The Evening Herald

HAD TO HAVE AN ARGUMENT

Since 1665 Ypres Has Been "Celebrated for the Excellence of Its Manufactures."

It was in 1665 that the manufacture of lace, now known as Valenciennes, was begun at Ypres, and with other cities and towns and hamlets in Flanders the clack of the bobbins and the chatter of the lacemakers may once more be heard. Many a little village is re-establishing its industry and is finding a ready market as it did before the war. Flemish laces have always been favorites in England from the time when Henry VIII in 1540 made a present of "kerchiefs fringed with Flemish work" to his "verrie deare wife," Catherine Parr. Lace making was part of the education of women in the Low Countries in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and Charles V ordered it to be taught in the schools, but in 1660 it was not only a flourishing industry in Belgium but, with the approval of Louis XIV, a Manufacture Royale de Dentelles was founded, and lacemakers from Flanders were brought to France, as Flemish lace was even more sought after than Italian lace. It was at this time that some of the most famous "points" first appeared and were developed. The "point de Bruxelles," which is made with the needle, and "Binche" lace, the queen of all pillow lace, as well as "point d'Angleterre," in which pillow and needlework are mingled, all enhanced the reputation of the Flemish designers.