by Marielle Brie
Alençon, third quarter of the 19th century, needlepoint lace wedding veil, 360 x 205 cm (141.73 x 80.07 in). Paris, Drouot, October 24, 2018, Coutau-Bégarie auction house, Ms. Vuille, preempted for The Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle in Alençon. Result: €82,940
Perhaps because of its delicacy or the unobtrusive nature of its skill, lace is the great overlooked achievement of the Italian Renaissance . Evolving from embroidery, Venetian needle lace, which historians concur originated in the 16th century, was a sumptuous novelty that quickly charmed the courts of Europe. The arabesques, flowered scrolls and shadow and light effects of white lace are almost sculptural, setting the exceptional apart from the ordinary. While Louis XIV’s sculptors had enormous artistic respect for these refined details, it was not exactly the same for Jean-Baptiste Colbert, whose provisions concerning Venetian lace were based on a desire for competition rather than a taste for beautiful attire. In the 1660s he had around thirty Italian lace-makers brought to France with the aim of putting them to work in newly opened royal manufactories, where they would contribute their skills to create a home-grown industry. Competition led to the development of Point de France lace, which characterized the royal manufactories’ production of gloves, collars, cuffs and albs, on which foliage and garlands flourished during the 17th century.
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