Alençon Lace
Alençon lace was developed in France under the reign of Louis XIV, based on Italian lace-making techniques. In 1665, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV's finance minister, encouraged domestic lace production in France, incorporating Italian techniques to develop the lace industry.
Alençon lace is a type of needle lace (lace made stitch by stitch with a needle, like embroidery), made using extremely fine linen or silk thread.
One of its key features is the thicker outline thread known as the "cordonnet." A heavier thread is used to outline the edges of the lace pattern, making the motifs stand out. Horsehair was often worked into this outline to give it more definition. Many surviving pieces have since lost this horsehair, though it can occasionally still be found intact.
The background is made up of a fine hexagonal mesh pattern, woven to fill the spaces between the motifs.
The historical background and development described below follows the same general path for other types of lace as well. ↓
18th-century lace was characterized by exquisite handwork and strong symbolic significance within aristocratic society, and was technically highly advanced.
In the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution brought machine-made lace, leading to an increase in simpler designs suited for mass production. Floral and leaf motifs remained popular, but decoration became even more elaborate, and as the variety of lace types and styles expanded, it also became more widespread among ordinary people, broadening its range of uses.
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Close-up of the cordonnet |
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Even closer detail |
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There is a variety of different motifs |
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A motif scattered with small flowers |
Alençon lace currently available in the shop ↓
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