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| Catalonian Blonde or Ret-fi |
Catalonian Blonde or Ret-fi catala, was developed in Arenys de Mar, a
Mediterranean seaside town, 40 Km. north of Barcelona. It has a fishing
harbour and a marina. The Parish Church, close to the Museum Mares de
les Puntes (Mares lace Museum), boasts an early Eighteenth Century
monumental baroque altarpiece by sculptor Pau Costa.
Arenys de Mar became known as a bobbin lace manufacturing center
during the Seventeenth Century, but its greatest expansion did not take
place until well into the 1700's. There were many "randers" or
merchants, designers and technicians whose combined talents resulted in
a wide variety of patterns. Arenys Lace was not only produced to satisfy
internal demand, part of it was exported to several European countries
and to both, North and South America.
Many experts think that the origin of the "Blonde" is Spanish, not French.
Catalonian Blonde is a very fine bobbin lace worked on a long and narrow
bolster pillow. The pricking is laid along its length, and the lace is worked
on. When the lacmeaker reaches the bottom, she removes the pins and
moves the lace up and pins it at the top of the pillow, repeating as many
times as needed to get the wanted length. The lace is rolled at the top of
the pillow where it is kept.
Blonde laces uses a soft silk as gimp, to better carry out the designs. The
drawns were worked to produce an effect of lights and darks based on
the density of the stitches. Comparing it with Chantilly, the dark sections
of the patterns were often worked in a heavier thread in clothstitch,
while Chantilly is worked in halfstitch in those areas.
Black and white silks were widely used, as well as colored silks. These
pieces were decorated, not only with floral motifs but also with
landscapes and human figures. In the beginning, the most recognizable
traits of Blonde were the great size of the motifs which decorated the
laces,as well as fans. Later de design changed and developed under
French influence and motifs became linear and smaller, in this way laces
could be made easy and quickly and the production higher in less time.
During the Eighteen and Nineteenth Centuries, Catalonian Blondes were
very costly, both in Spain and outside. But since the industry of the
machine made lace appeared the demand for handmade lace declined but
not as severely or as fast as in the other countries.
One of the most important Catalonian multicolored blondes is displayed in
Barcelona's Textile and Dressing Museum. The masterpiece is worked as
a whole piece, using more than 200 bobbins. The design consists of a
bunch of flowers, and the designers are Mr. Fiteri and Mr. Tomas Estruch.
Mediterranean seaside town, 40 Km. north of Barcelona. It has a fishing
harbour and a marina. The Parish Church, close to the Museum Mares de
les Puntes (Mares lace Museum), boasts an early Eighteenth Century
monumental baroque altarpiece by sculptor Pau Costa.
Arenys de Mar became known as a bobbin lace manufacturing center
during the Seventeenth Century, but its greatest expansion did not take
place until well into the 1700's. There were many "randers" or
merchants, designers and technicians whose combined talents resulted in
a wide variety of patterns. Arenys Lace was not only produced to satisfy
internal demand, part of it was exported to several European countries
and to both, North and South America.
Many experts think that the origin of the "Blonde" is Spanish, not French.
Catalonian Blonde is a very fine bobbin lace worked on a long and narrow
bolster pillow. The pricking is laid along its length, and the lace is worked
on. When the lacmeaker reaches the bottom, she removes the pins and
moves the lace up and pins it at the top of the pillow, repeating as many
times as needed to get the wanted length. The lace is rolled at the top of
the pillow where it is kept.
Blonde laces uses a soft silk as gimp, to better carry out the designs. The
drawns were worked to produce an effect of lights and darks based on
the density of the stitches. Comparing it with Chantilly, the dark sections
of the patterns were often worked in a heavier thread in clothstitch,
while Chantilly is worked in halfstitch in those areas.
Black and white silks were widely used, as well as colored silks. These
pieces were decorated, not only with floral motifs but also with
landscapes and human figures. In the beginning, the most recognizable
traits of Blonde were the great size of the motifs which decorated the
laces,as well as fans. Later de design changed and developed under
French influence and motifs became linear and smaller, in this way laces
could be made easy and quickly and the production higher in less time.
During the Eighteen and Nineteenth Centuries, Catalonian Blondes were
very costly, both in Spain and outside. But since the industry of the
machine made lace appeared the demand for handmade lace declined but
not as severely or as fast as in the other countries.
One of the most important Catalonian multicolored blondes is displayed in
Barcelona's Textile and Dressing Museum. The masterpiece is worked as
a whole piece, using more than 200 bobbins. The design consists of a
bunch of flowers, and the designers are Mr. Fiteri and Mr. Tomas Estruch.
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