Blonde lace came in fashion about 1745. It was made of unbleached silk im ported from Nankin, whence the name °flan kins," as well as "blondes." Soon the French made it of white and black silk. Marie An toinette gave it special vogue. Blonde lace was made at Chantilly, Le Puy, Bayeux and Caen. Spain almost made it her own lace; hut old Spanish blondes do not equal those of Chantilly and Of blonde are made the Spanish mantillas that so gracefully drape the heads of the Spanish women. Those of white are worn on full dress occasions only; black blonde is used for "second-best." During the Second Empire, owing to the taste of the Em press Eugenic, the big Spanish floral designs were made in the French workshops. These patterns have never gone out of favor.
Spanish Spanish blonde is the typical lace of Spain. Barcelona early attained a reputation for it and is still the centre for its manufacture. Comparatively little is known re garding Spanish lace, for it has not been studied so thoroughly as the lace of other countries. We know, lion ev er, that cut-work (reticella) and lads were made in Spain in the 15th and 16th centuries and that "Spanish Point" was as celebrated in its day as the "Points" of Italy or France. Regarding it Mrs. Palliser says: "The sumptuous Spanish Point, the white thread arabesque lace, was an Italian production orig inally. It was imported for the Spanish churches and then imitated in the convents by the nuns, but was little known to the commercial world of Europe until the dissolution of the Spanish monasteries in 1830, when the most splendid specimens of nuns' work came sud denly into the market, not only the heavy lace generally designated as Spanish Point, but pieces of the very finest description (like Point de Venise), so exquisite as to have been the work only of those whose time was not money and whose devotion to the Church and to their favorite saints rendered this work a labor of love." A great deal of fine lace went to Spain from Flanders; for in the 16th century Flanders was a part of the Spanish domain and the Em peror Charles V, therefore, ruled both coun tries. He, a native of Ghent, preferred the Netherlands to Spain and brought here as much of his native atmosphere as possible. Tapestry weavers, lace-makers, embroiderers, furniture makers and other artists were transported in large numbers and Spanish workers were also sent to the Netherlands. Consequently, there W'as an interchange of styles between the two countries.
Flemish Flanders was superior to all other countries in its flax and the fineness of the linen thread the people were able to pro duce. An immense quantity of bobbin (or pillow) lace had been made in this country from an early period, and also "tape guipure" (the tape following the lines of the pattern and connected by brides), lightened by holes called "bird's eye" (single, or arranged in groups). As soon as Alencon began to succeed, Flanders began to make artistic needle-point, too.
Brussels Point and The Needle point made in Brussels from about 1720 closely resembled Alencon in pattern and in general effect; hut it was not so firm, and the toui was looser than Alencon and the button-hole stitched cordonnet (so distinctive of Alencon) was ab sent in Brussels. The fineness of the thread
was almost fabulous.
It had to be spun in dark, cold, underground rooms, for light and heat were said to hurt it. The earliest patterns of Brussels Point resem ble the Venetian and the Alencon designs; and as Brussels lace enjoyed such patronage at the French court it followed the ornamentation in fashion. Brussels lace of the days of Louis XIV shows the designs of Marot, Berain and Lepautre; in the days of Louis XV zig-zags, pagodas and Chinese figures appear; then come leaves and flowers (particularly the pink, tulip and rose), insects, birds, trophies, feath ers and striped ribbons of the Louis XVI pe niod; and then the pseudo-classic motives of the Napoleonic period, as well as flowers, sprigs, wreaths, columns, stars, crosses and spots. The palm and pyramid were also frequent during the empire. Brussels Needle-point was and is still known as point gaze. It is famous for the variety of its patterns, the great diversity of the "fillings" between them and its marvelous filmi ness. There were two kinds of grounds: the reseau (or net) and the bride. Sometimes, too, reseau and bride grounds are mixed in the same piece. The riseau was made in two ways — by needle and with bobbins. Hence Brus sels is sometimes both a point and a pillow-lace. 'There are also two ways of producing the flowers and other ornaments — with the needle and with bobbins. When the ornaments are made with bobbins on the pillow, the lace is called point plat. In old lace the plat flowers were worked in with the ground, for the "ap plied" method was unknown. "In the modern point gaze," according to Mrs. Palliser, "the flowers are made with the same thread as the ground (its in old Brussels). It is made in small pieces, the joining concealed by small sprigs, or leaves. Brussels point de gaze is the most filmy and delicate of all point-lace. Its forms are not accentuated by a raised outline •of button-hole stitching as in point d'Alencon; but are simply outlined by a thread. The exe cution is more open than in the early lace and part of the toile (heavy part of the design) is made in close and part in open stitch to give an appearance of shading. The style of the de signs is naturalistic." The introduction of ma chine-made net (tulle), the famous "Brussels net," gave a new impetus to Brussels point-gaze, for the substitution of a machine-made for a hand-worked ground diminished the costliness, and such large articles as shawls and bridal veils were tritthiplit (I The and other ornaments, after being made by hand, were ap plied on the net (sewn on delicately). Some times these were needle-point and sometimes bobbin-made (pillow). Great ingenuity, vari ety and skill were displayed in the fillings be tween these ornaments. Ghent and Alost, as well as Brussels, derived great profit from this kind of lace.