The Milanese alb flounce (Plate [96]) is a very fine piece of much later date. The spaces enclosed by the toilé or tapey parts are filled by bobbin-made fillings or à jours, of various designs, a very strong and evenly made réseau connects the whole.
The two specimens of Italian lace, Plate [97], are of very elegant design; they also have the fond chant pattern of réseau. This style of lace was made both in North and South Italy up to sixty or seventy years ago, but coarser thread was then introduced with disastrous effect.
In the narrow Maltese lace of Plate [98] we have in No. 1 the réseau called mariage; this lace, and Nos. 2 and 3, were made in Malta about 1780.
Turning now to the bobbin-made lace of Flanders, I begin with No. 1 on Plate [99], which has no less than three characteristic lengths joined to form one border. The straight edge, the rather abrupt design, and the réseau cinq trous, indicate a Flemish make of lace. The pattern No. 2 has the clear whiter thread outline. This lace is sometimes called Trolle Kant.
The cap, Plate [100], is of later date; the réseau cinq trous, worked with a very opened out effect, can be observed in the fillings.
The early Mechlin lace resembles in design the point d'Angleterre, and, indeed, also the Alençon lace of the same date. It is most interesting to compare, say, the Mechlin, Plate [101], with the d'Angleterre, Plate [104], and the Venise à réseau of Plate [57]. Yet the makings of the three laces are absolutely different—the Venice entirely by needle; the Angleterre is made in two different stages of bobbin work; the Mechlin, as is always the case, was made in the third manner, the threads originally started on the bobbins carrying the work to a finish, and ingeniously sufficing for toilé, réseau, and fillings. Later, Mechlin, for reasons already stated, became a mere border, as shown in Plate [102]. It is no longer made. This is also the case with Binche lace (Plate [103]). A very beautiful fond de neige, used sometimes as a ground and sometimes as a filling or à jours, distinguishes this lace. The work is very fine and close, the edge is usually straight. It is sometimes called fausses Valenciennes.
Brussels gives its name to a variety of beautiful laces. The most renowned is the point d'Angleterre, made in great quantities during the later part of the seventeenth century for the English market. The designs, as on Plate [104], recall those of the Venise à réseau and of Alençon of the same period; the beautiful flowing garlands, the waved edge with varied fillings, the brides picotées forming the hexagonal réseau, will bear comparison with the Venice lace of Plate [57], and the Alençon of Plate [63]. This truly wonderful point d'Angleterre has a very fine toilé; the flowers and scrolls were first made on the pillow and then joined by the réseau (vrai Bruxelles), long used for the highest class of all Brussels bobbin-made laces. Lace of this fineness is no longer made since the fine handspun thread cannot be obtained.
Brussels lace followed the fashion which, as we have seen, obtained in France. In the late eighteenth century only a border was necessary, as lace was worn in a profusion of flounces and frills; and Plate [106] shows a border very similar in design to the Alençon of the same date. The delicate flowers and leaves are joined by the fine réseau mentioned above—namely Brussels vrai réseau, a title employed to distinguish it from machine-made net. This last was introduced during the first quarter of the nineteenth century, and soon gave a different character to Brussels lace, when the flowers made on the pillow were sewn (appliqué) to a simple net made sometimes by hand, but more often by machine.
In the Antwerp lace scarf, No. 1, Plate [107], the fond chant or point de Paris réseau is used, and here we have an example of Potten Kant, or pot lace, so-called because in early times the subject of the Annunciation, with the pots of lilies usually added, was introduced into the designs for it. The indication of flower-pots certainly occurs in many pieces, though not in mine, and no piece exists, as far as I know, with figures.