Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/197

 LACE 185 be of Spanish work are Flemish of the 17th century. The j industry is not alluded to in Spanish ordinances of the 15th, 16th, or 17th centuries. Much Flemish lace was imported into Spain from Spanish Flanders. The black and white silk pillow laces, or &quot; blondes,&quot; date from the 18th century. They were made in considerable quantity in the neighbourhood of Chantilly, and imported by Spain for mantillas. Although after the 18th century the making of silk laces has more or less ceased at Chantilly and the neighbourhood, the craft is now carried on in Nor mandy at Bayeux and Caen as well as in Auvergne. Silk pillow lace making is carried on in Spain, especially at Barcelona. The patterns are almost entirely imitations from the French. Malta is noted for producing a thick pillow lace of black, white, and red threads, chiefly of geometric pattern, in which circles, wheels, and radiations of shapes resembling grains of wheat are a principal feature. This characteristic of design, appearing in laces of similar make which have been identified as Genoese pillow laces of the early 17th century, reappears in Spanish and Paraguayan work. Pillow lace in imitation of Maltese, Buckinghamshire, and Devonshire laces is made in Ceylon, and in different parts of India where attempts have been made to introduce European arts to native labour. At present the chief sources of hand-made lace are Belgium, England, and France, but a successful effort has also been made to re-establish the industry in the island of Burano near Venice, and much fine work of good design is now (18S2) made there. Puissian peasants in the districts of Vologda, Balaklma (Nijni-Novgorod), Bieleff (Tula), and Mzensk (Orel) make pillow laces of simple patterns. But by far the greatest amount of lace now made is that which issues from machines in England and France. 1 The total num ber of persons employed in the lace industry in England in 1871 was 49,370; and according to official returns of the year 1873, 210,000 women were similarly employed in France. The early history of the lace-making machine coincides with that of the stocking-frame, that machine having been adapted about the year 1768 for producing open-looped stitches, which had a net-like appearance. In the years ! 1808 and 1809 John Heathcoat of Nottingham obtained ! patents for machines for making bobbin net, which form the real foundation of machine making of lace. These machines were improved on in 1813 by John Leavers, whose lace-making machines are in use at the present time. The application of the celebrated Jacquard apparatus to these net machines lias enabled manufacturers to pro-. duce all sorts of patterns in thread work in imitation of the patterns for hand-made lace. The latest improvement in machinery for lace making has resulted in a French machine , called the &quot;dentelliere&quot; (see La Nature for 3d March 1881). : The work produced by this machine is plaited. That pro- j duced by the English and by other French machines is of ; twisted threads. At present, however, the expense attend- : ing the production of plaited lace by the &quot;dentelliere&quot; is | as great as that of pillow lace made by the hand. Before considering technical details in processes of making la^e, the principal parts of a piece of lace may be named. A prominent feature is the ornament or pattern. This may be so designed that the different parts may touch one another, and so be fastened together, no ground-work of any sort being required. Ground works are useful to set off the pattern, and either consist of links or tyes, which give an open effect to the pattern, or else of a series of meshes like net. Sometimes the pattern is outlined with a thread or cord line, or more strongly marked by means of a raised edge of button-hole stitched or plaited work. 1 See Felkin s Mdchine-icrotiyht Hosiery and Lace Manufactures. Fanciful devices are sometimes inserted into various por tions of the pattern. In some of the heavy laces, which resemble delicate carving in ivory, little clusters of small loops are distributed about the pattern. French terms are frequently used in speaking of details in laces. Thu? the pattern is called the toile or gimp, the links or tyes are called brides, the meshed grounds are called reseau r (retiola), the outline to the edges of a pattern is called cordonnet, the insertions of fanciful devices modes, the little loops picots. These terms are applicable to the various portions of all laces made with the needle, on the pillow, or by the machine. The history of patterns in lace is roughly as follows. From about 1540 to 1590 the forms were geometric, chiefly common, without brides or reseauoc. From 1590 to 1630 may be dated the introduction of floral and human forms and slender scrolls held together by brides. At this time lace makers enriched their works with insertions of modes. To the period extending from 1620 to 1670 belongs the development of scrolls and elaboration of details like the cordonnet with massings of picots. Much heavy raised lace enriched with fillings in of modes was made at this time. About 1660 reseaux came into use. From 1G50 to 1720 the scroll patterns gave way to arrangements of detached ornamental details which were frequently filled in with elaborate modes. A closer imitation of all sorts of subjects was attempted in lace patterns. Pictorial representations of figures, incidents, persons, arose. The purely conventional scrolls were succeeded by naturalistic renderings of garlands, flowers, birds, and such like. The use of meshed grounds extended, and grounds composed entirely of varieties of modes were made. From 1720 to 1780 small details of bouquets, sprays of flowers, single flowers, leaves, buds, spots, and such like were adopted, and sprinkled over meshed grounds. Since that time down to the present day all these styles of pattern have been used as fashion has required. Needlepoint Lace. The way in which the early Vene tian &quot;punto in aria,&quot; as already described, was made appears to correspond precisely with the elementary prin ciples upon which needlepoint lace is now worked. The pattern is first drawn upon a piece of parchment. The parchment is then stitched to a stout bit of linen. Upon the leading lines drawn on the parch ment threads are laid, which are here and there fastened through to the parch ment and linen by means of stitches. When the skeleton thread pattern i* completed, a compact covering of thread in button-hole stitches is cast upon it (fig. 1). The portions which may be required to be represented as close linen work or toile are worked as indicated in the ^ &quot;&quot;^~ enlarged diagram (fig. 2). Be tween the leading lines of the pattern may be inserted tyes (links) or meshes, so that the pattern is held together. When all is finished, a knife is passe between the parchment and tin- stout linen, cutting the stitches which have passed through the FIO. 8. Part of a Bonier of parchment and linen, and so re- Needlepoint Lace, geomp- leasing the lace itself from its trie design, pattern parchment. For about sixty years the laces thus made were chiefly geometric in pattern (fig. 3). They were used both for insertions between seams and for borders. Following closely upon these geometric laces XIV. 24