Marthe La Perrière, born Barbot, was born c.1605 in Alençon, France, where she died on January 12, 1677. She is the inventor of the "point d'Alençon", or Alençon lace.[1]
Marthe La Perrière | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1605 |
| Died | January 12, 1677 |
| Citizenship | France |
| Occupation | Inventor |
| Spouse | Michel Mercier |
| Parent(s) | Suzanne Hourdebourg and Jean Barbot |
Biography edit
Marthe Barbot grew up in Alençon with a sister, Suzanne. Her parents were Jean Barbot, a public prosecutor, and Suzanne Hourdebourg, from whom she likely got her lace-making skills. Marthe married Michel Mercier, sieur de La Perrière, in March 1633, bringing to the marriage 300 livres as earnings from her work with lace before their marriage.[2] They had a son. Her husband died after 12 years of marriage in 1645, and La Perrière remained a widow.[3]
In 1657 and 1658, La Perrière was ill and bedridden. However, she survived to make her most notable contribution - "point d'Alençon."
Contributions edit
In around 1650, La Perrière introduced an Italian lace technique called points de Venise to Alençon. She fine-tuned her craftsmanship, and around 1660, invented "point de France" that later became "point d'Alençon."[1]
This technique involved using vellum to create the pattern.[4]
In addition to the technique of lace-making, La Perrière also improved the production of lace-making through dividing tasks to different workers, using division of labor. By encouraging workers to specialize in a specific part of the lace-making process, La Perrière increased the quality of the outputted lace.[3][5]
In 1665, the local lace industry expanded rapidly, during the reign of Louis XIV by Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Colbert established a Royal Workshop in the town to produce lace in the Venetian style, including a monopoly on the production of point de France, which La Perrière had previously produced.
La Perrière continued to secretly make her lace throughout the ten-year monopoly.[3]
References edit
- ^ a b "Patrimoine". alencon.fr (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-23.
- ^ Palliser, Bury; Dryden, Alice; Jourdain, Margaret (1902). History of lace. Wellesley College Library. London : Sampson Low, Marston.
- ^ a b c "Madame la Perriere". Archived from the original on 2000-12-08.
- ^ Lefébure, Ernest (1888). Embroidery and Lace: Their Manufacture and History from the Remotest Antiquity to the Present Day. A Handbook for Amateurs, Collectors, and General Readers. H. Grevel. p. 214.
- ^ "Worth a visit - Alençon - Normandy Tourism, France". en.normandie-tourisme.fr. Retrieved 2020-02-23.