Venice is famous for the technique of glass blowing where beautiful glasses/vases of different shapes, designs, colours and sizes are produced and tourists make it a point to include a couple in their shopping list and exhibit them proudly in their drawing rooms. Though we did not pick up any, we were keen on visiting Burano island which is famous for its delicate lace making by women .Once we reached the
island by a ferry and on alighting we were fascinated to watch amid delicately worked lace table cloths, various motifs and women’s garments displayed in a showroom an elderly woman engrossed in stitching on a tiny fabric. Such was her concentration that she was oblivious of the presence of visitors who closely observed her work with curiosity. She was doing the “Air Stitch,” also known as the ‘Burano’ stitch for a typical table cloth. This intricate lace work we were informed takes several months to complete because of the special skill involved. The best laces in the world come from Venice but little is known about the Burano lace which unlike the Venetian lace and that of Chioggia or Pallestrina which are made on bobbins, is stitched by hand. Since the most valuable part of Burano lace is its needle work, especially its delicate “Air stitch” it costs a minimum of fifty thousand liras if one were to buy a handkerchief (1 dollar is equivalent to 1,500 liras).
What are the various work stages of Burano lace?
A design is drawn first on a paper followed by warping and Guipure (which is a heavy large patterned decorative lace on a fabric foundation). Then a net and a filet (lace with a square mesh and geometrical design) are made and you proceed to make bars (small loops or cross pieces of oversewn threads used for strengthening) which is followed by relief and detachment. Finally comes the “skinning” where the finished lace is separated from the fabric and ready to be used.
The Burano lace, dating back to more than three centuries has an interesting story behind it. Centuries ago young crusaders, before going to the Far East gave a piece of sea weed to their sweethearts as a token of their love. But seaweed had a short life and the girls had to wait day after day for the return of their lovers. They thought of a way to keep it as long as they could. Their fathers’ fishing nets came in useful. All that they required was a needle to reproduce the seaweed on the nets. That is how the Burano lace was born. For years it has been part of the clothing of both men and women and in the 18th century was also widely used for fans, bags and shoes.
Historically, lace first appeared in Venice in the 15th century and the first record of it is a painting of Carpaccio’s (1456-1526). The origin of lace goes back to Magna Grecia (Southern Italy) and Asia Minor from where it reached Venice. Authentic Burano lace originated in1537.
At Burano, in the middle of the square with the characteristic crooked bell-tower (a clock tower built in 1496, upon which two colossal bronze figures strike the hours on a large bell even today) the antique lace gallery, “dalla lidia” is situated. You go in and find a shop which offers the Burano laces made in modern times and antique centre pieces of various shapes and workmanship. At the end of the shop is a collection of fans including one belonging to Louis XIV, the “Sun King” (1638-1715). In the gallery beautiful mats and laces of different ages between 1500 and the present are on display, worked with precious yarns from number 4000 to 40, 40 being the lace yarn being used now-a-days. There is a unique mat that measures 12.80 metres.
The piece de-resistance is exhibited in the first showroom, a light and rare wedding dress, (the only one in the world), all done in needle work in the 18th Century. Also on display is a splendid embroidered handkerchief made on the occasion of Napoleon’s coronation; the workmanship of its design of five eagles forming the Imperial Crown is simply marvelous.
Burano lace has survived the ravages of time and the severe winters when the lagoon around Burano is covered with ice and fishing, the main activity of men folk becomes impossible. The lace makers of the island too get disheartened at such times but the rest of the year they are active with their needle, turning out exquisite bedspread, tablecloths, motifs with the “air stitch.”
N Meera Raghavendra Rao
Just Li'Es 