In 1839 Thomas McGill, who issued A
Handbook, or Guide, for Strangers visiting Malta, wrote that "the
females of the island make also excellent lace; the lace mitts and gloves
wrought by the Malta girls are bought by all ladies coming to the island;
orders from England are often sent for them on account of their beauty and
cheapness."
The 18th century, by which time lace
was already a well-established local industry, provides iconographic
evidence of its use in various paintings by Francesco Zahra (1710-1773)
and Antoine de Favray (1706-1798), representing high dignitaries of the
Order of St Jihn ecclesiastics and Maltese ladies of society.
Agius De Soldanis also records in his
dictionary that Malta lace had achieved a high degree of perfection and
compared favourably with that produced by Dutch women. Its widespread use
for adornment may be inferred from the fact that lace was included with
other articles in a bando or proclamation enacted by Grand Master
Ramon Perellos in 1697 aimed at repressing the wearing of gold, silver,
jewelry, cloth of gold, silks and other materials of value.
The Maltese word for lace
bizzilla, suggests a comparatively recent origin. In fact its
introduction to these islands cannot date further back than the 16th
century, when the art of lace-making, probably introduced into Venice from
the East, began to spread in Europe.
From Venice the new technique was soon
taken up by Genoa, where pillow lace, as distinct from Venetian point
lace, developed. Modern Maltese lace is descended directly from Genoese
lace.
To quote from Mincoff and Marriage
(Pillow Lace, 1907), "This heavier Genoese lace was made from 1625
onwards. Its lineal descendant is modern Maltese, which was introduced
into the island by laceworkers broght from Genoa in 1833 by Lady
Hamilton-Chichester..
"Though Genoses by extraction the
industry, flourishing exceedingly in Malta, has developed a character of
its own, retaining as essential the Genoese leafwork but very little of
its solid tapes, light twists taking their place. Characteristic is also
the Maltese cross in the patterns and the cream or black silk in which the
lace is usually worked."
From the above one may infer that
lacemaking, a flourishing industry in the 18th century, fell on evil days
and was on the decline during the first years of British rule, and
therefore, rather than introduce it into Malta, Lady Hamilton-Chichester
helped to revive the industry in 1833. It is a fact that this date
coincides roughly with a period of considerable revival and expansion.
About the same time lacemaking spread to the whole of Gozo and became a
thriving industry there through the efforts of two priests: Canon
Salvatore Bondi (1790-1859) and Fr Joseph Diacono (1847-1924).
Lace figured among the objects sent
from Malta to the Exhibition of Industries held in London in 1881. The
commercial potential of bobbin lace as developed in Malta led British
missionaries to copy and introduce local patterns in the Far East, both in
China and India. Patterns were copied first in silk and later in linen and
cotton thread.
There is a steady demand for lace by
tourists. To ensure the survival of this ancient craft, lacemaking is
taught in Government trade schools for girls, while private bodies such as
the Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce also hold special evening
classes. From time to time exhibitions are held. Besides arousing public
awareness of the cultural importance of this aspect of Maltas national
heritage, such initiatives also inspire deeper study of the history and
techniques of local lace among womens organisations and in academic
circles.