International studio (27.1905/1906(1906))

Austrian Peasant Lace

The one reproduced in Fig. 4 was destined for that
purpose, but some accident or other saved it. The
Czechs no longer wear these hoods,having discarded
them when they discarded their national dress; but in
Moravia, Slavonia, and other provinces hoods and
caps are still worn, always of the same primitive
shapes as in ages long past.
In Fig. 5, for instance, we have an example of
the lace used in the Dalmatian head-dresses.
Here fancy has had free play, and the result is
a very effective piece of work. The threads
have been carefully drawn and sewn round the
pattem in cord-stitch, care having been taken
to make the work as transparent as possible. No
tvvo of the motifs are alike, and in the clustering of
the leaves there is great Variation. The head-dresses
for which this kind of work is used are only worn
on great days, and are never washed, for that
would be degrading them to every-day use.
The number of different techniques these
simple peasants have discovered for them-
selves is astonishing; it is as though they
were always seeking and Unding. In the
form as well as the trimming of the head-
dresses and caps there is great Variation in
different districts, though they all bear a
certain family likeness to one another. The
harebell, the apple, the heart, and the rose
are favourite molifs ; the cock, regarded as a
bird of good omen which watches over all,
appears in some form or other in all localities.
In Fig. 6 we have a portion of a church-
ing or thanksgiving garment, such as is still
worn in Wallachia. Such shawls are a neces-
sary and important item in the outfit of every
peasant girl. They are about three yards
long, and are worn round the head, the two
ends falling one above the other behind; and
they also serve as coverlets at the baptism
of the children. The pattern of this one,
which is entirely embroidered in white silk,
is exceedingly rieh, and has the appearance
of being perfectly symmetrical. All the
Slavic motifs can be easily recognised init —
the heart, the apple, the rose, the cloverdeaf:
symbols of love, happiness, and plenty. Th'e
variety of stitches is astonishing, and the
beauty of design and execution is heightened
by the two plain stripes running between the
insertion and lace. It must have been an
arduous piece of work, spite of the fact that
the peasant women are extremely dexterous
with the needle.
In Fig. 7 we are shown a still rarer kind
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of Wallachian lace, such as has not been rnade
for the last fifty years, on account of the difficulty
in executing it. It is made on exceedingly fine
linen, and the fatigue in drawing the threads
for the centre stripe must have been enormous.
The ä jour work is extremely delicate and
beautiful, and on close observation it will be
seen that the motifs of the borders and outer
insertions resemble those in Fig. 6 with but
slight Variation. Fig. 14 is also from a Wallachian
churching shawl. The two embroidered stripes
are in Wallachian ä jour work, the motif being
the apple and clover-leaf, and fancy has again been
allowed to have its will. Such embroidery, or lace
as it is called, is of very ancient origin, and the art
of making it is transmitted from generation to
generation. The insertion connecting the two


FIG. 5. PART OF DALMATIAN HEAD-DRESS MODERN
(From the District Governor of Spalato)