Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1904 edition. Excerpt: ... /// -- Flemish Lace JO country in the world has a more interesting past than the Netherlands, not only from the historian's point of view, but from the artist's side; from the standpoint of the elegante; from the demand of her housewives for the union of utility and beauty; and from the lovers of flowers as well. The Dutch, even while at war and busy wresting their little garden spot from the encroachments of the sea, had time to spend in learning and perfecting the secret of pictorial art, whose natural birthplace more appropriately seemed the sunny and beauty-loving Italy. Their conquests in China had brought to Holland specimens of porcelain, and the Dutch potter sought to imitate this in his coarse pottery, smeared with a finer surface, on which the decoration was laid, and succeeded in producing ware of great beauty and use. When commerce brought to her shores furniture carved and beautifully inlaid, she straightway set to work to copy this, and bettered the models. Her goldsmiths wrought with a delicacy and beauty that could vie even with Venice, and would it be natural that in lace she should' fall behind? She not only had the artistic capacity; to make this fabric, but had also the patience and intelligence to raise flax, the most necessary article to successful thread lace-making. .- v- . . Flax is a plant native to Egypt, and, transplanted to the soil of Holland, it was tended by the best gardeners in the world, who gave to its cultivation that unwearying care which vastly improved the quality of the plant. Delicacy of fibre and silkiness of gloss were the points aimed at, and in these the Dutch flax was so superior to any other that it was soon in demand all over Europe. There were many trades, grouped around and allied to the...