Bayeux can boast of one of the finest examples of this lace ever made. It was exhibited in 1867, and consisted of a dress of two flounces, in which the pattern, flowers and foliage were most harmoniously wrought and relieved by shaded tints, which give to the lace the relief of a picture. The price of the dress was $17,000, and it took forty women seven years to finish it. The city of Alencon had on exhibition at Paris, in 1899, a piece of {26} lace of exquisite description, that had taken 16,500 working days to complete. ALLOVER.--Lace of any kind which is eighteen inches or more in width, and used for yokes, flouncings and entire costumes. ANTIQUE.--A pillow lace, hand-made from heavy linen thread, and characterized by an exceedingly open, coarse, square mesh. It is mainly used for curtains, bed sets and draperies. ANTWERP.--A pillow lace made at Antwerp, resembling early Alencon, and whose chief characteristic is the representation of a pot or vase of flowers with which it is always decorated. The pot or vase varies much in size and details. It is usually grounded with a coarse "Fond Champ." APPLICATION.--A lace made by sewing flowers or sprigs, which may be either needle-point or bobbin-made, upon a bobbin-lace ground. One variety of Brussels lace affords the best example of Application. APPLIQUE.--The same as Application lace. ARGENTAN.--A needle-point lace, usually considered indistinguishable from Alencon, but which is different in some respects, its marked peculiarity being that the reseau ground is not made of single threads only, but the sides of each mesh are worked over with the buttonhole stitch. Argentan is often distinguished from Alencon lace by a larger and more striking pattern, and in some instances it is especially known by its hexagonally arranged brides. It is called after Argentan, a town near Alencon, and the lace was made there under the same direction. ARRAS.--A white pillow lace, so called from Arras, in France, the city of its original manufacture. It is simple and almost uniform in design, very strong and firm to the touch, and comparatively cheap in price. It is made on a lisle ground. The older and finer patterns of Arras lace reached their climax of excellence during the first Empire, between 1804 and 1812, but since then they have gone out of fashion. {27} [Illustration: Real Duchesse.] [Illustration: Real Irish Crochet.] {28} AURILLAC.--A pillow or bobbin lace, made at Aurillac, in France. In the early period of its manufacture it was a close-woven fabric, resembling the guipure of Genoa and Flanders, but later it resembled English point. The laces of Aurillac ended with the Revolution. AUVERGNE.--A pillow lace made at the French city of Auvergne and the surrounding district. AVE MARIA.--A narrow lace used for edging. (See Dieppe lace.)