Point de France
A piece of point de France lace produced between 1700 and 1725
TypeLace
Production methodNeedle lace
Production processCraft production
Place of originFrance
Introduced17th century

Point de France is a type of needle lace developed in the late 17th century.[1][2] It is characterized by rich and symmetrical detail, and a reliance on symbols associated with King Louis XIV of France, such as suns, sunflowers, fleurs-de-lys, and crowns.[3]

History

During the 1660s, King Louis XIV of France was spending extravagant sums on lace from the Republic of Venice, particularly a type known as point de Venise, to the dismay of his finance minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert.[1] In order to redirect this spending into the French economy, Colbert set up a number of official royal lace factories, which were to produce a type of lace he named point de France. He worked with the French ambassador to Venice to tempt needle-workers from Venice, Italy, and Flanders to emigrate to France, prompting the Doge of Venice to declare that defection to France by needle-workers was a treasonous act punishable by execution or assassination.[1][4] It is unclear whether this threat was ever carried out; regardless, enough Venetian needle-workers emigrated that the French quickly learned to produce high-quality lace.[4][3]

Point de France was popularized by the clergy, who used it for the ornaments of their rochets, a type of clerical vestment.

Most surviving pieces from the 16th and 17th centuries are now in museums.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Point de France.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 St. Clair 2018, pp. 146–147
  2. ↑ Leader, Jean E. "Lace Types: French Needle Lace". Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  3. 1 2 St. Clair 2018, p. 148.
  4. 1 2 Earnshaw, Pat (1999-01-01). A Dictionary of Lace. Courier Corporation. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-486-40482-0.

Bibliography

  • St. Clair, Kassia (2018). The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History. London: John Murray. pp. 146–147. ISBN 978-1-4736-5903-2. OCLC 1057250632.
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