188
HISTORY OF LACE.
manufactures of Havre, Honfleur, Bolbec, Eu, Fecamp, andDieppe, were most thriving. They made double and singlegrounds, guipure, and a kind of thick Valenciennes, such as isstill made in the little town of Honfleur and its environs. In1092, the number of lace-makers at Havre and its environs wasnot less than 22,000. Corneille, 3 1707, declares the laces ofHavre to be “ tres-recherchees; ” and in an engraving, 1688,representing a “ marchande lingere en sa boutique,” 4 among thestock in trade, together with the points of Spain and England,are certain “cartons” labelled “point du Havre.” It appearsalso in the “Revolte des Passemens,” and in the inventory ofColbert, who considered it worthy of trimming his pillow-casesand his camisoles; 5 and Madame de Simiane 6 had two “toilettesgarnies de dentelle du Havre,” with an “ estuy a peigne,” en suite.
Next in rank to the points du Havre came the laces of Dieppeand its environs, which, says an early writer of the eighteenthcentury, rivalled the “ industrie ” of Argentan and Caen. The cityof Dieppe alone, with its little colony of Saint-Nicolas-d’Aliermont(a village of two leagues distant, descendants of a body of workmenwho retired from the bombardment of Dieppe), 7 employed 4000lace-makers. A writer in 1761 8 says: “A constant trade is thatof laces, which yield only in precision of design and fineness tothose of Mechlin; but it has never been so considerable as it wasat the end of the seventeenth century. Although it has slackenedsince about 1745 in the amount of its productions, which havediminished in value, it has not altogether fallen. As this workis the occupation of women and girls, a great number of whomhave no other means of subsistence, there is also a large numberof dealers who buy their laces, to send them into other parts ofthe kingdom, to Spain, and the islands of America. This trade is
3 “ Dictionnaire ge'ographique,” T.Corneille, 1707.
* “ Gravures do Modes.” Arch. Nat.M. 815-23.
5 “ 1683. Deux houssos de toillc piqueeavec dentelle du Havre deux camisolles
do pareille toille et de dentelle duHavre.”— Inv. fait apres le decedz de
Monseigneur Colbert. Bib. Nat. MSS.Suite de Mortemart, 31.
8 “ 1851. Un tour d’autel de dentelledu Havre.”— Inv. des meubles de laSacristie de VOraloire de Jesus a Paris.Bib. Nat. MSS. F. F. 8!!21.
“ 1681. Une chemisette de toile deMarseille picqute garnye do dentelle duHavre.’— Inv. (CAnne d’Escoubleau deSourdis, veuve de Francois de Simiane.Arch. Nat. M. M. 802.
1 “ Les ouvriers n'fitant apparemmeutrappcles par aucune possession dans cetteville, lorsqu’elle fat re'tublio, ils s’y sontctablis et ont transmis leur travail U laposterite.”— Peuchet.
8 Point do Dieppe appears among thotickets on the already quoted lace boxesof 1688.