54

HISTORY OF LACE.

Brabant lace on the collar of Christian IV., figured in our noticeof Denmark. The workmanship is of great beauty.

Fig. 28 represents a fragment of a piece of lace of great in-terest, communicated by the Countess Gigliucci. It is workedwith the needle upon muslin, and only a few inches of the laceare finished. This incompleteness makes it the more valuable asit enables us to trace the manner of its execution, all the threadsbeing left hanging to its several parts. The countess states thatshe found the work at a villa belonging to Count Gigliucci, nearFermo, on the Adriatic, and it is supposed to have been executedby the count’s great-grandmother above ICO years ago—an ex-quisite specimen of “ the needle’s excellency.”

Though the riches of our Lady of Loreto fill a volume inthemselves, 62 and her image was fresh- clad every day of theyear, the account of her jewels and plate so overpower any mentionof her lace, which were doubtless in accordance with the rest ofthe wardrobe, there is nothing to tell on the subject.

The laces of the Vatican and the holy Conclave, mostly presentsfrom crowned heads, are magnificent beyond all description. Theyare, however, constantly in the market, sold at the death of acardinal by his heirs, and often repurchased by some newlyelected prelate, each of whom on attaining a high ecclesiasticaldignity is compelled to furnish himself with several sets.

A lady, 63 describing the ceremony of washing the feet by thePope, writes, in 1771, “ One of his cardinals brought him anapron 64 of old point with a broad border of Mechlin lace, and tiedit with a white ribbon round his holiness’s waist.” In this guiseprotected, he performed the ceremony.

Clement IX. was in the habit of making presents of Italianlace, at that period still prized in France, to Monsieur de Sorbiere,with whom he had lived on terms of intimacy previous to hiselevation. “ He sends ruffles,” cries the irritated Gaul, who lookedfor something more tangible, “ to a man who never has a shirt.” 65

02 InverUaire du Trifsor de N. D. deLorette. Bib. Nat. MSS.

83 “ Letters from Italy.”

84 “ The gremial or apron placed on thelap of the Roman Catholic bishops whenperforming sacred functions in a sittingposture.”— Pugin’8 Glossary of Ecclesi-astical Ornament.

83 This reminds one of the lines of

Goldsmith, in his poem, “ The Haunch ofVenison,” the giving of venison to hungrypoets who were in want of mutton; hesays:—

“ Such dainties to send them their healthit would hurt;

It’s like sending them ruffles when want-ing a shirt.”