/ or THE 



' UNIVERSITY 



THE MODERN IRISH LACE INDUST«^klfomii^>^ 425 



in two places the edge is actually formed by the ground. It looks as 

 if the separate portions had been taken from different designs, and put 

 together on the paper in a perfectly haphazard fashion, and, indeed, this is 

 the way in which many such designs were made. Novelty was obtained by 

 sometimes borrowing a spray or two from an old wall paper and inserting 

 them into the body of the design. Again, look at the drawing of the forms, 

 leaves of various kinds grow from the one stem, worm-like forms are intro- 

 duced, and fillings are inserted without any proper idea of their value. The 

 gound is without regularity. In fact, the whole design shows the debase- 

 ment of form in a most complete manner, and illustrates what really took 

 place in days gone by, when designs were traced again and again on tissue 

 paper, by those w^ho had never learned to draw, until the original form was 

 lost, and a medley of meaningless shapes, such as you see before you, was 

 the result. 



Fig. 8. — Now turn to this specimen of modern flat needle-point from the 

 same place. The lace is used to trim a handkerchief, which is a square. 

 The border is wide in relation to the handkerchief, but that is in conse- 

 quence of the dictates of fashion ; sometimes the borders are very narrow, 

 sometimes wide. You can at once see that there is construction in this 

 design, the corners are symmetrical, and are formed on the diagonals of the 

 square, as centre Hnes, while the diameters of the square again bisect the 

 forms, which appear in the centre of each side. I say nothing as to the 

 talent of the designer, but here is evidence that thought has been at work. 

 There is a mixture of conventional with natural forms, which has been well 

 managed, one contrasting with the other, and the eye is carried pleasantly 

 round the border, with sufficient accent on the places where centre lines 

 would occur. The effect gained by running the leaves with the cambric is 

 good, as it helps to unite the border with the centre of the handkerchief. 

 The little arch-like arrangement of flowers in the centre of each side is well 

 conceived, as it leads the eye from the edge, at the corners of the hand- 

 kerchief, up into the centre, and then down to the opposite corner, thus 

 giving a pleasing line. The forms are well drawn, the curves are true, the 

 fillings are perhaps a little too freely used, but the ground is very much more 

 regular than in the last example. After a study of these two patterns, I 

 am sure you will agree with me that there is some value in good drawing^ 

 and design, and that it is not without reason so much has been said as to the 

 necessity for both. 



Fig. 9 is also an example of the improvement which has taken place in 

 the designs for Youghal lace. This is a cuff of slightly raised needle-point ; 

 the forms are accentuated by the raised outline w-hich adds brightness ta 

 the lace. The design is good ; and one can see at a glance that there is no 

 haphazard throwing together of the forms in this instance, but that the 

 whole arrangement has been carefully thought out Observe that although 

 the general arrangement is symmetrical the severity of such an arrange- 

 ment has been mitigated by the leaf which crosses the centre line, and hides 

 the curve at the end of one of the cornucopias. The forms are well drawn, the 

 small enrichments on the surfaces of the leaves and flowers are managed 

 with judgment, and the bars or ties are well arranged, and sufficiently 

 enriched with picots. On the whole, I consider this specimen fit to rank 

 with many of the antique laces, both as regards workmanship and design. 



Fig. 10 represents a flounce of needle-point lace from Kenmare. The 

 design is very elaborate and rich in details. A ribbon flows in a scroll-like 



