Art and Handcraft in the Woman's Building
of the World's Columbian Exposition

 IN THE WOMAN’S BUILDING. 281 at Brussels. The ecclesiastic embroideries of Mlle. Dennis are worthy of attention, and the white embroideries of Mme. de Kerchove de Naeyer are masterpieces of delicate stitchery. The most important industry of the Belgian women is the lace- making, in which for so many years they have excelled. A good opportunity is offered to the connoisseur for the study of many rare and interesting examples of the rich laces for which Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, and so many other Flemish towns have long been famous. A dress of point d’Angleterre, lent by the Queen, is a triumph of the lace-maker’s art. The coats of arms of the different Belgian provinces are wrought in the border. A veil of the Vir- gin, made in the last century, and lent by the Church of Saint Nicholas, has a very quaint and lovely Flemish design. Very remarkable pieces of the different styles of point lace of Malines, Valenciennes, Binche, Guipure, etc., may be studied here. The great revival of lace-making all over Europe is very clearly illustrated at the World’s Fair. We learn from the exhibits at the Woman’s Building that in Ireland, Italy, France, and Russia a large amount of fine lace is being made. In Belgium the art, while it has never languished as in these other countries, has felt the same quickening impulse which in at least two countries of Europe has revived a practically extinct industry. The imitation or machine-made laces, which for some time threatened the existence of the real lace industries, have now been relegated to their proper sphere, and no more take the place of the real laces than the paste- jewel takes the place of the diamond. Belgium is finely represented in the library, not only by her large and interesting collection of books, but by the reports and statistics, which have been compiled with great care, and which to the student of sociology reveal much that throws light upon the condition of the people. The Editor.