The early Mechlin lace resembles in design the point d'Angleterre, and, indeed, also the Alençon lace of the same date. It is most interesting to compare, say, the Mechlin, Plate 101, with the d'Angleterre, Plate 104, and the Venise à réseau of Plate 57. Yet the makings of the three laces are absolutely different--the Venice entirely by needle; the Angleterre is made in two different stages of bobbin work; the Mechlin, as is always the case, was made in the third manner, the threads originally started on the bobbins carrying the work to a finish, and ingeniously sufficing for toilé, réseau, and fillings. Later, Mechlin, for reasons already stated, became a mere border, as shown in Plate 102. It is no longer made. This is also the case with Binche lace (Plate 103). A very beautiful fond de neige, used sometimes as a ground and sometimes as a filling or à jours, distinguishes this lace. The work is very fine and close, the edge is usually straight. It is sometimes called fausses Valenciennes. Brussels gives its name to a variety of beautiful laces. The most renowned is the point d'Angleterre, made in great quantities during the later part of the seventeenth century for the English market. The designs, as on Plate 104, recall those of the Venise à réseau and of Alençon of the same period; the beautiful flowing garlands, the waved edge with varied fillings, the brides picotées forming the hexagonal réseau, will bear comparison with the Venice lace of Plate 57, and the Alençon of Plate 63. This truly wonderful point d'Angleterre has a very fine toilé; the flowers and scrolls were first made on the pillow and then joined by the réseau (vrai Bruxelles), long used for the highest class of all Brussels bobbin-made laces. Lace of this fineness is no longer made since the fine handspun thread cannot be obtained. Brussels lace followed the fashion which, as we have seen, obtained in France. In the late eighteenth century only a border was necessary, as lace was worn in a profusion of flounces and frills; and Plate 106 shows a border very similar in design to the Alençon of the same date. The delicate flowers and leaves are joined by the fine réseau mentioned above--namely Brussels vrai réseau, a title employed to distinguish it from machine-made net. This last was introduced during the first quarter of the nineteenth century, and soon gave a different character to Brussels lace, when the flowers made on the pillow were sewn (appliqué) to a simple net made sometimes by hand, but more often by machine. In the Antwerp lace scarf, No. 1, Plate 107, the fond chant or point de Paris réseau is used, and here we have an example of Potten Kant, or pot lace, so-called because in early times the subject of the Annunciation, with the pots of lilies usually added, was introduced into the designs for it. The indication of flower-pots certainly occurs in many pieces, though not in mine, and no piece exists, as far as I know, with figures.