I am making an extensive web discussion on Maria-Theresia's lace dress as
part of my developing new lace web site. Apologies for the length of this
email
Maria-Theresa was the eldest daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI
(1685-1740) - his only male heir died as an infant. He worked extensively to
guarantee the succession of his daughter to the Habsburg Empire. Despite her
elevation upon her father's death in 1740, Saxony, Prussia, Bavaria and
France, which had previously agreed to femine rule under the Pragmatic
Succession of 1713, repudiated their promise. Prussia went so far as to
invade the Habsburg province of Silesia, initiating the War of the Austrian
Succession, which lasted eight years. Other parts of the Empire, such as the
States of Flanders, were eager to curry favor with the new monarch, and
presented her with this magnificent gown in 1744 - it was known that she
wanted a gown and a garniture of lace from the Netherlands. Such an
extensive work could not have been done quickly, it was probably ordered
several years before 1944. The States of Flanders was basically a
'parlimentary' body supporting the Counts of Flanders (Maria-Thersia became
Countess of Flanders upon her accession in 1740), and consisted of the
clergy, nobles, and commoners. Bruges, Ghent, and Ypres were economically
the most important cities in Flanders, and could well afford the expense of
this gift. The records of the debate concerning this gift are hilarious:
"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
All throughout its history, the Habsburg empire was centered in modern
Austria, however the lace gown was made in Gent, Documentation exists to
show that the Gent orphans known as the 'Red Corsets' from the dress the
female orphans wore, were paid to do the work. The population of the Gent
orphans rose and fell over the years depending on local wars, but by in
large the girls were trained as lacemakers and seamstresses, while the boys
eventually went into the Navy. This way the government could ensure a
military workforce.
Six of Maria-Theresa's sixteen children had been born by the time this dress
was received, and she was around 26 years old when the seated portrait by
Martyn van Meytens (1695-1770) was painted - it remains to this day in the
town hall of Gent. It was a gift to the States of Flanders in appreciation
of the dress. The underdress is a rose color. The standing portrait was
painted around 1745, and is in the Schönbrunn palace near Vienna. Both
paintings are attributed to van Mytens. Two stamps have been issued by
Belgium, one with the standing dress portrait in and one with the seated
portrait in 1972 for the 200th anniversary of the Academie Royale des
Sciences des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique (The Empress was the
founder of the institution). The second stamp was of the standing portrait
and was issued in 1964 as part of a series raising money for Tuberculosis
research (different countries issued a set of stamps for this enterprise
every year). You can see both portraits at
http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/93342/1/Empress-Maria-Theresa.jpg
and at
http://www.hofburg-wien.at/typo3temp/pics/MariaTheresia_02_c17a72b0d4.jpg
I am working on a translation Mme Lucie Paulis, in "Le Passé de la Dentelle
Belge" (1947) which gives an account of the history of this gown.
If all this wasn't interesting enough - there's more. There is one
speculated surviving piece (maybe two) of the dress. The dress has a
decided Chinoiserie design, including palm trees, and a curious large oval
lozenge pattern in parts of the ground. In 1979 I visited Anne Kraatz in
Paris. She had been hired by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs at the Louvre to
catalog their lace collection, and kindly showed me a number of the pieces
in storage. In particular, she showed me a piece about a foot square, maybe
larger (it's hard to remember exactly), which had a palm leaf design and a
number of large oval lozenges in the ground... she wondered if I had ever
seen anything like it. I immediately told her that I thought it looked like
something from Empress Maria Theresa's dress (she then asked me 'which Maria
Theresa'... we weren't communicating too well, I think). I am quite positive
that this is the same piece illustrated by Paulis - it was remade into a
baby's christening layette for the Kinsky family (he was a chancellor during
her reign.) The possible fate of the dress, including a photo of what might
have been the piece I saw is in the Paulis article. I remembered that
Paulis had written on the subject, but we could not find a copy of the book
at the time of my visit. I do remember how delicate and fine the piece was -
not something you would expect from such a large original piece. Comparable
furniture flounces of the period tend to be a bit sturdier. I did not see
any sign of needlelace motifs. It was basically composed of small motifs of
with a very regular bride background - what we now call 'Brussels a Brides',
although we know it was not made in Brussels. It was surrounded by a
ruffled edging which was not Mechlin, but a pieced lace on vrai droschel
ground - seemed a bit later than the main piece.
I am also thinking there might be another piece out there - I've seen a
photo of a lace shawl proportedly belonging to Marie Antoinette. But I
dismissed it because it wasn't in the right style. But she was
Maria-Theresia's daughter, and may have inherited the piece - it might
possibly be the shawl seen in the portraits that goes with the dress.
Something to track down - it's in one of my several thousand lace books.
Can't remember which one.
Laurie
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