eclat du monde n'est rien Ce n'est qu'un vent, qu'une fumee Esteinte plutost qu'allumee Qui dans chaques occasions Se changent en illusions Ses faveurs ne sont que des songes'. Helas! qui peut de ces meusonges Vous rendre compte mieux que moy? J'habitais la maison du Roy J'ai vu toutes ces momeries Que Ton nomme galanteries Au Royamne des beaux Esprits J'ai veu ceux qui gagnent le prix Ces grands debiteurs de fleurettes Souvent caboches treis-mal faites Dcbitent d'un air surprenant 167 Des mensonges a tout venant, Vous autres, belles broderies ■ Vous avez de ces menteries Entendu je pense ma foy Peut-estre dix fois plus que moy ; Mais encore que cela deplaise Je les entendois a mon aise ; Car peut on sans ces deplaisirs Satisfaire mieux ses desirs Que de passer toute sa vie Dans des lieux qui feroient enuie Aux esprits les plus delicats Demeurant tantost sur les bras Tantost sur la gorge charmante De Philis ou bien d'Amarante ? Quel plaisir de toucher a nu Un beau sein tout nouveau venu De baiser les lys d'un visage Non terni par l'esies de l'age De toucher l'embonpoint d'un bras ; Mais a tous ces plaisirs, helas Je decouvre bien du meconte Un Edit nous comble de honte Mon coeur en est tout abatu,, Mais quoy mon coeur faisons vertu Des necessitez de la vie Et prenant desormais l'enuie De renoncer a ce plaisir Que pourrions nous icy choisir Qui nous put etre convenable Ou qui put etre comparable Pour ne plus tourner k tout vent Comme d'entrer dans un couvent? C'estait assez bien raisonner, ce me semble, pour une Dentelle, qui venait d'un pais ou la liberte de conscience n'est pas permise; et je trouve que pour le peu quelle avait habite en France, quelle n'y aurait pas fait un petit progres. Sa Harangue entra si avant dans 1' Esprit de ces com- pagnes, et les persuada si fortement qu'elles ne songerent plus a leur liberte, et qu'elles ne penserent plus qu'a faife un bon usage de leur disgrace. Mais les dentelles de Flandres ne pouvant pas souffrir une si rude reforme, se contenterent d'obe'fr seulement a la rigueur des loix et de se cacher pour ja- mais aux.yeux des Hommes. 168 Pour cela dies accepterent un party que Ton leur vint offrir de la parte des Filles ; et comme elles avaient toujours lie une etroite amitie ensemble elles ne durent he resoudre de les abandonner, et quelque cose que Ton leur pu dire pour les en detourn< j r ne leur put faire changer de resolution qu'el- les avaient prise de se mettre au bas de leurs chemises. Ce fut plutost un aheurtement qu'une resolution, et il n'y eut que le dessein d'estre rebelles qui leur put faire abandonner celui qu' elles avaient prise de se loger en un poste si avantageux, ou elles croyaient estre a l'aboy des insultes et des insolences des Hommes. Pour les broderies, elles en vou- lurent faire chacune a leur teste. La Lesine en fit resoudre quantite de de- venir ameublemens, d'autres plus pieuses, prisent dessein de s'employer aux chasubles, et aux devants d'autels des Eglises; mais celles qui avaient viei- ley parmi les divertissements, ne pouvant pas faire si-tost de necessite vertu, resolurent de s'employer aux habits de mascarades, esperant qu'en cet equi- page elles pourraient encor estre de tous les plaisirs de la Cour, et se trou- ver quelquefois aux bals, aux balets,, aux Comedies et a tous les divertis- sements du carnaval. La dentelle noire d'Angleterre se loiia a bon niarche a un Giboyeur, pour lui servir de filets a prendre des Becasses dans les bois, a quoy elle se trouvait assez propre dans l'habit oil la mode l'avoit mise depuis peu. Tous les poincts resolurent de s'en retourner en leur pai's, excepte le poinct d'Aurillac, qui fit plus de difficultes que les autres, craignant qu'aus- ■ sitot que Ton le verroit de retour, on ne employat a passer les Formages d'Auvergne, dont la senteur lui estoit insupportable, apres avoir goute la ci- vette, le muse, et l'eau de fleurs d'orange, dout il estoit arrose tous les ma- tins dans Paris; soit que ce fut pour corriger l'odeur de quelque gousset, ou quelque sueur trop aigre, ou pour attirer les Amans, comme on amorce les pigeons d'un colombier. Chacun dissimulant sa rage Doucement plioit son bagage Resolu d'obeir au sort. Ne se voyant pas le plus fort Lorsqu'une petite rusee Leur dormant une autre visee Leur fit bien dessus ce sujet A toutes changer de projet. Cette petite revoltee s'appellait la Gueuse, qui arriva d'une petite ville autour de Paris, qui s'en vint comme une enragee faire un vacarme epou- i69> vantable : Elle leur dit, quoy qu'elle ne fut pas de si bonne Maison, quelle avait du moins le coeur aussi bien place qu'un autre; et que quand elle se- rait toute seule de son party, elle ne souffrirait pas que de semblables in- justices demeurassent impunies; qu'elle ne sgavait pas quel refuge elles a- vaient resolu de prendre, inais que pour elk, elle n'avait pas assez d' esprit pour decouvrir ou elle pourrait se ritirer, puis qu'on ne luy offrait pas mesme une place a l'Hopital : que si on la voulait croire, elle engageoit sa chainette, qu'elles les remettrait toutes dans leur premier eclat, qu'au reste elles ne de- voient pas estre si degoustees, que de ne vouloir pas faire alliance avec elle ;. qu'elle avait eu pour le moins d'aussi beaux emplois que 'les autres, et que si on s'etait servi d'elle pour le faste, et pour ebloiiir les yeux, que pour sa discretion ou lui avait confie les plus grands secrets des Dames Tout ce discours remply d'audace Fit regarder chacun en face; On fut un temps sans dire mot Chacun croyant estre un grand sot ; Puis rompant ce morne silence Chacun pour dire ce qu'il pense Voulant parler a haute voix Tous commencement a la fois Ce qui causait un grand vacarme ; Mais apres de crainte d'alarme On appaisa tout ce grand bruit Et come il estoit deja nuit Chacun se retirant d'emblee Prit lors conge de l'assemblee Et se frappant dedans la main Toutes dirent qu'au lendemain Elles s'assembleroient encore Des qu'on decouvrirait l'aurore Se montrer dessus l'Horison Toutes dedans quelques maison Afin de voir plus net qu'un verre Tous les accidents de la guerre Que la nuit il faudrait resuer A ce qui pourrait arriver. Cependant ils remercierent Madame Gueuse, et la pricrent Dedans des accidents pareils De leur fournir de ses conseils. Ainsi finit, comme je pense Cette agreable conference. i?o ( C'estoit une chose assez agreable a mon gre d' entendre des dentelies discourir de la guerre, raisonner sur routes ses difficultes, en prevoir toutes les disgraces, et parler en leur langange sur tous les evenements d'un chose si douteuse. Le lendemain un passement qui estoit accoustome a ne point dormir pour avoir servi. a le coeffe bu Bonnet de nuit d'un vieux jaloux, les alia cueillir deux heures plus matin qu'on n'avait arreste, et elles se trouverent toutes, comme elles s'estoient donne le mot, au logis de Perdri- geon, croyant que ce devait etre un lieu de seurete pour elles; mais elles remontrerent la place occupee par les rubans, qu'elles trouverent si bouffis d' orgueil de n'etre pas compres dans l'Edit, qu'ils en estoient insupportables: si bien que ne voulant pas avoir de commerce avec de telles gens, qu' elles ne prenait que pour des esclaves ou des fous, que Ton ne laisse jamais sans etre liez, que la superfluity avoit mis en credit seulement depuis le regne de Louis XIIT, et qui ne passoient auparavant que cour des noueurs d'eguillet- tes a qui on faisoit metre bien souvent les fers aux pieds, comme a des criminels, eltes s' assemblerent toutes au vase d'or dans la rue S. Denis, oil on les recut a bras ouverts. La chacun parlant a sa teste Raisonnoit ainsi qu'une Ceste. Un autre se tenant debout Voulait mettre son nez partout; Tel qui proposait une affaire Aussi-tost conclud le contraire. L'autre faisant le rafine Se tourmentait come un damne L'autre de tout faisant mystere, Parle, raisonne, delibere Enfin pour le dire internos Ce n'estoit du tout qu'un cahos : Mais cependant foy de Dentelle Disoit pour temoigner son zele. Un grand cravate fanfaron II nous faut venger cet affront: Revoltons nous, Noble Assemblee J'en ai fame trop bourrche Et dit en jurant par la mort Voyons qui sera le plus fort. Vous pouvez vous imaginer facilement combien ce discours chatouilla l'orcille de la Gueuse, qui n'aspirait qu'a la revolte et a la sedition. Quel- ques unes remontrerent toutes les difficultez qu'il y avait dans une sembla- ble entreprise, veu que n'estant plus en credit, elles manqueroient de toutes les choses necessaires ; mais ce doute fut bientot leve par un poinct qui as- 171 seura qu'il trouverait credit de deux millions dans Paris, et peut etre davan- tage, si on pouvait voir quelque jour leur entier retablissement. II n'en fallut pas davantage Pour leur augmenter le courage. La-dessus le point d'Alencon Ayant bien appris sa lecon Poinct qui scavait plus d'une langue Fit une fort belle Harangue Remplis de tant de douceurs Qu'elle ravit, dit-on les coeurs. Cbacun temoignait sa furie, Lorsque de la contellerie II leur vint par un coup du sort Dit on un tres puissant renfort; C'estaient mesdames les Espees Encore presque toutes trempees Du noble sang des ennemis. Ces Espees, apres que le port d'armes fut defendu, plutost que de de- meurer inutiles, s'estoient resolues de se racourcir, c'est k dire les Couteaux de devenir couteaux de poche, et les estocades de se changer en Bayonnet- tes; et pour en venir du proiect a l'execution, elles s'en alloient toutes en- semble a la Coutellerie, lorsqu'entendant parler de la Revoke des Passements, elles changerent bientot de dessein et se resolurent de leur aller offrir leur service. Vous pouvez vous imaginer si on les receut favorablement, et si on fit leur composition avantageuse. Premierement, on leur promit, que si le party demeurait victorieux a pas-une de toutes celles qui se seroient employees pour leur service, ne pendroit plus qu'a des bandriers en broderie ; qu'on qu'on les feroit toutes damasquiner a la mode, et qu' elles ne coucheroient plus que dans des foureaux parfumez : Les poincts mesme leur promirent de leur part, de les mettre en si haut credit aupres des Dames, qu'elles passe- roient desormais, aussi bien que les plumes, pour l'ornement le plus surpre- nant et le plus avantageux pour leur plaire. On dit che quelqu'une d'entr'elles Qu'on disait venir du Marais Leur aprit aussi des nouvelles De leurs amis les pistolets: Tout aussi-tost de haute lute A l'instant mesme Ton depute Vers ces ennemis de la paix On res asseura desormais Quelque chose qui leur put plaire, 172 Tout au moins de les satisfaire; Que si pour les vouloir vanger II se vouloient tous engager Pour plus grande reconoissance On ne les chargeroit en France Qu'avec des poudres de parfum Et quelques amis de Verdun. II ne fallut pas grande eloquenee pour persuader les pistolets d'accepter un semblable party. La misere oil ils estoient les y fit bien-tost resoudre; et comme il ne voyoient ancune ressource d'autre part, ces propositions leur eblotiissant les yeux, ils promirent de faire merveille, ce qui remit le cceur au ventre de bien des poinds, et de bien des broderies, qui n'au- roient autrement accepte la guerre qu'a ecorche cul. Combien vit-on apres cela de Dentelles qui se faisoient toutes blanches de leurs Espees ? Pour s'exciter les unes les autres, elles se racontoient a combien d'occaslons pe- rilleuses, elles s' estoient rencontrees. Telle Dentelle de Flandres, disait avoir fait deux campagnes sous monsieur le prince, en qualite de cravate; une autre se vantait d'avoir appris le mestier sous Monsieur de Turenne ; une autre racontoit comme elle avait este blessee an Siege de Dunquerque, et que s'il n'y paroissait plus, c'estait qu'elle s'estait fait penser sur le metier: II se trouvoit mesme une grande garniture, toute entiere de Poincts de Ra- guse, qui disoit avoir appris le mestier sous monsieur de Candale, lorsqu'il commandoit en Catalogne. Enfin en entendoit raconter partout un nombre infiny de belles actions; il n'y en avoit presque pas une, qui ne se fut ren- contree a quelque Siege,, a la journce d'une bataille, et qui n'eut du moins fait deux ou trois campagnes, et telle broderie qui n'avoit jamais este plus loin que du fauxbourg S. Antoine au Lonore, racontoit mille beaux exploits qu'elle avait fait tantost sous un tel capitaine, et tantost sous un autre chef. Ainsi souvent les ridicules Rencontrant des esprits credules Se vantent de mille beaux faits Et pour que chacun les honore Leur testes dignes d'helebore Racotet des cobats qu'ils ne virent jamais Ce n' est pas une chose rare dans le monde que ces sortes d' extrava- gances. Combien voyons-nous, tous les jours de ces Braves jusqu'a degainer? combien de ces gens qui se font tenir a quatre, pourveu qu'il y ait quelqu'un pour les separer, et qui ne parlent que de mettre sur le carreau, de casser les jambes, et d'abattre un bras, pourveu qu'ils ayent perdu 1'ennemy de veue ? Nos passements en firent bien de mesme lorsqu'ils virent le renfort des espees et des pistolets. Jamais on ne vit de plus grands Rodomons. Une dentelle d'Angleterre s'ecria la-dessus. 173 Qu'avons nous done a redouter, Puisque la cour reste sans arme? Je croy qu'il ne faut pas douter Qu'elle'ne fasse un beau vacarme; Mais sans que sa fureur nous donne aucune alarme II la fandra laisser pester Cette dentelle s'imaginoif qu'elle n'avoit plus a craindre que quelque Halebarde ou quelque Pertuisanne, dont les coups passeroient d'untre en outre sans l'offencer. Le poinct de Gennes qui avoit le corps un-peu plus gros, dit qu'il ne s'en mettoit guere en peine, et qu'il feroit faire des caisses a l'epreuve de la pique et du baston a. deux bouts. La broderie estant faite •en chemise de mail, se mit a siffler quand elle entendit parler de toutes ces difficultez; si bien qu'on ne vit jamais de gens si braves, parce qu'elles s'imaginoient n avoir plus rien a redouter. La.-dessus il leur vint encor une autre avis, que pour quelque desordre on vouloit defendre les masca- rades, ce qui n'encouragea pas peu les broderies, tant k cause qu'elles voyoient leur beau dessein renverse que parce qu'elles s'imaginoient que cela renforgait leur party, et qu'elles s'en pourroient servir d'espions dans Jeur armee, sans qu'on put les jamais reconnaitre Enfin tout estoit resolu Et chacun d'eux hur-tu-brelu, Vouloient demeurer sans oreilles, Sitons ne faisoient des merveilles ; Et sans presqu'avoir conteste lis Signerent tous le traitte Qui fut depuis mis en lumiere A peu pres de cette maniere. Anjourd'huy selemnellement Nons jurons foy de passement Foy de poincts et de Broderies De Guipure, d'Orfevrie De Gueuse de toute fagon Que nous voulons mettre a rangon La cour du roy nostre bon sire, Et que ce qui sera le pire Nous voulons bannir hautement Le Conseil et le parlement Pour d'une honteuse maniere Avoir voulu faire litiere Tant des plus nobles ornements Que de nous autre passements 174 Qu'il faut que la Diable s'en pende On qu'on les condamne & l'amende Que pour semblables trahisons Pour telles et autres raisons Voulant toujours aller grand'erre Nous voulons declarer la guerre Et dire par tout hautemelit Que sans un restablissement Qui fut d'etenielle duree La guerre sera declaree A tous les ennemis. du repos Et que nous casserons les os A ceux qui voudront entreprendre Tant seulement de les defendre Ce que nous signons tout entier Ce dix-huitieme Janvier Tant les nouvelles broderies Comme celles des friperies Tant les gueuses, les agremens Comme les autres passemens. Le traite ayant ete signe, on ne songea plus qu'a choiser un poste avantageux pour les trouppes ; mais il s'emeut quantite de difficultey sur le sujet. Les uns soutenaient par vives raisons, qu'il fallait sortir de Paris, parce que tant que Ton habiterait avec ses ennemis, il estoit impossible de se garantir de leurs embusches : Que si Ton faisoit ce pas en Arriere ce n'estoit que pour mieux sauter; et qu'il valait bien mieux voir venir l'ennemy a. soy, que de l'avoir de quelque coste que Ton se tourne. Mais une dentelle qui avait autrefois servy a soustint qu'elle scavait par expe- rience, que de quitter Paris, estoit abandonner la partie et qu'il valait bien. mieux s'emparer du terrain, et le disputer, que de l'abandoner sous espe- rance de le prendre puis apres d'emblee : que de plus elle scavait bien qu'ils. ne manqueroient pas de partisans, qui leur donneroient tous les jours de nouvelles forces et de nouvelles lumieres des affaires; au lieu qu'estant hors de Paris, on n'en pouvait scavoir que par les espions; et que le Regiment des Gardes estant tous les jours a l'affut pour les decouvrir, ils ne perdroient autant qu'ils en feroient sortir de leur Armee. II s'emeut encore une seconde difficulte pour scavoir si on feroit la. guerre ouvertement; si on mettroit d' abord le siege devant quelque place, et si on rangeroit tout d'un coup l'Armee en bataille; on bien si on se menageroit davantage, si on ne se contenteroit pas de repousser les insultes, et si ou ne se mettroit pas plutost en estat de faire une retraite honorable,, que de s'engager tout d'un coup dans des combats dout le seul appareil serait capable de les epouvanter. On fut encore partage sur cet article: les 175 Tins soutenaient que c'estoit trop hazarder, que de donner bataille tout d'un •coup ; qu' il estoit difficile que des trouppes qui n'avoient habite que parmy les femmes, fussent si-tost aguerries; et que si elles venoient a la perdre, elles seroient perdues sans ressource, et ne se ralieroient jamais: Les autres soutenoient que les premiers efforts estoient toujours les plus violents; que tel qui fournissait bien une carriere, n'estoit pas quelquefois a l'epreuve d'une seconde, et que des cceurs mal aguerris se ralentissoient assez tost; que la moindre pluye, et le moindre mauvais temps, les rendroient toutes moles ■et sans vigneur; que ne combattant pas a force ouverte on les dissiperoit toutes petit a petit; que deux millions n'estoient pas suffisants pour faire subsister si long-temps une armee si nombreuse, et que quand leurs finances servient epuisees, elles ne voyoient pas a qui elles pourroient avoir recours. •Comme elles en estoient sur toutes ces difficultez une d'entr'elles, dont je n'ai pu sgavoir le nom, les vint avertir qu'elle avait pratique sous la main, une affaire d'une haute importance et que moyennant une somme assez considerable, elle s'estoit rendue Maitresse de la foire S. Germain, mais qu'il lui estoit defendu d'en ouvrir les portes publiquement, jusques au troisicme fevrier, et que cependant il faudrait faire marcher toutes leurs trouppes et garnir la place de toute sorte de munitions. Ce dernier advis les emporta tout d'un coup; on se resolut que Ton demeurerait dans Paris, que Ton tiendroit toujours l'armee en bataille de peur de surprise: que Ton feroit tous les jours des sorties considerables, et que par ce moyen on pourroit se menager sans rien craindre. La-dessus ou donna les ordres necessaires a toutes les trouppes, et on ordonna qu'elles fileroient petit k petit, et que sans faire un bruit, elles se rendroient dans la place; ce qui fut execute ponctuellement jusqu'au troisieme de fevreir auquel jour, le generalissime Luxe, avec la superfiuite et le vain orgueil, qui ne I'abandonne jamais, Jeur firent faire la revue, et les rangerent en bataille, comme vous verrez par la suite. Mais pendant que ce jour viendra Abandonnons un peu la prose Et discourant sur autre chose Parlons de ce qui vous plaira Par le Dieu qui lance les flames Dites-moy pourquoy vos attraits Ne seront-ils faits tout expres Que pour faire eurager nos ames Vous pour qui cent cceurs chaque jour Souffrent mille cruelles gehemes Vous qui causez toutes leurs peines Pourquoy n'aurez vous point d' Amour? 176 Quoy ny le rang, ny le merite Le renom, l'esprit, ny le coeur A vostre inhumaine rigueur Ne feront point prendre la fuite? Vous voyez ou je veux aller Et comme vous estes trcs fine Je vois que Vous me faites signe Sur ce fait de ne plus parler Tout beau muse trop libertine Avez vous l'esprit de travers? Meslez-vous de faire des vers Vous etes un peu trop badine. L'ordre ayant este donne de la maniere que vous avez entendu, le Colonel Sotte-despense, qui avait prit le soin de la marche, fit arriver les~ trouppes dans la place par quatre costez defferens, afin de donner moins de. soupcon de leur autreprise Lors comme j'ay veu dans 1'histoire On vit arriver a la foire Sous de differens estendarts Des dentelles de toutes parts Mais selon l'ordre expediee On marchoit enseigne pliee Et pour faire encore moins de bruit On n'alloit presque que de nuit De peur qu'on ne demanda qu'est ce On n'oza pas battre la caisse Et chacun alloit doucement Tant le poinct que le passement Qui pourrait nombrer chaque sorte De ceux qui vinrent par la porte. Qui prend nora du Luxembourg Combien par celles du fauxbourg Et par les autres moins famenses Combien il arriva de gueuses Combien il en vint sourdement Combien d'autres plus hautement. Pour vous en descrire 1'histoire Toute l'encre d'une escritoire N'y pourrait pas suffir encor II en vint dont le pesant d'or 177 N'auvait pas paye leurs dents creuses Tant elles estoient precieuscs II en vint que le plus souvent On disait venir du Levant II en vint des bords de l'lbere II en vint d'arriver n'agueres Des pays septentrionaux Enfin il en vint des tonneaux Tant de mechante, tant de bonne Que "le seul nombre m'en estonne. Quand elles furent toutes arrivees dans la foire S. Germain, ce fut un desordre et une confusion epouvantable, chacun voulait avoir le premier rang, et comme l'ordre et Ies dignitez, n'avoient pas encore ete decidees, n'ayant jamais ete mises sur le tapis, ils se seroient tous egages les uns les autres, et les pistolets qui faisoient desia feu, et qui scavaient un peu mieux la guerre, alloient faire main basse, si le generalissime Luxe, accompagne de sa suite ne fut venu mettre l'ordre parmy les trouppes de nouvelle impres- sion, qui s'imaginoient que pour etre braves, il ne fallait que faire du bruit, et jurer deux ou trois morguiennes pour estre aussi bons soldats que les Allemans. Aussitost qu'ils furent arrivez, ils firent tracer deux lignes pour mettre l'Armee en bataille comme ils avoient desia proiette. On distribua les quartiers k chaque trouppe, et on chercha le poste, le plus avantageux, et le moins apparent que Ton put pour l'artillerie qui estoit composee de trois cens paires de canons a passement, tous charges de quartiers de ron- dache, et de chaisnettes de Ruban figure, ce qui devoit faire un fracas ef- froyable, et emporter les regimens tous entiers. Deux cent Cravates volon- taires, tenoient la campagne, et ne cherchoient par tout, qu'ii faire le coup de pistolet. En suite, ou donna l'aile droitte k commander au colonel Ra- guze, composee de six escadrons, chacun de cent cinquante ballots de den- telle dAngleterre, dentelles facon dAngleterre et de moresse. LAisie gauche estoit composee d'autant d'escadrons de Neiges, et tous estoient commandes par le capitaine Orgoglio. Le corps de bataille estoit de huit bataillons tous bordez de deux rangs de piquots en haye et sou- stenus par deux autres rangs de pistolets. Les premier estoit compose de cinq a. six cent quaisses toutes l'espee au cote de dentelles d'or, et commandees par le capitaine Brocar d'or, et portaient pour enseigne un Amour habille en broderie, avec de grands ca- nons aux jambes et des rubans jusques au bout de ses souliers, en sorte qu'avec sa petite taille, il ne ressemblait pas mal a un pigeon patu, avec cette inscription au haut du drapeau Ingannator di donne, voulant temoi- gner que les beaux habits et les riches ornements estoient pour 1'ordinaire ce qui surprenait le plus les femmes. 178 Le seconde etait compose de 400 ballots de Dentelles de Flandres, et de dentelles du Havre et estoit commande par le colonel Poinct de Genes, ayant pous enseigne la reyne de Suede avec cette inscription: Famosa per omnes terras. Le troisicme contenant cinq cens tiroirs de dentelles de soye noire, commanda par le colonel Brocar d'argent, et portait dans son drapeau un diable fort lests, fort poudre et fort afiete, a qui biens des gens faisoient ac- cueil, et un autre tout nud, a. qui on donnait des co^ips de baston, avec cette devise. Fa ti vestire, voulant dire qu'au siecle ou nous vivons, pour estre receu favorablement., il faut etre magnifique;, et qu'a moins d'estre leste il ne faut pas pretendre d'etre considere dans les Compagnies. Le quatrieme estoit compose de trois cens grands coffres de Broderies d'or et d'argent, sous la conduite du colonel Somptuosite ; leur drapeau estoit d'une etoffe precieuse, enrichies de broderies fort releves, avec ces trois ou quatre mots : Et pour le poll et pour la plume, voulant marquer par la que la broderie estoit necessaire pour la guerre, qu'elle servait a faire reconnaitre ler principaux chefs, et qu'elles estoit aussi de grand usage durant la paix, pour se donner quelque entree parmy le monde. Le cinquieme estoit de huit cens ballots de Gueuses, commandez par le capitaine Parcimonia, et portait une enseigne assez sale, et presque toute en lambeaux, ou ou lisait a peine nes mots espagnols: No siempre relumbra el cor aeon, qui significait en notre langue que le coeur ne se rencontrait pas plus dans les personnes eclatantes, que dans celles qui ne faisoient pas un si grand eclat Le sixieme comprenoit quatre cens quaisses de Poincts de Genes, Poinct d'Aurillac, Poincts d'Alencon, poinct de Raguse, et quelques autres, qui mar- chaient sous la conduite d'un estranger, nomme Poinct d'Espagne; leur en- seigne estoit de toille de Hollande toute parsemee d'aiguilles et d'espees sans nombre, avec ces mots: De lago alia spada duro passaggio\ ce qui voulait peut-etre signifier que pour eux qui avoient etre faits k l'aiguille et qui n'ha- bitoient que parmy les femmes, il estoit difficile de s'accoustumer aux fati- gues de la guerre. Le septieme contenoit douze cens gros pacquets de boutons a queuC, tant de canetille que de soye commande par le capitaine Agrement ; dans leur Enseigne on voyoit la figure d'un Homme l'epee a la main, qui remet- toit dans un sac quantite d'argent, dont une grande partie estoit encor com- pte sur un table, avec cette inscription: Si non auro saltern gladio quaerenda libertas. Le huitieme estoit compose de cinq cens Quaisses de dentelles escrues, que le lieutenant du colonel Brocar d'or commandoit, et Ton voyait ces mots ecrits: Gia di vanita hor di marte e sempre serva, se plaignant de ce qu'elles estoient tofljours esclaves^ ou de Mars pendant la guerre, ou de la Vanite durant la paix. 179 Quand toutes ces trouppes furent passees, et qu'elles eurent toutes pris teurs postes sur la premiere ligne, le generalissime donna les ordres pour faire avancer le reste qui devoit composer la seconde ; mais une petite den- telle d'un pouce, qui avoit quelque correspondance a la cour, vint avertir un grand passement de Flandres avec lequel elle avoit encore quelque intrigue, pour lui avoir autrefois servy de pied, que Ton les venait attaquer avec tous les canons de l'artillerie, et que s'ils n'abandonnoient ce poste, deux volees seules estoient capables de les foudroyer: Ce bruit a quoy elles ne s'atten- doient pas, passant aussitost de quaisse en quaisse et de ballots en ballots, ietta une epouvante si grande parmy le soldat passement, qu'il fut impossible de le retenir et que quelques efforts que purent faire les principaux chefs, ils ne furent pas capables de les arreter: tous se debanderent avec une telle con- fusion, qu'a moins de rien on n'en vit plus paroistre aucun sur les rangs. Chacun pour eviter l'assaut Se seroit iette d'un plein saut Dans une plus noire caverne Que ne sont celles de l'Averne. Chacun pour sortir se pressoit Une dentelle un poinct poussait Puis pour eviter la tuerie On voyait une broderie Se voulant pousser par un coing Recevoir plus d'un coup de poing. Un ballot poussait une quaisse Et tant pour sortir on s'empresse Que maints passemens sur leurs dos Sentirent maints coups de picquots. Alors mesdames les Espees Voyant qu'elles estoient dupees, Ayant les esprits mecontents De s'estre iointes a tels gens Retournerent tout en furie Tout droit a la constellerie; Et pour messieurs les pistolets Poussant mille et mille regrets Dans le depit qui les accable Se donnerent, dit on, au diable Qu'ils s'en vengeroient un petit: Pour cela chez Monsieur petit Ils firent soudain la retraitte Ou depins ils tinrent diete Pour plus aisement convenir De ce qu'ils pourroient devenir. 5 80 Le party des Rebelles ayant done este dissipe de la sorte, toutes ces trouppes epouvantees se retirerent avec precipitation du mieux qu'elles pu- rent dans les lieux oil elles crurent avoir plus de protection, pour y avoir este autrefois assez bient recues, et elles y demeurent quelque temps cachees. Cependant pour les punir de leur revolte on proposa de faire rendre un ar- rest solemnel, par lequel on auroit declare que tous les poincts serviroient d'oresnavant a faire de la mesche qui ne seroit employee que pour les mou- squets de la compagnie des Mousquetaires du roy; que toutes les dentelles serviroient a faire du papier sur lequel on devoit ecrire leur condamnatiom, pour en envoyer la copie par toute la France; que toutes les dentelles de soye, dentelles ecreues, gueuses et autres sortes de passemens seroient em- ployez peur faire des cordes, et qu'ainsi elles seroient envoyees aux Galeres a perpetuite pour servir de chaisnes aux galeriens, la Conte du roy ayant en quelque pitie du poids et de la durete de celles qu'il leur avait veu trai- sner a Marseille; que pour toutes les broderies d'or et d' argent, que parce que par un faux advis, on s'immagina qu'elles avaient excite cette sedition, on ordonna qu'elles seroient bruslees toutes vives. Pour les Espees, on les devoit laisser a la Constellerie jugeant bien que ce seroit une assez grande punition pour elles; mais pour les pistolets, a cause du grand services qu'ils avaient rendus durant l'espace de plus de vingt annees on feroit leur com- position meilleure et on leur offriroit un vaisseau pour les portes en Por- tugal, oil on les assureroit de leur faire trouver employ. Ce sanglant arrest qu'on estoit sur le poind de publier contre ces re- rebelles les obligea de se tenir encore plus cachez que jamais, il y eut pour- tant quelques broderies et quelques poincts, qui plus hardis que les autres, se hazarderent de sortir les soirs en habits deguisez, et s'estant une fois ren- contrez avec mesdames les Plumes dans une celebre mascarade qui se fit sur la fin du carnaval, dont le dessein estoit de prepresenter le triomphe de l'amour, ils renouvellerent l'etroite amitee qu'ils avoient toujours eu ensem- ble, pour s'estre trouve dans les mesmes occasions, ayant tous ete employez toute leur vie pour plaire aux Dames. Quelques-uns d'entre eux tombant adroittement sur le sujet de leur disgrace, sembloient ne se plaindre pas tant d'estre banny pour jamais de la societe des hommes, comme de ne pouvoir plus travailler avec les Plumes a de si glorieuses conquestes quoy que par une fausse humilitc ils avoiias- sent qu'ils ne pouvoient pas prelendre d'y avoir jamais travaille avec autant de succez. Ainsi les poincts. les broderies Gaignerent comme ont fait souvent Par ces adroittes flateries Les plumes qui vont a tout vent; Ces ornemens des jeunes testes 181 Leur promettet deja mille et mille coquestes Se voyant ainsi caresser Protestent desormais de quitter les ruelles Si on ne les veut exaucer. Par ces beaux discours les plumes s'engageoient deja a l'etourdy dans le party de ces miserables et je ne doute pas que ces gens qui sont tout k la legere ne les eussent servy comme ils leurs avoient deja promis, si l'a- mour qui faisoit luy mesme son personnage dans cette celebre mascarade, voyant que toutes ces prattiques lui pourroient apporter grands dommages pour le retablissement de ses affaires, car se voyant deja prive du secours des dentelles et des passemens qui lui avoient rendus de si grands services, il apprehendoit extremement de se voir encor abbandonne des plumes, qui estoient pour lors les seules forces qui luy restoient et- dont il tiroit le plus d'avantage, prevoyant bien que ne pouvant s'en passer absolument il seroit contraint d'aarracher plustot celles de ses aisles pour aisles pour les prester -aux galants qu'il employoit pour son service, estant absolument impossible qu'il pusse reussir dans leurs entreprises, sans leur aide ; et que lui-mesme apres cela n'en ayant plus ne pouvant plus voler si haut; seroit oblige de Tamper sur terre^ et de se reduire come autrefois parmi les bergers, ne pou- vant paroistre k la Cour, ny s'elever a de plus hautes conquestes. Ces considerations le porterent a rompre la partie qui s'estoit liee, et pour le faire de meilleure grave, il s'avisa d'offrir luy-mesme aux Passemens d'employer le credit qu'il avoit a la Cour pour leur retablissement, les priant de se reposer sur luy du soin et de la conduite de cette affaire, que la reconnoissance des services qu'ils luy avaient rendus iusques icy, l'obli- •geoit a l'entreprendre et qu'il ne doutoit pas d'y pouvoir reussir pourveu qu'ils ne precipitassent rien, et qu'ils se gardassent d'irriter de nouveau la •Cour par leur desobei'ssance. Lors considerant meurement L'effet de son engagement Et que s'il vouloit defendre Au lieu de leur faire faux bon ; Le petit Dieu plein de finesse Resolu de les servir mieux S'adressa d'un air plein d'adresse Au plus galant des demy-Dieux. Ce n'estoit pas d'aujourd'huy qu'il avoit de secrettes pratiques avec que lui; ils avoient toujours tant d'affaires ensemble, qu'ils sembloient ne se pouvoir passer Fun de l'autre; mais l'occasion luy estoit d'autant plus favo- rable, qu'il venoit tout de nouveau de le faire ouvertement declarer de son party, en sorte qu'il avoit tout lieu d'esperer un succes favorable a sa re- 182 queste. En effet, il ne se trompa pas ; notre demy-Dieu fut ravi de lui ren- dre ce petit service, pour le payer de tant d'obligation qu'il lui avoit, en sorte par son credit, il obtint de la cour, l'elargissement de quelques uns de ces miserables que Ton avoit pris prisonniers, pour en faire l'example des autres, avec l'entiere liberte pour tout le reste dont ils joiiissent maintenant en fa- veur de l'Amour. Mais apres que de Dieu viet de nous faire voir Le credit qu'il a dans la France Pensez-vous qu'il soit leps de faire restace ? La plus prude comme je pense Pouroit bien sans rougir ceder a son pouvoir; Et quoy qu'en vostre humeur altiere Vous le premiez pour un Oyson Vous avez beau faire la fiere 11 scanza bien un jour vous mettre a la raiso. INDEX. Dedication of the Book to Her Majesty the Queen of Italy Pag. 1 Reproduction of the Dedication to Her Royal Highness the Princess Margherita, Duchess of Ferrara, of an Antique Pattern Book for Lace Making by Aurelio Passerotti in 1592 » 4 Preface ................ 6 PART I. Consisting of an Introductory Description of all the Prin- cipal Needle and Pillow Laces Manufactured in the Past and Present Centuries, arranged chronologically. Argentella Pag. 16 Atitique Brussels Pillow Lace ........... r> 22 Antwerp Lace ................ Burato ................ i- 1\ Burano Point and the Laces to which it gave origin ....... ^> 16 Proderie des Indes ...... ....... » 17 Binche » 22 « Blonde » » 24 Cut Work » 11 Cartisane » 20 -Closter Spitze » 22 « Chantilly » » 23 •Ceylon Laces » 27 Drawn Work » 13 Duchess Lace »17 Dalecarlie ............... ^ 26 "English Needle Lace » 17 » Trolly Lace » 25 Frivolite » 10 Gimp » 9 •Guipure » 19 » di Genoa .............. ^ » » Fiamingo .............. >y t Honiton » 17 Irish Point » > » Guipure » 18 Knitting » 10 Laces »ll 184 La Bisette . Pag. 24. La Gueuse ..... ......... ^> " La Campane .......... ...... » La Mignonette .............. ^ » Macrame ............... ^ \o Maglia . ............... ^ ^ Modano ................ » » Merletto a Maglia or Maglietta » 1 1 » a Maglia Quadrata ............ ^ * » a Retine Ricamate .............. » a Tombola .... ......... » 18 Maltese Point » 19- Merletto Greco » 20 » Polychrome . . ... ........»» Mechlin » 21 Mediaeval Household Lace ............. 26 Madeira Lace » 27 Net » 11 > Lace ......... ....... > Square Net Lace .............. ^> 1 1 Embroidered Net Lace ............ ^ » Old Flemish Point ■> 21 Passements ................ 24 Passamano or Passamanterie ........... » 9 Punto a Groppo ................ > Moresco ...... ........ IO- » a Groppo Incordonato ......... » » » Tirato or Disfatto » 1 1 » Tagliato ............ . » » » in Stuora .............. ^ » Tagliato (Manufacture of) » » » Calabrese » 12. j. a Reticella or Radixeli (Net Point) » • » Surana ..,...........»>• » Greco ............... ^ » » Reale . . » » » di Cartella or Cardella ............. $ d'Arcato ................ » Flamingo ............... 13 » Spagnuolo ..............»> > Gaetani .............. t> t » Damaschino .............>» » a Filo or Punto a Festone ........... y> t > Rilevato ....,»........»» » Sopra Punto ............. * * » Ingarseato .............. ^ » » Cipriota ................ » Pugliese ..............>> Point Laces » » Punto di Venezia ..............> 14 » in Aria ................ > ad Avorio .............. ^ > 185 Punto dei Nobili Pag. 14 » Tagliato a Fogliame » i5 » di Spagna ................ » di Neve ..........,,..»» » di Rosa ................ » a Fogliame ...........,.»» » a Gioie ................ Point Colbert, or Grand Point de France . . » » » d'Alencon .............. > 16 » d'Argentan ......... ....»» » de Bruxelles ............... » Plat , 17 Punto di Genoa » 19 » di Ragusa .............. r, 20 » di Rapallo > » » a Vermicelli ............... Pillow Laces with Net and Mixed Grounds » 21 Point d'Angleterre » » » de Bruges .............. i> 22 » de Paris » » » « de Lille » ......... ...» 23 » d'Esprit . » 25 Punto di Milano, Punto di Napoli. » » Rete » 10 Russian Lace and Hungarian Lace ........ . » 20 Sicilian Torchon ....... . ...» 27 Torchon Lace .............. x, 25 Trolle Kant ................ 21 Turkish Point .»17 Vieux Point de Bruxelles . . ....... . > 25 Venetian Guipure .............. t, \(> Valenciennes Lace. ............. t> 23 PART II. The Birth of the Textile Arts and the Origin of Lace. The Lake Dwellers and their Textiles, Central African Life and Lace Makers . . Pag. 30 Babylonian and Assyrian Customs illustrated from the Life of Job . . . » 35 Oldest Egyptian Customs and Costumes, Illustrations on the Tombs constructed 3300 B. C. » 38 Jewish Costumes, the First Written Mention of Lace . . . . . . . » 41 Roman Costumes, the Wonderful Textile Treasures from Achmin Panapolis and the First Needle and Bobbin or Pillow Laces; Turkish Needle Laces . . . . » 45 Phrygian Caps and Nets of Lace. Greek and Etruscan Customs and Costumes . » 54 Arachne, the Goddess of Lace Making .......... ^ 58 Classic Bobbins, Crochet and Netting Needles for Lace Making ...... 56 Spindles, Whirls and Needles from the Reindeer Period, through the Ages to the present day . . > . ............ > 60 The Oldest Knitted Socks in Existence ; Peruvian Knitting Needles and Yarn, long anterior to the Landing of Columbus ... . . . . . . » 62 186 PART III. The Renaissance. The Early Christian Church and the Court of Byzantium preserve a tradition of Textile Art. The Mosaics of Ravenna ; Hyspano Moresque Laces of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries ......'...... Pa<>. Blue Lace ................ Polychrome Silk Laces and Mediaeval Embroideries and Drawn Work . . . . » Byzantine Baptismal Lace ............ Opus Anglicanum ............ . » The Sumptuary Laws and Edicts against the use of Gimps and Lace from 1215 to the Sixteenth Century .......... . » The Treasures Preserved in the Archives of Bologna illustrate Lace Making . . » The Rotuli shew when Reticella came into Fashion ........ Early Venetian Costumes, the Wonderful Kerchiefs ........ Rhodian and Sicilian Drawn Work, Punto a Crocetta and Trapunto Cartisane, Waxed and Gold Lace .............. The Sforza Visconti Document ....... ...» Gothic Laces made by Queen Isabella of Spain and her Daughters ; Worn by Columbus > Luxury in House Linen . . .........> The Earliest Piece of True Venetian Point, Punto in Aria ....... 65 69 68 69 70 71 » 73 74 78 79 8o 84 PART IV. The Golden Age of Lace. From l5oo to the French Empire . . . .... The Old Lace Pattern Books and Titian's Nephew ....... The Palatial Boarding Schools of the Sixteenth Century; Princely Teachers Queen Catherine of Medici, la Reine des Marguerites The Queen of Daisies, and Mary Queen of Scots among Royal Lace Makers .... The Superb Net Lace Nos. 168, 170, made by Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre and Mother of Henry IV of France and the Ladies of her Court during the Perse- cution of the Huguenots ........... The Legend of the Unicorn pictured in Lace, and other Storied Meshes Modena, Tuscan, and Cyprian Laces .......... Spanish and French Guipures ........... The Noble Venetian Ladies who protected and developed Textile Art Punto in Aria, Cardinal and other Emblematic Laces ....... Moresque Lace and Macrame Guipure made in Madeira, Milan, Genoa, Ragusa and Venice The Lace of the Buoncompagni Pope Gregory XIII, and the Pictures by Lavinia Fontana The Votive Lace of the Italian Fisher Folk Angelica Bafico .............. The Legend of the Invention of Rose Point ........ The Barberini Corsini Laces Her Majesty's Laces and the Copies made from them at Burano .... Clement VIl's Surplice which belonged to Robert Browning the Poet The Secret of Point Lace Making stolen from Venice by Order of Colbert Lace Schools Established in France .......... Royal Advertising in the Seventeenth Century ....... Pag. 85 86 87 88 89 90 9' 98 97 » 99 » 101 102 100 i8T Madame de Sevigne and Black Lace, and Lsftre Printed on Dress Goods . . . Pag. 107 The Fashion Babies » » The Sixteen Wonderful Books of the " Ancients » at Bologna .....»» The Unfinished Burano Lace of the Nuns » 108 Alenqon and Argentan » 109 The Laces of the Emperor Napoleon the First and his Family . . . . . » 1 10 The Originals and their perfect copies from Burano, among which is to be found the First Example of Shaded Lace . . . . . . . . . » ill Marie Antoinette, Queen of Fashion and her Prime Minister Mdlle. Berti . . . » Hi German Laces, and those of other Northern Nations . . . . . . » 113 Rare Examples of all the qualities of Dutch and Belgian Lace . . . . » 1 1 5 Laces from the Old Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Northern Provinces of Italy » 120 The Blondes of the Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . » 124 The Reawakening of Italy to Artistic Life ....... . » 127 PART V. Modern Lace, its makers and its framing. The Wood Carvings by Besarel and his Daughter Catherine Pag. 129 205. The Peasant Woman from Brazza . . . . . . . . . . » 130 The Silks from Udine ........ ....»» The Gates wrought in the shadows of Romeo's and Juliet's Castles . . . » 131 ao5l. The Greatest Italian Photographer, a Woman and a Countess, who carried off the Gold Medal in London » 132 234-238. The Wonderful Laces made by an Italian Marchioness . . . . • » '33 2053. Straw Plaiting from the Seven Communes ..... . » » 2054. id. id. ........»» 2022. The School of Burano — Tribute to the idolized Countess Andriana Marcello . » 134 2020. The School of Coccolia, belonging to the Countess Maria Pasolini . . . » 1 35 2012 a-b. The School of Brazza, founded by the Authoress in September 1891 . . » 136 Institution of SS. Ecce Homo, Naples, the Home for Girls orphaned by the Cholera . » 137 Signora Enrica Fraschetti, the most perfect Artist in Reticella . . . . . » » The Industrial School of San Ranieri, Pisa . . . . . . . . » 1 38 The Schools of San Pelegrino Bologna, 2013, and S. Paolo, Modena, lo5l. . . » » 2002. The Asylum of the Figlie di Maria in Sardegna .......»» 2005. The Orphanage of St. Silvestro, Florence ......... 139 2006. The Institution of Santa Teresa, and 2003, the Leopoldine Schools in Florence . » » The Exhibitors and Art School of Cantu, 2009 A. B > 140 2014. Offida Laces. .............>> 2019. Piedmont Laces ............. j> n 2015. Meroni. Antonia, Cantu . . . . . . . . . » 141 2o5o. Modern Polychrome Lace ............. 3018. Colombo Angelo and Giuseppina .... » 142 200;. Marelli Benedetta » » Liguria .......... ...... 1 » Vincenzo Badarucco, 204 1, and Nicola Bianchi, 2042, Chiavari . . . . ' » » The School of Providence, '2024, Rapallo ....... . » 143 Nicola Castagnetta, 2024, Rapallo ..........»> Luigia Campodonico, 2025, Rapallo .......... d ^ Teresa Canevaro, 2026, Rapallo » » Maria Schiattino Quirolo, 2027, Rapallo . . ... > > If Gherardelli Campodonico, 2028, Rapallo Rosa Lanata, 2035, Rapallo . Angelo Morelli, 2029, Rapallo Gaetano Vastallo, 2031, Rapallo . Colombo Caprili, 2048, Rapallo Anna Barbieri, 2049, Rapallo Angela Baffico, 2023, Santa Margherita . Felice Foppiano, 2034, Santa Margherita Mariana Marigliano, 2036, Santa Margherita Maria Raffo Costa, 2037, Santa Margherita Ernestina Zanotti, 2038, Sanipierdarena . Giuseppe Russo, 2040, Genoa Dr. Macchiarello, 2039, Genoa 2011. The Ladies of Perugia 2010. The Sisters of Providence . 2921. The Penitentiary of Messina 2047. Tuscan Homespuns Modern Laces from Paraguay, China, Japan, Turkey, etc . Pag. 143 » 144 » 140 146 PART VI. List of the names of the Lady subscribers and Committee for the Italian Lace Exhibit in the Woman's Building of the World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, United States of America, during the summer of 1893. List of the Lady Directresses and Patronesses of the Italian Lace Exhibit, domiciled in Italy and elsewhere . . . . . ... Pag. 149 List of Books of Reference Exhibited . » 1 57 APPENDIX. La Revolte des Passemens 161 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Frontespiece, Brazza lace makers. 2. Reproduction of the frontespiece of the Libro dei Lavorieri by Aurelio Passeroti, 1591. 3. Id. of the dedication, id, to H, S. H. the Duchess Margherita Gonzaga d'Este. 4. Design for embroidered net in the pattern book of Meolo Aristotile Zoppino, printed in Ve- nice in 1037. 5. Design for square net Lace; from A. Zoppino's Pattern Book, A. D. 1537. 6. Design for net Lace; id, id. 7. Design for lavoro a Punto in Aria from the pattern book of Elisabeth Parasole, Rome. 8. Cartouche of the wife of Ramses VII, from his tomb in the valley of the kings near Thebes, showing the trimmings used during the 13 th century B. C. in Egypt. 9. Pallas Athene, from a Greek Vase of the Fourth Century B. C. in the Etruscan Museum at Villa Giulia, Rome, showing the costumes worn at that period in Greece and Etruria. 10. Portrait of the Empress Thpodora with a Gentleman and Lady of her court, taken from the Mosaics in the Basilica of the Church of St. Vitale in Ravenna, which was built by her at the beginning of the sixth century. 189 12. 13- U. 15. 16. 17- Pen and-ink sketch taken from the only portrait of Christopher Columbus in which he is represented as wearing lace. This picture belongs to the Cavaliere de Ferrari of Genoa (The lace is gothic in design). Costume of the Fifteenth Century. Portrait of a baby swathed in lace and laid in a crib of Punto tirato and Punto gotico, in the Royal Picture Gallery of Bologna; costume of the Sixteenth Century. Some of the guests at the rich dinner given by Francesco Ralla, Gonfaloniere, to the An- cients or Governors of the quarters of the city, shewing how lace was worn in the XVII. century, copied from a miniature of that epoch in the Insignia degli Anfiani vol. X, preserved in the city archives of Bologna. Louis XVI and his family in the garden of the Trianon, showing the manner in which lace was worn in the eighteenth century. A Sketch takea at a Garden Party at the Princess de Sagan's, shewing how Ladies use lace at the present day. View of the triumphal arch in which Her Majesty Queen Margaret's laces are exhibited. Sketch of a Burano lace maker at work, made by Her Royal Highness Princess Louise of England, Marchioness of Lome. All the sketches, with the exception of this last, are by the authoress, Countess Cora, A, Slocomb di Brazzk Savorgnan. Venice, 1893. — Tip. Emiliana. ERRATA The gentle reader is requested to excuse the typographical errors which have crept in, as they are due to the fact the Compositors were Italians entirely unacquainted with the English language. Page Line For Read 7 19 Manufacturies Manufactories 9 3 mast most 12 18 given given to » 25 holeing holing 14 1 1 elaboratly elaborately 15 9 formely formerly » 25 sexagonal hexagonal 16 24 holeing holing 18 12 he be 20 18 of or of one or 21 18 sexagonal hexagonal 22 20 Spitzc Spitze » 34 This it the This is the 26 22 this work in . This work is » 30 requiring require 32 17 Lawer Lower 37 l lor for » 9 stour flour 51 34 Palia Palla 68 8 fasionable fashionable 7i 17 fiorcale floreate 72 2o through though » 24 coued could » » fat at 80 15 in teiest interest 84 31 dedicacy delicacy 85 16 volunne volume » » aboe above Page Line For Read 85 21 honse house » 32 maides maidens 86 2 flat tering flattering » 15 dangther daughter » 23 defty deftly » 32 a may away 87 18 platers platters » 20 so, that so that, » 25 accros across » 33 asin as in 88 15 af of » 30 formed found 95 l repititions repetitions » 6 origin origin » 30 CCCLV CCCXXXV. 99 20 honsekeeping housekeeping » 15 willages villages » 21 yonng young » 28 abont about 100 7 tha the » 29 experienced experience 107 23 plainted painted » 26 recosds records 108 15 havt have » 16 coufusion confusion > 20 yonthful youthful 125 24 revivaf revival Venezia, 1893. — Tipografia Emiliana.