LILLE.

205

The “treille” 18 was finer in the last century; but, in 1803,tae price of thread having risen 30 per cent., 19 the lace-makers’unwilling to raise the prices of their lace, adopted a largerrei e ’ * n ° r( ^ er diuunish the quantity of thread required.

lie straight edge and stiff pattern of the old Lille lace iswell known (Fig. 97).

The laces of Lille, both black and white, have been much used„ n . . 1} 2 o C ?’ 1 hough Madame Junot speaks disparagingly of thea ric, t e light clear ground rendered them especially adaptedtor summer wear.

they found great favour also in England, into which countryone-third of the lace manufactured throughout the Departementu ort was smuggled in 1789. 21 The broad black Lille lace hasa ways een specially admired, and was extensively used to trimthe long silk mantles of the last century. 22

^ ie . r ° were a bove 16,000 lace-makers at Lille, and itrrn n l'' eces 23 ^ ace > representing a value of more than

l«nn 11 number of lace-makers was reduced to

. ; i lt “ gradually diminishing, from the competition ofie a ric of Mirecourt and the numerous other manufacturesestablished at Lille, which offers more lucrative wages than canbe obtained by lace-making.

The old straight-edged is no longer made, but the rose pattern0 , Mechlin is adopted, and the style of that lace copied: the

seme of little square dots (points d’esprit) on the ground—one ofthe characteristics of Lille lace—is still retained. In 1862 theauthor saw at Lille a complete garniture of beautiful workmanship,oidered for a trousseau at Paris, but the commercial crisis andt ie revolutions of 1848 virtually put an end to the lace industry°f Lille and Arras.

18 See page 108, note 50 .

19 In 1782, thread was 192 francs tkilogramme.

50 Describing her trousseau, evearticle of which was trimmed with Anglterre, Malines, or Valenciennes, siadds: " A cette epoquo i 1800), on ignrait memo I’existence du tulle, Jes bcuIdentelles communes quo l’on coanietaient les dentelles do Lille et d’Arraqui n’etaient portees que par les femmtles plus ordinaires.”— Mem. de Madame i

Duchesne d’Ahranth, t. iii. Cortninlythe laces of Lille and Arras never appearin the inventoricsofthe "grandcs dames ”of the last century.

21 Dieudonne'.

92 Peuchet states much " fausse Valen-ciennes, fres-rapproehee de la vraio,” tohave been fabricated in the hospital atLille, in which institution there were, in1723, 700 lace-workers.

23 A piece of Lille lace contains from10 to 12 ells.