I hope someone can help me.
On p. 48 of "Dentelles Normandes: La Blonde de Caen" there is a quote
from a letter dated March, 1779. The writer is trying to persuade
someone to persuade the queen of France, Marie-Antoinette, to buy more
blonde lace. Apparently she prefers something called "gaze", which is
50 times faster to make than blonde lace.
For French speakers, the text is:
"Vraisemblablement ignore-t-elle les malheurs qu'occasionne dans ce
pay-ci la preference qu'elle donne a la gaze, dont un seul ouvrier
peut, dans un jour, par la celerite de son travail, fair autant de gaze
que cinquante ouvriers pourraient fabriquer de blonde pour le meme
objet..."
(sorry I don't know how to do the accents)
I've been trying to think what kind of lace could possibly be fifty
times faster to make than blonde, and still be something a queen would
want to wear. I know it's not "point de gaze", because my sources say
that arose in the 1860s. I know Marie-Antoinette was fond of Chantilly,
but the 18th-century Chantilly I've seen doesn't look 50 times faster
to make than blonde.
Does anybody know what this "gaze" refers to?
Adele
North Vancouver, BC
(west coast of Canada)
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