Point also means a particular kind of stitch, as point de Paris,[[93]] point de neige, point d'esprit,[[94]] point à la Reine, point à carreaux, à chaînette, etc.
"Cet homme est bien en points," was a term used to denote a person who wore rich laces.[[95]]
The mention of point de neige recalls the quarrel of Gros René and Marinette, in the Dépit Amoureux[[96]] of Molière:—
"Ton beau galant de neige,[[97]] avec ta nonpareille,
Il n'aura plus l'honneur d'être sur mon oreille."
Gros René evidently returns to his mistress his point de neige nightcap.
The manner of making bobbin lace on a pillow[[98]] need hardly be described. The "pillow"[[99]] is a round or oval board, stuffed so as to form a cushion, and placed upon the knees of the workwoman. On this pillow a stiff piece of parchment is fixed, with small holes pricked through to mark the pattern. Through these holes pins are stuck into the cushion. The threads with which the lace is formed are wound upon "bobbins," formerly bones,[[100]] now small round pieces of wood, about the size of a pencil, having round their upper ends a deep groove, so formed as to reduce the bobbin to a thin neck, on which the thread is wound, a separate bobbin being used for each thread.
Plate VI.
Italian.—Modern reproduction at Burano of Point de Venise à la feuille et la rose, of seventeenth century.