Chats on Old Lace and Needlework Part 8

[Ill.u.s.tration: OLD HONITON (NEEDLEPOINT GROUND).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: OLD HONITON.

(_Author's Collection._)]

Most of the old Devonshire laces bear distinct likeness to the fine Flemish lace, only the clumsiness of the design or the coa.r.s.e workmanship differentiating them. It has, however, one special feature which gave it the name "Trolly lace," as, unlike the perfectly flat lace of Flanders, it has a coa.r.s.e thread or "trolly" outlining its patterns, and being made of English thread, it was coa.r.s.e and not very durable.

_Honiton_

has always easily ranked first amongst our British laces, although by many not considered equal to fine Bucks. Like the Midland lace, it has been always made with Flanders thread, and therefore has maintained its popularity because of its _wear_ and its _colour_. The early Honiton workers copied "Brussels" lace, but because of their inability to produce an artistic design it has never been anything but a _poor_ copy.

Even when the Brussels influence was most direct the flowers and sprays were placed inartistically, while the scroll copies of the early Flemish schools can only be termed the imitative handiwork of a child.

The most prized specimens of old Honiton are those with hand-made ground, made of Flanders flax. Very little of this real ground Honiton lace is left. Queen Victoria did much to make Honiton lace _the_ lace of the land; but although a regular trade has been established, and much good work accomplished, Honiton of the past will never be regarded on the same plane as the laces of Venice, France, and Brussels. Even in its best variety it lacks the exquisite filmy touch of Brussels, the dainty grace of Alencon, and the magnificence of Point de France and Venetian Point. The Honiton laces made since the introduction of machine-made net is especially poor. Flower sprigs and sprays are made separately on the pillow, and afterwards applied to the machine-made ground. These are, as a rule, flowers and foliage treated naturalistically, and are heavy and close in design. These are often very sparingly applied over a wide expanse of net in order to make as much lace with as little trouble as possible. This is very different to the work of the old Honiton lace-worker, who made every inch of it herself--first the sprays and scrolls, then worked the ground round it, and received, it is said, from the middleman (who purchased it for the town market) as many shillings as would cover the lace offered for sale.

We are glad to say, however, that very praiseworthy efforts are being made to introduce better methods and more artistic designs in the many lace schools which are being formed in various parts of Devon. Mrs.

Fowler, of Honiton, one of the oldest lace-makers in this centre, making exquisite lace, the technique leaving nothing to be desired, and also showing praiseworthy effort in shaking off the trammels of the traditional designs.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MODERN HONITON, MADE BY MRS. FOWLER.]

XII

SCOTCH AND IRISH LACES

XII

SCOTCH AND IRISH LACES

Hamilton lace--Mary Queen of Scots--Modern lace-making in Ireland--Limerick lace--Carrick-ma-cross--Irish crotchet--Convent laces.

Scotch lace can hardly be said to exist. At one time a coa.r.s.e kind of network lace called "Hamilton lace" was made, and considerable money was obtained by it, but it never had a fashion, and deservedly so. Since the introduction of machinery, however, there has been considerable trade, and a tambour lace is made for flounces, scarfs, &c. The more artistic cla.s.s of work made by Scotswomen is that of embroidering fine muslin, and some really exquisite work is made by the common people in their homes.

Much mention is often made of Mary Queen of Scots and her embroideries and laces. It must be remembered that she married firstly the Dauphin of France, and while at the French Court imbibed the taste for elegant apparel and costly lace tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs. There is no record that she ever wore lace of her own country's manufacture, and, although English writers often quote the lace made by her fair hands, really the needlework made by Queen Mary at Fotheringay was embroidery.

_Irish Laces._

The early lace of Ireland was the usual cut and drawn work, and it was not until the earlier part of the nineteenth century that lace-making actually became a craft. In the eighteenth century many brave attempts were made to commence lace schools, and the best work was done in the convents, where really fine work was executed by the nuns, the patterns having been sent from Italy. It was not until 1829 that the manufacture of Limerick lace was first inst.i.tuted. This really is not lace at all, as it is merely chain-st.i.tch worked in patterns on machine-made net.

This pretty so-called lace was first made at Limerick by an Oxford man, who established a school there, taking with him twenty-four girls as teachers. It quickly became very popular, in the early "fifties" every woman of either high or low degree possessing herself of at least a lace collar or fichu of Limerick lace.

In 1855 more than 1,500 workers were employed, but decidedly the best lace of the manufacture belongs to the time prior to this date. The quality of the net ground has also deteriorated, or perhaps the best net has not been purchased.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LIMERICK "FILLINGS."]

Very dainty little sprays and flowers are produced in the fine chain or tambour st.i.tch, the hearts of the flowers or the centres of the scallops being worked over in an endless variety of extra st.i.tches, as will be seen in the ill.u.s.tration.

Another variety of lace is Carrick-ma-cross, which was contemporary with Limerick. This is merely embroidery again, but has more claim to the t.i.tle of lace, as the tiny little flowers and scrolls are connected with brides made of b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch ornamented with picots. This is really a very handsome lace, its only drawback being that it will not _wash_.

The fine lawn of which it is made is b.u.t.tonholed round and then cut away. This, in cleaning or washing, _contracts_ and leaves the b.u.t.tonhole edging, and in a few cleanings it is a ma.s.s of unmendable rags.

Slightly more serviceable is another variety of Carrick-ma-cross, on which the lawn is appliqued to a machine-made net, the pattern outlined with b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tches, and the surplus lawn cut away, leaving the network as a grounding, various pretty st.i.tchings filling up the necessary s.p.a.ces.

Yet another kind of lace is made, and is really the only real lace that Ireland can claim. This is the Irish crotchet, which in its finer varieties is a close imitation of Venetian Point, but made with fine thread and with a crotchet needle. Some of the best is really worth purchasing, but it is costly, realising as much as five guineas per yard. A very delicate "Tatting" also comes from the Emerald Isle, and in comparing English and Irish laces one is inevitably struck with the reflection that there is more "artistry" in the production of Irish laces and embroidery than in England with all her advantages. The temperamental differences of the two races are distinctly shown in this, perhaps more than any other art.

Much really notable work is now being executed in the Irish lace schools. At Youghal, co. Monaghan, an exact replica of old Venetian Point is being worked. Various fine specimens from the school occupy a place at South Kensington Museum, and the lace industry of Ireland may be said to be in a healthy condition.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CARRICK-MA-CROSS LACE.

(_Author's Collection._)]

XIII

HOW TO IDENTIFY LACE

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CENTRE STRIP IS OLD "RETICELLA," WITH GENOA BORDERS.

(_Author's Collection._)]

XIII

HOW TO IDENTIFY LACE

Style--Historical data--Reseaux.

The great difficulty in attempting to identify any specimen of lace is that from time to time each country experimented in the manners and styles of other lace-making nations. The early Reticella workers copied what is known as the "Greek laces," which were found in the islands of the Grecian Archipelago. Specimens of these laces found in the excavations of the last thirty years show practically no difference in method and style. France copied the Venetian laces, and at one period it is impossible to say whether a given specimen was made at Alencon or Venice. Italy, in turn, imitated the Flemish laces--to such an extent that even the authorities at South Kensington Museum, with all their leisure and opportunities for study and the magnificent specimens at hand for identification, admit that certain laces are either "Italian or Flemish." Valenciennes was once a Flemish town, and though now French, preserves the Flemish character of lace, some specimens of Mechlin being so like Valenciennes as to baffle certainty.

Later, Brussels borrowed the hand-made grounds of France and Venice, and still later England copied Brussels, the guipures of Flanders, and the ground and style of Lille! All this makes the initial stages of the study of lace almost a hopeless quest. The various expensive volumes on lace, although splendidly written and gorgeously ill.u.s.trated, leave the student with little more than an interesting and historical knowledge on which to base the actual study of lace. Here I may refer my readers to the one and only public collection of lace, I believe, in England--that of the South Kensington Museum, where specimens of lace from all countries and of all periods are shown, and where many magnificent bequests, that of Mrs. Bolckow especially, make the actual study of lace a possibility.

It is to be hoped that the governing body of the museum will, in its own good time, make this a pleasure instead of a pain. The specimens, the _most important to the student_, are placed in a low, dark corridor. Not a glimmer of light can be obtained on some of the cases, which also are upright, and placed so closely together that on attempting to see the topmost specimen on one side the unfortunate student literally bangs her head into the gla.s.s of the next one. A gentle complaint at the Directors' office concerning the difficulty brought forth the astonishing information that there was no room at their disposal, but that in good time better light might be found. As these cases have been in identically the same place for the past fifteen years, one hopes that the "good time" may come before one becomes a "spectacled pantaloon" with no desire to see the wonders of that Palace of Art.

[Ill.u.s.tration: POINT D'ANGLETERRE.

Style Louis XV. Eighteenth Century