Alençon point which cost 70,000 francs ($14,000). Among the orders of the emperor in 1856 were the curtains of the imperial infant's cradle, of needle-point, and a satin-lined Alençon coverlet; christening robe, mantle, and head-dress, of Alençon; twelve dozen embroidered frocks profusely trimmed with Alençon; and lace-trimming for the aprons of the imperial nurses. The finest Alençon point is now made at Bayeux.
Argentan is another town in France celebrated for its point-lace, which was not inferior in beauty to that of Alençon. The flowers of
Fig. 5.—Alençon Bed made for Napoleon I.
point d'Argentan, as seen in Fig. 6, are large and bold, in high-relief, on a clear compact ground, with a large, six-sided mesh. This ground was made by passing the needle and thread around pins pricked into a parchment pattern, and the six sides were worked over with seven or eight button-hole stitches on each side. It is called the grande bride ground, and is very strong.
While it is clear that France derived the art of making Alençon point from Italy, yet, along with all the countries of Northern Europe, Germany, and England, she is in the main indebted to Flanders for her knowledge of the art of lace-making. Flanders, as well as Italy,
