Chats on Old Lace and Needlework

Chapter 10

Chapter 102,281 wordsPublic domain

Same, with Herodias's daughter and John the Baptist 5 5 0

A portrait of Henry, Prince of Wales, in flat-stitch on rose satin 21 0 0

Another on satin, "Bathsheba," spangled, 17 x 13 6 16 0

Another on satin, birds on gold and silver, 13 x 13 (Harris) 13 13 6

A bead picture, 15 x 11 11 11 0

A stump and bead picture, 12 x 11 12 1 6

A small book-cover, 14 x 8 13 12 0

A Stuart stump picture, figures and silver fountain, tortoiseshell frame, 22 x 16 15 15 0

A stump picture, lady with coral necklace, 18 x 12 23 10 0

A stump picture, lady under arch with a black swan, 20 x 16 (Stoner) 34 0 0

A stump picture, King Charles as Ahasuerus with Haman and Mordecai, and pearl-embroidered carpet, 23 x 17 28 0 0

A stump picture, lady under a canopy, large pearls, 13 x 19, (Stoner) 34 0 0

A Stuart Petit Point picture, Abraham and Hagar 16 16 0

A Stuart petit point picture, "Judgment of Paris," 24 x 17 25 0 0

A Stuart petit point picture, King Solomon and Queen of Sheba 18 18 0

A beadwork picture, lady and gentleman, lion and unicorn, 21 x 17 12 12 6

An embroidered picture, "Peter denying Christ," 24 x 17 (S. G. Fenton) 9 19 6

A petit point picture, lake with boats and figures, 15 x 12 (Harris) 14 14 6

A large stump picture, with horse and rider and figures of four seasons 30 10 0

A stumpwork picture, four figures, castle and birds and flowers (S. G. Fenton) 33 0 0

A picture sketched on white satin, not worked 4 15 0

A Stuart picture on canvas 9 19 6

A fine Stuart jewel-casket, numerous secret drawers, covered in needlework (S. G. Fenton) 47 5 0

A Stuart box, covered with bullion-work (S. G. Fenton) 12 12 0

A Stuart box, with embroidery and pearls (Spero) 16 16 0

A Stuart box, coloured bullion, 10 x 6 9 9 0

An embroidered box, with portrait on lid (S. G. Fenton) 53 11 0

A Stuart mirror, covered with stump embroidery, representing Charles I. and his Queen (illustrated), (Rosthron) 102 18 0

Another mirror, with painted and embroidered figures (Harris) 34 0 0

A Charles I. mirror in old lace and gold frame, with borders in embroidery, with portrait, castle, and floral decoration 40 0 0

3 yds. 13 inches long, 12 inches deep, Cornice in Petit Point, Christie's, July, 1908 (Harris) 204 15 0

XV

CONCLUSION

XV

CONCLUSION

Needlework as a national art is as dead as the proverbial door-nail; whether or not it ever regains its position as a craft is a matter of conjecture. Personally, I incline to the belief that it is absolutely extinct. The death-knell rang for all time when the sewing-machine was invented. The machine has been a very doubtful blessing, as it has allowed even the art of stitchery in ordinary work to slide into the limbo of forgotten things. What woman now knows what it is to "back-stitch" a shirt cuff, for instance, drawing a thread for guidance, and carefully going back two or three threads in order to make a neat, firm line of stitching? The sewing-machine does all this, and _does_ it _well_, a clever machinist turning out more work in a week than a seamstress in a year. If this were all, it would be no matter for regret, but with the necessity for needlework has vanished the desire. The lady quoted in Green's History is now non-existent. "She was a pattern of sobriety unto many, very seldom seen abroad except at church; when others recreated themselves at holidays and other times, she would take her needlework, and say, 'Here is my recreation.'"

In spite of the many Schools of Embroidery, with a few notable exceptions, nothing is done to raise the standard of embroidery above making miserable little cushion-covers, table-centres, and suchlike pretty fripperies for the temporary adornment of the house. The women of Germany, Holland, Sweden, Italy, on the contrary, take a great interest in the embroidery of the bed and table linen and the really artistic embroidery of their national costumes. Nothing of this is seen in England. Table linen is bought _ready hemmed_ at the shop. Dainty tea-cloths and serviettes are purchased ready embroidered (by machine) and trimmed with machine-made lace. Even _lingerie_ of all classes is machine-made and bought by the dozen, instead of being made by the daughters of the house.

The only hope of a revival lies in the various Art schools in the country where designing for fine embroidery and lace is encouraged. Unfortunately, however, equal facilities are offered for designing of machine-made imitations. The Royal School of Needlework, not being a Government institution, offers no encouragement to outsiders. It is in the hands of a number of ladies, who manage it as they will; and although very fine work is accomplished, they trust too much to modern designers and artists who work out their own pet theories and hobbies. If only they would put aside all theories and new ideas, and _go back_ to the best periods of English art both for their designs and execution, even yet, with the intelligent use of the glorious examples in the adjoining Museum, much might be done to revivify this expiring art.

FINIS

INDEX

INDEX

OLD LACE. (_For Needlework see page 384_)

A

Adelaide, Queen, 116

Age of lace, 108, 191

Alencon lace, 29, 78, 183, 191

Argentan lace, 29, 78, 191

Argentella lace, 29, 81, 192

Anne, Queen, 157

Applique, 175

Aylesbury, 158

B

Baby lace, 157

Barri, Madame du, 90

Beading, 41

Beads on bobbins, 161

Bed furnishing, 73

Bedfordshire lace, 37, 157

Belgian lace, 37

Black lace, 94

Blonde lace, 94

Bone lace, 41

Bobbins, 41, 158

Bolckow, Mrs., 54

Brides, 38, 127

Brussels lace, 37, 81, 104, 108, 123, 195

Brussels applique, 123

Brussels Vrai Reseau, 111

Buckinghamshire lace, 30, 35, 157, 158, 161

Burano, 54, 81

Buttonhole stitch, 195

C

Caen lace, 97

Carrick-ma-cross, 175

Catherine de Medici, 73

Chantilly lace, 37, 93

Charles I., 148

Charles II., 104, 148, 151

Charlotte, Queen, 161

Christie's sale-room, 115, 201

Colbert, 29, 73, 77, 102

Collar lace, 61

Collar, Medici, 53

Commonwealth, 148

Cordonnet, 41, 53, 77

Convents, 26

Coptic embroideries, 21

Couronnes, 41

Cravat, 151

Creevy Papers, 115

Cromwell, 151

Crotchet, 175

Cut worke, 73, 187

Cuthbert, St., 22

D

Danish lace, 134

Darned netting, 173

Debenham & Storr's sale-room, 54, 200

Dentele, 41

Devonshire lace, 30, 162

Dorsetshire lace, 161

Drawn work, 21

Duchesse lace, 127

Durham Cathedral, 22

E

Ecclesiastical lace, 62

Edgings, 31

Edward IV., 144

Egyptian netting, 22

Elizabeth, Queen of England, 54, 147

Embroidered net, 172

English laces, 157

Empress Eugenie, 97

F

Falling collar, 148

Fausse Valenciennes, 89

Fillings, 40, 173

"Figure" motifs, 107

Flanders lace, 29, 103

Flat point (point plat), 50

Flax thread, 61, 107

Florence, 53

Flemish point, 103

Fond, 42

Fontange, 151

Fowler, Mrs., of Honiton, 166

France, point de, 74

French Revolution, 78

G

Genoese lace, 29

George I., 115

George II., 115

George III., 115

George IV., 112

German laces, 134

Ghent laces, 124

Gingles, 161

Gold and silver laces, 134

Greek laces, 103, 183

Groppo, Punto a, 62

Gros, Point de Venise, 53

Grounds, 37

Guipure, 42, 61

Gold lace, 22

H

Hamilton lace, 171

"Hayward's," 114

Henry VII., 144

Henry VIII., 147

High Wycombe, 158

History of lace, 21

Honiton, 30, 35, 165

Honiton applique, 30

Huguenots, 30

I

Identification of lace, 183

Irish lace, 30, 172, 176, 192

Italian lace, 45

J

James I., 148

James II., 151

Jours, 41, 81

K

Kenmare, Lady, 75

King of Rome, 112

L

"Lacis," 29, 73

Lappets, 112

Lawn, 93

Lewis Hill, Mrs., 201

Lille, 35, 91

Limerick, 124, 172

L'Onray, 76

Louis XIV., 29, 46, 73, 74

Louis XV., 78

Lyme Regis, 162

M

Machine-made ground, 172

Macrame, 37, 64

Malines, 127

Maltese, 137

Mantillas, 97

Marie Antoinette, 78, 123, 129

Massey-Mainwaring, Mrs., 200

Marie de Medici, 53

Marie Stuart, 171

Mary, Queen, 147

Mary II., 151, 152

Mechlin, 37, 127

Medici collar, 53

Mezzo Punto, 62

Milanese lace, 29, 62

Mixed lace, 37, 62, 124

Modern point lace, 124

Montespan, Madame de, 74

N

Napoleon I., 78, 112

National Library, S.K.M., 50

Needlepoint lace, 49, 73, 108

Network, ancient, 3

Newport Pagnell, 158

Normandy lace, 97

Norway, 134

Northamptonshire lace, 157

Nuns, 26

O

Oeil de perdrix, 83, 192

Origin of lace, 21

P

Palliser, Mrs. Bury, 9

Parchment, 25

Parasole, 50

Pearls, 97

Peter the Great, 134

Picots, 42

Pillow lace, 29, 37

Point lace, 25, 37

Point a reseau, 53

Point d'Aiguille (Brussels), 108

Point d'Alencon, 76

Point d'Angleterre, 102, 107, 192

Point applique, 123

Point de France, 46, 76, 188

Point de Gaze, 108, 124

Point de Venise, 49

Point de Venise Gros, 50, 53, 54

Point de Neige, 49, 50

Point plat, 50

Punto in aria, 25, 143

Punto a groppo, 37, 62

Punto tagliato a foliami, 53

Q

Quillings, 128

Quentin Matys, 103

Queen Anne, 157

Queen Mary II., 117, 127, 151

Queen Charlotte, 117, 128

Queen of Laces, 128

Queen Victoria, 116, 162

R

Raised stars, 49

Rose point, 49, 50

Renaissance, 53, 107, 188

Reseau, 36, 39

Reticella, 26, 50, 73, 103, 143, 188

Revolution, French, 78

Rococo, 78

Royal trousseaux, 81

Ruffles, 90

Russian lace, 134

S

St. Cuthbert, 22

Sale prices, 199

Samplers, 25, 187

Saxony lace, 134

Scotch lace, 171

Silk lace, 94

Smocks, 25

Spanish point, 133

Steinkirk, 151

Sumptuary law, 112

South Kensington Museum, 187

T

Tambour lace, 172

Tape lace, 62

Tatting, 175

Thread, 61

Toile, 108

Trolly lace, 165

V

Valenciennes lace, 37, 89

Vandyke, 61, 148

Venice, 183

Vicellio, 50

Venetian lace, 50

Victoria, Queen, 162, 165

Vinciolo, 29, 50

Vraie Valenciennes, 89, 90

W

Westminster effigies, 147, 151, 152

William and Mary, 148, 151

"Wynyards," 115

William III., 115

Wiltshire lace, 115

Willis's Rooms, 201

Y

Youghal laces, 176

NEEDLEWORK

A

Athelstan, 213

Alb, 238

Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne, 213

Aelfled, Queen of Edward the Elder, 213

Angelica Kauffmann, 339

Art, the pioneer, 209

Ascagni cope, 223

Ascoli cope, 233

B

Bags, Stuart, 261

Bayeux tapestry, 214

Beads, Venetian, 274

Berlin wool pictures, 350

Bishop Fridhestan, 213

Black work, 284

Bologna cope, 223

Book-covers, 279

Bridgettine nuns, 227

C

Catworth cushions, 233

Catherine of Aragon, 248, 251, 284

Caskets, 269

Chain stitch, 227

Charles I., 265, 273

Charles II., 265, 273

Chasubles, 241

Christie's sale-rooms, 257, 265, 270, 367

City palls, 237

Church vestments, 238

Coventry, 228

Copes, 241

Crewel work, 329

D

Daroca cope at Madrid, 223

Dr. Rock, 227

E

Earl of Shrewsbury, 228

Editha, Queen of Edward the Confessor, 213

Egyptian embroidery, 210

Emma, Queen of Ethelred the Unready, 213

Elizabeth's wardrobe, 249

Elizabeth's Book at British Museum, 283

Elizabeth's Book at the Bodleian Library, 283

Elizabeth Hinde's Sampler, 309

Elizabeth Mackett's Sampler, 311

F

Field of the Cloth of Gold, 249

G

Georgian costumes, 363

Georgian pictures, 335

Gimps, 249

Gloves, 262, 265

Greek garments, 359

H

Hampton Court, 250, 322

Hair and silk pictures, 343

Henrietta Maria, Queen, 265

Henry VIII., 247

Hoechon collection, 220

I

Isleworth, 227

Italian raised work, 295

J

James I., 257

Jacobean hangings, 321

"Jesse" Cope, 223

John Taylor's Needlework Rhyme, 258

L

Lady Jane Grey, 247

"Laid," or couch work, 227

Linwood, Miss, 350

M

Maniple, 241

Mary Queen of Scots, 250

Mary II. embroidery, 325

Minerva, 358

Mirror frames, 273

N

Needlework pictures, 291, 335, 349

Neolithic remains, 210

"Nevil" altar-frontal, 234

O

Opus Anglicum, or Anglicanum, 219, 223

P

"Painted face" picture, 335, 343

Petit point, 257, 325

Phoenicians, 359

Phrygian embroidery, 358

Pierpont Morgan, 233

Pocket books, 281

Pope Innocent III., 223

Q

Quilting, 287

R

Reformation, 246

Roman Invasion, 210

Royal School of Needlework, 353

Rock's "Church of Our Fathers," 220

S

Samplers, 307

St. Augustine, 210

St. Benedict, 220

St. Cuthbert, 213

St. Dunstan, 213

Steeple Aston altar-frontal, 234

Stoles, 238

Stump work, 295

Stump work symbols, 302

"Syon" cope, 223

Subjects of needle pictures, 295

T

Tambour stitch, 227

Tudor embroideries, 247

Trays, 270

W

Wonderful needlewoman, A, 351

Wolsey, Cardinal, 249, 250

Wolseley's, Lady, collection, 265, 273, 368

Worcester fragments, 219

_Printed in Great Britain by_ UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON

* * * * *

Transcriber's Note:

Obvious punctuation errors have been corrected.

Inconsistent hyphenation in the original has been preserved, e.g. cutwork, cut-work; hand-made, handmade; lace-workers, laceworkers; may-flower, mayflower; needle-craft, needlecraft; needle-point, needlepoint; salerooms, sale-rooms; semi-circular, semicircular.

Inconsistent use of accents has been preserved, e.g. applique, applique; reseau, reseau; toile, toile.

In the Index, Pierpoint was corrected to Pierpont to match the body of the text.

The main body of the text refers to the "Hockon collection", which is referred to in the index as the "Hoechon collection". It is unclear which of these is correct so they have been preserved as they appear in the original.

Page 25: 'survival of the fitting' changed to 'survival of the fittest'.

Page 38: 'accompanying diagrams' changed to 'accompanying diagram'.

Page 42: 'little loop' changed to 'little loops'.

Page 127: '"Duchesse point" of "Bruges,"' changed to '"Duchesse point" or "Bruges,"'.

Page 192: 'of same period' changed to 'of the same period'.

Page 196: 'other two' changed to 'two other'.

Page 300: 'and rose of England' changed to 'and the rose of England'.

Page 303: 'and butterfly was' changed to 'and butterfly were'.

Page 315: 'a long narrow Samplers' changed to 'a long narrow Sampler'.

Page 383: 'Punto a groppo' changed to 'Punto a groppo'.