DOI issue:
Nr. 107 (January, 1906)
DOI article:Levetus, A. S.: Austrian peasant lace
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26961#0289
Austrian Peasant Lace
work, the sheets and pillow-slips are trimmed with lace,
and so is the curtain whicb, during her married life,
is to protect her from the “ evil eye.” In Dalmatia
both sexes wear a kind of shirt trimmed with lace
fronts, and, though these garments are always hidden
fromview,nopains arespared to makethem beautiful.
Even the very poor wear such garments, and to be
without them would mean loss of self-respect.
Our first illustration shows a piece of Dalmatian
peasant lace. It is part of an altar-cloth from the
Church of St. Eustachius, in Dobrota, and dates
from the end of the sixteenth or beginning of the
seventeenth Century. The same general pattem is
still made by the peasants for their own wear. If
examined closely, one can easily see that no special
scheine has been followed and repeated, although
at first sight the same pattern seems to recur, for
there is a certain symmetry both in the border and
in the insertion.
In the second of the two patterns shown in
Fig. 2 we have a specimen
of the lace still made at
Königgrätz, in Bohemia;
for, as already mentioned,
each district, and even each
town and village, has its
own style. In those parts
where lace of a primitive
kind is still to be seen, it is
easy to follow the course of
development in the various
techniques by observing that
worn in the different dis-
tricts. Naturally, owing to
the revival of interest in
lace-making and the action
of the State, Bohemia is far
to the fore with modern
patterns, which are made
in the lace-making schools
(see Fig. 15). But in parts
where modern ideas have
not permeated, and where
the peasant is content to
remain a peasant, the old
traditions are not likely to
die out soon.
Fig. 3 shows one end of
a collar such as is worn at
the present time by the
women and girlsinSlavonia.
Each end is in form like half
a handkerchief, and the
collar is worn with the two
ends falling over the shoulders, something like a
sailor collar, but fastened closeround theneck Here,
it will be seen, a fairly succcessful attempt has been
made to keep the pattern in the worker’s eye; but
closer inspection will show that, though the scallops
resemble one another, the pattern as a whole varies
greatly, particularly in the shape of the triple clover
leaf, the emblem of good luck. It is undoubtedly
a fine piece of work.
There is a remarkable diversity in the shapes of
the hoods and caps worn by the women of the Aus-
trian Crown Lands, as also in the different ways of
ornamenting them. Of those embroidered in silver
and gold I do not propose to speak, but some of
those embroidered in white, with lace trimming, are
exceedingly beautiful, and are regarded as great
treasures. Special ones are worn on special occa-
sions, and the most beautiful are made only to be
wornwhen their owners appear before their Maker,
and consequently very few of them are now extant.
211
work, the sheets and pillow-slips are trimmed with lace,
and so is the curtain whicb, during her married life,
is to protect her from the “ evil eye.” In Dalmatia
both sexes wear a kind of shirt trimmed with lace
fronts, and, though these garments are always hidden
fromview,nopains arespared to makethem beautiful.
Even the very poor wear such garments, and to be
without them would mean loss of self-respect.
Our first illustration shows a piece of Dalmatian
peasant lace. It is part of an altar-cloth from the
Church of St. Eustachius, in Dobrota, and dates
from the end of the sixteenth or beginning of the
seventeenth Century. The same general pattem is
still made by the peasants for their own wear. If
examined closely, one can easily see that no special
scheine has been followed and repeated, although
at first sight the same pattern seems to recur, for
there is a certain symmetry both in the border and
in the insertion.
In the second of the two patterns shown in
Fig. 2 we have a specimen
of the lace still made at
Königgrätz, in Bohemia;
for, as already mentioned,
each district, and even each
town and village, has its
own style. In those parts
where lace of a primitive
kind is still to be seen, it is
easy to follow the course of
development in the various
techniques by observing that
worn in the different dis-
tricts. Naturally, owing to
the revival of interest in
lace-making and the action
of the State, Bohemia is far
to the fore with modern
patterns, which are made
in the lace-making schools
(see Fig. 15). But in parts
where modern ideas have
not permeated, and where
the peasant is content to
remain a peasant, the old
traditions are not likely to
die out soon.
Fig. 3 shows one end of
a collar such as is worn at
the present time by the
women and girlsinSlavonia.
Each end is in form like half
a handkerchief, and the
collar is worn with the two
ends falling over the shoulders, something like a
sailor collar, but fastened closeround theneck Here,
it will be seen, a fairly succcessful attempt has been
made to keep the pattern in the worker’s eye; but
closer inspection will show that, though the scallops
resemble one another, the pattern as a whole varies
greatly, particularly in the shape of the triple clover
leaf, the emblem of good luck. It is undoubtedly
a fine piece of work.
There is a remarkable diversity in the shapes of
the hoods and caps worn by the women of the Aus-
trian Crown Lands, as also in the different ways of
ornamenting them. Of those embroidered in silver
and gold I do not propose to speak, but some of
those embroidered in white, with lace trimming, are
exceedingly beautiful, and are regarded as great
treasures. Special ones are worn on special occa-
sions, and the most beautiful are made only to be
wornwhen their owners appear before their Maker,
and consequently very few of them are now extant.
211