In our English statutes we have no allusion to the point de Raguse; in those of France[254] it appears twice. "Tallemant des Réaux"[255] and the "Révolte des Passemens"[256] both give it honourable notice. Judging from the lines addressed to it in the last-named _jeu d'esprit_, point de Raguse was of a more costly character, "faite pour ruiner les estats,"[257] than any of those other points present. If, however, from this period it did still form an article of commerce, we may infer that it appeared under the general appellation of point de Venise. Ragusa had affronted Louis Quatorze by its attachment to the Austro-Italian princes; he kicked out her ambassadors,[258] and if the name of the point was unpleasant, we may feel assured it was no longer permitted to offend the royal ears. {84}[Illustration: Fig. 39. SILK GIMP LACE.] Though no manufacture of thread lace is known at Ragusa, yet much gold and silver lace is made for ornamenting the bodices of the peasants. They still also fabricate a kind of silk lace or gimp, made of twisted threads of cotton covered with metal, which is sewn down the seams of the coats and the bodices of the peasantry. The specimen, illustrated in Fig. 39, may possibly be the old, long-lost point de Raguse. Its resemblance, with its looped edges, to the pattern given from _Le Pompe_,[259] published at Venice in 1557, is very remarkable. We have seen specimens from Italy and Turkey. PLATE XXV. [Illustration: SICILIAN. OLD DRAWN-WORK.--Height, 12 in. Photo by A. Dryden from Salviati & Co.'s Collection.] PLATE XXVI. [Illustration: SOUTH ITALIAN.--The upper one is seventeenth century Church lace--réseau of threads twisted into star-shaped meshes. The three lower are considered eighteenth century CRETAN. All pillow made of thread and silk. Widths: 2, 2½, 1¾, 3¾ in. Victoria and Albert Museum.] _To face page 84._ {85}The conventionally termed Greek lace is really the Italian _reticella_. "The designs of the earliest Greek laces were all geometrical, the oldest being simple outlines worked over ends or threads left after others had been drawn or cut. Next in date come the patterns which had the outlines further ornamented with half circles, triangles, or wheels. Later, open-work with thick stitches was produced." [Illustration: Fig. 40. RETICELLA, OR GREEK LACE.--(Zante.)] The principal seats of the manufacture were the Ionian Isles, Zante, Corfu, Venice, Naples, Rome, Florence and Milan. The Ionian Islands for many years belonged to Venice, which accounts for the similarity in the manufacture. Fig. 40 is from a specimen purchased in the Island of Zante. This lace was much in vogue in Naples for curtains, bed-hangings, and coverlets, and even formed a substitute for {86}tapestry. A room hung with bands of Greek lace, alternated with crimson or amber silk, has a most effective appearance.