  IT is not easy to give a clear idea of the history of the manufacture of ancient Spanish lace; the principal reason being that this industry was carried out by private persons, who never formed themselves into Guilds or corporations, as was the case during the middle ages and Renaissance period with those who devoted their time to other arts and industries. We find in the Royal Ordinances constant references to weavers, silver and goldsmiths, tailors, etc., but in none do we find the manufacture of lace mentioned. The most important Ordinances relating to Spanish industries are those published at Toledo and Seville in the 15th and 16th centuries, and at Granada in the 16th and 17th centuries, and in none of them do we find lace even alluded to. In the innumerable laws which appeared from the middle ages until the 18th century for the object of reforming costumes and checking their excessive luxury no mention is made of lace; when it is referred to, it is only when puntas or entredoses, edgings or insertions, are mentioned in which gold and silver are introduced. We never find any allusion in contemporary writers to the fine heavy thread lace, sometimes called Point d'Espagne or Point de Venise, the origin of which has been a source of so much doubt to collectors of the present day. The only thing which we can do therefore at the present, until this subject is more fully investigated, is to assert that lace of different kinds has been made from the very earliest times in Spain, and do our best to classify the different kinds by the differences which we observe in those of other localities. Father Fr. Marcos Antonio de Campos in his "Microcosmia y Gobierno Universal del Hombre Cristiano," [Barcelona, 1592, p. 225,] says: "I will not be silent and fail to mention the time lost these last years in the manufacture of cadenetas, a work of thread combined with gold and silver; this extravagance and excess reached such a point that 100 and 1000 of ducats were spent in this work, which, besides destroying the eyesight, wasting away the lives, and rendering consumptive the women who worked it, and preventing them from spending their time with more advantage to their souls, a few ounces of thread and years of time, were wasted with so unsatisfactory a result. I ask myself, after this fancy has passed away, will the lady or gentleman find that the chemises that cost them 50 ducats, or the basquiÑa (petticoats) that cost them 300, are worth half their price, which certainly is the case with other objects in which the material itself is worth more." This quotation is interesting as proving that lace was made during the 16th century. The friar, in following the prevalent fashion of preaching against luxury and extravagance, shows us that this industry must have reached to a great height in order to be an object of censure. From the 16th century until the end of the 18th we find this manufacture continued in Spain, but that foreign lace of different kinds was likewise imported to a great extent, although we may affirm that black lace especially was made in Spain during the whole period. We find lace mentioned by ancient Spanish authors under the following names: punta, randa, cadeneta, entredos, red, deshilado, franja, blonda, and encaje, which may be translated as edging, or points, rÉseuil, chain stitch, insertion, netting, ravelling, fringe, blonde, and lace. M. H. de Cocheris in his introduction to "Patrons de Broderies," Paris, 1872, says that "gold and silver laces were made at Paris and Lyons." The four books which are reproduced in this volume mention Lyons as being a great centre of Many interesting details have reached us of the costume of a Spanish lady in the 17th century. We will copy the description given by Madame d'Aunoy in her "Voyage d'Espagne," Lyon 1628. "Under the vertingale of black taffety they wear a dozen or more petticoats, one finer than the other, of rich stuffs trimmed with lace of gold and silver to the girdle. They wear at all times a white garment called sabenqua; it is made of the finest English lace, and four ells in compass. I have seen some worth 500 or 600 crowns, and so great is their vanity, they would rather have one of those lace subenquas than a dozen coarse ones, and either lie in bed till it is washed, or else dress themselves without any, which they frequently enough do." A number of portraits exist in the Spanish galleries, especially by Velasquez and CarreÑo, in which these extravagant costumes are fully portrayed, but in very few Spanish portraits of the seventeenth century does thread lace of the kind known as Point d'Espagne or de Venise ever appear. Mrs. Palliser, in her interesting "History of Lace," p. 80, quotes a vast number of descriptions of these gold and silver laces. We copy again Madame d'Aunoy's description of a Spanish bed. "It is of gold and green damask lined with silver brocade and trimmed with point of Spain. Her sheets were laced round with an English lace half an ell deep. The young Princess of Monteleon bade her maids bring in her wedding clothes. They brought in thirty silver baskets so heavy four women could only carry one basket: the linen and lace were not inferior to the rest." Beckford, in describing the apartment of a Spanish lady, writes: "Her bed was of the richest blue velvet trimmed with point lace." Aarsens de Sommerdyck in his "Voyage d'Espagne," [Paris, 1665,] writes, in describing the costume worn by the men: "Leurs collets ou cravates sont de grandes pointes, qui sans doute coustent beaucoup, bien qu'elles ne paroissent pas belles. La mode en est presque la mesme qu'en France, l'ayant prise de la princesse de Carignan quand elle estoit À Madrid, dont elles les nomment Valonas À la Carignan." In the interesting "Journal du Voyage d'Espagne," Paris, 1669, l'AbbÉ Bertaut tells us that on the 15th of October, 1659, on the occasion of his embassy to Madrid, the king of Spain sent eight postilions, and forty post-horses, the saddles and bridles of eight of which were covered with gold and silver lace. Notwithstanding the opinion of so competent an authority as Mrs. Palliser, I doubt the statement, finding no evidence to support it, that thread lace of a very fine or artistic kind was ever made in Spain, or exported as an article of commerce during early times. The lace alb, which is mentioned, to prove this, as existing at Granada, a gift of Ferdinand and Isabel, is of Flemish lace of the 17th century. The chasuble, etc., splendid ecclesiastical vestments embroidered on crimson velvet, were certainly the gift of these kings, and if Cardinal Wiseman officiated in this vestment, We find reference to lace brought from Flanders, Paris, and Lyon, in the first volume of "Apendice a la Educacion Popular," [p. 61.] [Madrid, 1775,] the author mentions the large sums of money which were taken out of the country by the importations of foreign lace, and he adds, [vol. ii., p. 61,] "Lace is employed to a very considerable extent; all the fine qualities come from foreign lands, and the greater varieties of the coarser ones. Spanish matrons, among other branches of their education, are taught to make lace of different kinds, and many respectable people live on this industry." Larruga, in his "Memorias," Madrid, 1788, mentions, vol. ii., p. 149, a manufacture of gold and silver lace which had been set up lately at Madrid; and in the 17th vol., p. 294, in mentioning lace made at La Mancha, "the industry of lace has existed at Almagro from time immemorial. Dn. Manuel Fernandez and Dª Rita Lambert, his wife, natives of Madrid, Cabanillas writes in his "Observaciones sobre la Historia natural del Reino de Valencia," Madrid, 1797, that at Novelda a third part of the inhabitants made lace, "more than 2000 among women and children worked at this industry, and the natives themselves hawked these wares about the country." Swinburne, in his "Travels in Spain in 1775," also says, "The women of the hamlets were busy with their bobbins making lace." Laborde writes that in 1809 the manufacture of blonde was almost entirely confined to CataluÑa. Barcelona is in the present day the great centre of this industry in Spain; the black and white blondes which are made chiefly for mantillas are very fine. The white laces made there are in the style of Lille and Buckinghamshire laces, Brussels and Duchesse laces, and Chantilly is also made to a large extent. Gold and silver blondes were revived during the years 1830-40; and it may interest my readers to know that the late Queen Mercedes, in her wedding trousseaux, had a garniture de robe, mantilla included, of gold blonde. Modern torchon laces are still made at Almagro to a very large extent. Bed linen, even in the poorest houses, is elaborately trimmed with lace or embroidery. Valances for beds of ravellings, point coupÉ and lace work are still constantly found to decorate beds at weddings in the provinces of Spain. THE END. RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BUNGAY. SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM SCIENCE AND ART HANDBOOKS. Handsomely printed in large crown 8vo. 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