Mechlin.—Four specimens of seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Arranged by age, the oldest at the top. The upper one is the end of a lappet, the property of Mr. Arthur Blackborne. Width about 3½ in. Widths of smaller pieces, 1¾ in., lower 2½ in.
Photos by A. Dryden.
To face page 126.
While Captain Figgins of the 67th, a dandy of the first water, is described, like the naval puppy of Smollett in Roderick Random, "his hair powdered with maréchal, a cambric shirt, his Malines lace dyed with coffee-grounds." Towards 1755 the fashion seems to have been on the decline in England. "All the town," writes Mr. Calderwood, "is full of convents; Mechlin lace is all made there; I saw a great deal, and very pretty and cheap. They talk of giving up the trade, as the English, upon whom they depended, have taken to the wearing of French blondes. The lace merchants employ the workers and all the town with lace. Though they gain but twopence halfpenny daily, it is a good worker who will finish a Flemish yard (28 inches) in a fortnight."
Fig. 61.
Mechlin.—(Period Louis XVI.)
Mechlin is essentially a summer lace, not becoming in itself, but charming when worn over colour. It found great favour at the court of the Regent, as the inventories of the period attest. Much of this lace, judging from these accounts, was made in the style of the modern insertion, with an edging on both sides, "campané," and, being light in texture, was well adapted for the gathered trimmings, later termed[[362]] "quilles," now better known as "plissés à la vieille."[[363]] Mechlin can never have been used as a "dentelle de grande toilette"; it served for coiffures de nuit, garnitures de corset, ruffles and cravats.[[364]]
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, describing an admirer, writes:
"With eager beat his Mechlin cravat moves—