Under Development (working on the translation)

L. Paulis, Le Passé de la Dentelle Belge, Published by the University Foundation of the Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire and the Friends of Lace, 1945, pp 119-125.

Annex

One cannot study the producion of Ghent lace of the 18th century without making mention of the spendid lace dress offered by the States of Flanders to the Empress Marie-Thérèse. Doesn't this dress represent the masterpiece of the Ghent lacemaking industry?

The decision to make such a present to the sovereign is recorded in the official report of the meeting of the States on July 16, 1743.

"M. Comte de Lalaing, having made known to the assembly that her Majesty the Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, our gracious Sovereign, would like to have a garment and a garniture of lace from the Netherlands manufactured in that country, and that she has already asked Her Higness the Duchesse d'Arenbergh to procure this for herself, and after having taken into consideration that it is necessary to profit by this favorable occasion to try and prove to some extent to Her Majesty, our innate and tireless zeal by contributing, in so far as possible, by this assembly with the satisfaction and the pleasure of and to give her on behalf of the Province of Flanders, before all the other provinces, the first marks (of attachment), it was decided to give Her Majesty the present of a gown or a garniture of lace fabricated in the Netherlands to the value of 25 thousand florins, to be paid by the Clerk of the impost in the district of Ghent (thread by thread) to be assigned to Her Highness the Duchesse d'Arenbergh; and when the amount of the aforesaid sum has been paid by the above-named clerk of taxes in the district of Ghent, he will be allowed to pass ordinance in the tax compatability.
In addition, it was decided to charge and appoint the Very Reverend M. Cassin de Boulers, abbot d'Eenaeme, M. Albert François Baron della Faille and the Huysse, and the gentleman Jean Walckiers, seigneur d'Ooswinckel, clerk of taxes in the district of Ghent, to make known the above-mentioned resolution to his Excellency the Count von Königseeg and to Her Highness the Duchesse d'Arenbergh and ask them to obtain for Her Majesty that which she would like to have, hoping that it will be agreable to her."
(signed) J. B. J. Ameije

Thus the dress was immediately made and given to the recipient.

The President of the Supreme Council of the Netherlands at Vienna, expressing the satisfaction of the Sovereign, wrote on the subject: "Her Majesty ...

The aforementioned portrait is attributed to Martin von Meytens. The Empress is represented seated, the lace gown backed by a rose-colored underdress. It did not arrive at its destination due to events until May 1749. It can still be found in the City of Ghent town hall.

A Flemish painter, Mathias de Visch (1702-1765), was invited by the City of Bruges to go and make a copy, which he executed with a remarkable talant.

A second portrait attributed to the same von Meytens, represents the Sovereign standing, the gown displayed to its full width, and the train elegantly arranged. It can be found at the Palace of Schoenbrunn.

There exists a heliogravure of this portrait, and a reproduction by the engraver Groh. Here the feature, more supported than requires it the aspect of lace, deteriorates the character somewhat of it but makes it possible to decipher of it with more clearness the pattern.

Thus was preserved the souvenir of this memorable lace to us.

To tell the truth, if one compares the painting, heliogravure and engraving, one can discern certain differences. Despite the great conciencessness of the authors of these various works, it was impossible, given the finesse of the work and its special character, to arrive at a perfect representation. This, for example, the flights of insects and butterflies, which were peculiar to Brussels manufacture, and which animate certain parts of the ground in the portrait at the Schoenbrunn, are not found at Ghent; the engraved reproduction is weighed down ...

Belgien, zweites Viertel des 18. Jahrhunderts (bei a. die Randspitzen etwas junger; Gegen 1/5 der naturlichen Grosse.
Familientauszeug des furstlichen Hauses Kinsky. Belgium, second quarter 18. Century (with A. the edge points somewhat younger; Against 1/5 of the actual size. Family baptizing things prince House Kinsky.
Die Wiener Spitzenausstellung 1906.