Pillow-laces are divided into two classes: (1) the pattern is first made on the pillow and the reseau filled in afterward; (2) pattern and reseau made in one continuous piece. Charles Blanc shows the difference as follows: °The dominant character of pillow-lace is the soft blending of its forms. The needle is to the bobbin what the pencil point is to the stump. The pattern softened when wrought in pillow lace is depicted with crispness by the needle." Pillow-lace is produced by the intercrossing and plaiting of the threads which are rolled at one end around bobbins and fastened at the other upon a cushion by means of pins. Bob bins are elongated spindles, tapering and swell ing into little handles. They are made of wood, bone, or lead. They vary in size according to the thickness of the threads; and the more delicate the lace the greater the number of bobbins. A pattern is pricked out by pins on the pillow to guide the worker. The pillow varies in size and shape.
Italian Point.— Italian Point lace, poet ically called Punta in Aria (stitches in the air), was developed in Venice. The graceful scrolls and lovely flowers of the earliest lace resemble the arabesques of Persian ornament. Venetian Point is the richest and most beautiful of all laces. There are three classes: (1) Venetian Raised Point and Venetian Rose Point; (2) Venetian Flat Point (including the famous Coralline), and (3) Venetian Grounded Point (including Punta di Burano). Venetian Raised Point has large fantastic flowers issuing from rich scrolls and foliage in the Renaissance style. These designs are outlined with a heavy, padded thread, called cordonnet, button-holed over. The designs are connected by brides and often decorated with picots. Rose Point has smaller patterns and more brides and more picots. It has a whirling, snowy effect and is also called Point de Neige in consequence. (2) Venetian Flat Point has no cordonnet; but brides and picots are plentiful. Coralline Point represents a tangle of seaweed; and, though lacking in clear outlines, is extremely beautiful. Venetian Grounded Point has a net background. It was inspired by the new Point d'Alencon, which the French had created in imitation of Venetian Raised Point. The pattern of Venetian Grounded Point is usually the lily and the edge is a shallow scallop. It has a cordonnet, stitched down around the outline of the pattern. Burano was the chief place where this Grounded Point was made, and it was manufactured there until the beginning of the 19th century. In 1872 Burano lace was revived under the patronage of the king and queen of Italy. The Burano makers copied the Point d'Alencon designs and also the square mesh of the reseau. The un evenness of the thread gives Burano ground a somewhat cloudy appearance, which aids in identifying it.
Italian Pillow Lace.— Milan and Genoa were also famous marts for lace. The most beautiful of all Italian pillow-laces is Punta di Milano, or Milan point (the name describing the quality). The tape pattern was made first and the ground net-work filled in afterward. .The meshes of this net are diamond shaped with a plait of four threads. The Genoese lace was of two kinds: (1) a "tapeguipure," the tape arranged in spirals connected with brides and decorated with picots, and (2) pointed scallops decorated with little ornaments called °wheat-ears." Genoese lace was much used for collars and cuffs and appears in portraits by Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt and Frans Hals, as well as in portraits by Italian masters.
French Point Lace.--vVenetian points,' or "points," were bought by the wealthy and fas tidious of high degree throughout Europe. To encourage home industry, Colbert, Prime Min ister of Louis XIV, established a school at 'Aleneon with lace-makers from Venice. Point d'Alencon was at first an exact imitation of Venetian Raised Point; but after a time the French invented a beautiful reseau in imitation of the bobbin net-work ground of Flemish lace. This was an entirely new idea, for point lace had never before been grounded on net; and, as noted above, the Venetians, hoping to win back their trade, imitated the Point d'Alen fon in their Venetian Grounded Point, or Point de Venice a reseau. Point d'Alencon is called the Queen of lace." It was first made in 1665. By royal decree it was called "Point de France.° The effect of this lace is delicacy; but the wonder of it can only be appreciated by apply ing a magnifying-glass. How human fingers can execute such delicate and minute stitches is beyond understanding. The average size of a diagonal taken from angle to angle in an Alencon hexagon is about one-sixth of an inch and each side of the hexagon is about one-tenth of an inch. An idea of the minuteness of the work can 'be gathered from the fact that a side of the hexagon is overcast with 9 or 10 but ton-hole stitches. One characteristic of Point d'Alencon is a heavy outline (cordonnet) but ton-holed over horsehair, which makes it firmer and heavier than any other fine lace. The de signs are flowers, foliage, scrolls and arabesques, in the style of the decoration of the period. Spots, tears, sprigs and insects were used for designs in the days of Louis XVI. •The fac tory became extinct during the Revolution. It was revived by Napoleon, when Bonaparte bees were used for motives in combination with flowers. This superb lace has always com manded fabulous prices. The Empress Eugenie had a of Point d'Alencon, for which Napoleon III paid 200,000 francs ($40,000) in 1859. In later years she gave it to Pope Leo XIII, who wore it as a rocket.