Part 7 (2/2)

Louis XIV. period.

(_S.K.M. Collection._)]

XI

ENGLISH LACES

XI

ENGLISH LACES

Queen Anne and Mechlin--Establishment of lace-making in Bedfords.h.i.+re and Buckinghams.h.i.+re--Buckingham lace--Wilts.h.i.+re lace--Devons.h.i.+re lace--Modern Honiton revival.

It was in Queen Anne's time that the earliest really good lace manufactured in England appeared. Driven from France by the edict of Louis XIV., the refugees found a home in England, and encouraged by Queen Anne's fondness for laces other than Venetian, they made and taught the English lace-workers, among whom they settled, the art of real lace-making, which up to this time had apparently been only half understood. Numerous lace schools now sprang up, the counties of Bedfords.h.i.+re, Buckinghams.h.i.+re, and Northampton specially becoming known.

Valenciennes and Mechlin were the varieties of laces princ.i.p.ally copied; a very pretty lace, very reminiscent of Mechlin, being the ”Baby lace,”

which received its name from being so much used to trim babies' caps.

Although very much like Valenciennes and Mechlin, the laces were much coa.r.s.er both in thread and design than their prototypes. Bedfords.h.i.+re and Northamptons.h.i.+re did not long retain the art of lace-making, but Buckingham lace remained a staple manufacture, and is much esteemed even to-day, many connoisseurs considering it far better as a lace than the somewhat clumsy laces of Devons.h.i.+re. The specimen shown is a piece of old Buckingham lace closely copying the reseau and sprigs of Lille which most lace-lovers consider it excels. The net of Buckinghams.h.i.+re is an exact copy of the Lille mesh, being made of two threads twisted in a diamond pattern, the sprays being worked on the pillow at the same time.

The patterns of the old Buckingham lace are not very varied, the best known being what is called ”Spider lace,” a coa.r.s.e kind of open mesh being worked in the pattern. The princ.i.p.al town engaged in the eighteenth century was Newport Pagnel, which was cited as being most noted for making Bobbin lace. Old Brussels designs were used, and some quaint lace of early Flemish design, was made. The early English run lace, which was even so late as fifty years ago very popular, was mostly made here. Aylesbury, Buckingham, and High Wycombe also made lace, and in the last-named old town cottage lace-making may be seen to this day.

Very quaint are the old lace bobbins that may be purchased in the ”antique” shops of these lace-making towns. The lace-workers apparently indulged many a pretty fancy in shaping them in a diversity of ways, very few bobbins being alike. Some were made of bone, really prettily turned, with dotted and pierced patterns on them. Others were silver-studded, and again others were banded in silver. The wooden ones were always decorated, if possible, each one differently from the others, so that the worker might distinguish each thread without looking at it. Nearly every bobbin was ended with a bunch of coloured beads strung on wire, and a collection of these bobbins, with their ”gingles,”

often yields up a pretty and quaint necklace. One in my possession has a quaint bead made of ”ancient Roman gla.s.s,” worth at least ten s.h.i.+llings.

One wonders how this bit of Roman magnificence had strayed into an English cottage home!

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”OLD BUCKINGHAM.”

(_Author's Collection._)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: EARLY DEVONs.h.i.+RE LACE.

(_Author's Collection._)]

Buckinghams.h.i.+re is the only one of the Midland counties which has produced _wide_ lace; the adjoining counties confined themselves to edgings at most some 6 inches wide. A flounce in my collection measures 21 inches, and is of very elegant design, and of fine quality. In Wilts.h.i.+re lace appears to have been made at an early date in the eighteenth century, but little lace is left to show its quality. A curious piece is said to belong to an old family in Dorset, who vouch for the lace having belonged to Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III.

Like many other traditional ”antiques,” this is undoubtedly a fairy story, as it claims to have been made in commemoration of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, _at contemporary times_. It is exceedingly handsome, showing one of Philip's s.h.i.+ps, very suggestively surrounded by big sea fish and apparently resting on the rocky bottom of the ocean. In the next panel Tilbury Fort is portrayed, and another s.h.i.+p, one of England's glory, proudly rules the waves. The design is undoubtedly English, and most probably it was made in commemoration of the historic event--but the lace is Point d'Argentan, and was most likely manufactured specially for Queen Charlotte.

Lyme Regis at one time rivalled Honiton, the laces of both towns being equally prized. Queen Charlotte wore a ”head and lappets” made here when she first came to England, and afterwards she ordered a splendid lace dress to be made. When, however, Queen Victoria, in her wish to encourage the English makers, sent an order for her marriage lace, not sufficient workers were found to produce it.

DEVONs.h.i.+RE LACE.

As early as 1614 the lace-makers of Devons.h.i.+re were known. The influx of refugees from Flanders in the Midlands and southern counties undoubtedly established lace-making in both parts of the kingdom. Many of the Honiton lace-workers married these refugees, and to this day the people are of mixed descent. Quaint names of Flemish extraction appear over the shop doors.

In the early days both men, women, and children seem to have pursued the art of lace-making, boys learning and working at it until the age of sixteen, when they were either apprenticed to some trade or went to sea.

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