Tea at Trianon: Antique Irish Lace

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Antique Irish Lace

From Victoria:

A two-hundred-year-old thatched-roof building nestles along a lane in the Northern Ireland village of Enniskillen. Its whitewashed façade looks every bit as enchanting as a fairy-tale cottage, but the scene that awaits inside is even more magical. Opening the door to Rosemary Cathcart’s shop is much like walking into a winter wonderland. Lace in every imaginable shade of white drapes from ceiling to floor like tiers of frosting on a wedding cake, while crystal chandeliers and strings of pearls catch the sunlight pouring through the front windows. There is so much loveliness to take in that first-time customers find themselves grasping for words and, more often than not, simply exclaim in wonder. The shopkeeper’s mother was an accomplished seamstress who stitched her daughter’s wardrobe and instilled in her an appreciation for needlework. When Rosemary was eighteen, she came across a piece of Irish lace in an antiques shop—its filigree pattern and fine workmanship capturing her attention and her heart. With that first snippet, she began a collection that has spanned more than thirty years and led to her business, Sheelin Lace. Meaning “fairy pool,” the melodic-sounding Sheelin was the moniker given to the building by Rosemary’s mother-in-law, Nancy Cathcart, who originally owned a tea shop there. Since fairies conjure up fanciful visions, the name suits the boutique perfectly. “The interior is a treasure trove draped with antique Irish collars, handkerchiefs, stoles, bodices, veils, and wedding gowns,” the proprietress relates. “We also sell lace and diamanté headpieces, lace bags, lace necklaces, and framed pieces for display or study.” (Read more.)