American genius abroad.

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THE BARBARA UTTMANN STATUE AT ANNABERG, SAXONY.


The question whether Barbara Uttmann, of Annaberg, Saxony, was the
inventor of the art of making hand cushion lace, or only introduced it
into Annaberg, in the Saxon mountains, has not yet been solved,
notwithstanding the fact that the most rigid examinations have been
made. It is the general belief, however, that she only introduced the
art, having learned it from a foreigner in the year 1561. The person
from whom she acquired this knowledge is said to have been a Protestant
fugitive from Brabant, who was driven from her native land by the
constables of the Inquisition, and who found a home in the Uttmann
family. However, the probability is that what the fugitive showed
Barbara Uttmann was the stitched, or embroidered, laces--points, so
called--which are still manufactured in the Netherlands at the present
time. It is very probable that the specimens shown induced Barbara
Uttmann to invent the art of making lace by means of a hand cushion.

[Illustration: BARBARA UTTMANN, INVENTOR OF HAND CUSHION LACE.]

Very little is known of the family of Barbara Uttmann, which was
originally from Nurnberg; but members of the same migrated to the Saxon
mountains. Barbara's husband, Christof Uttmann, was the owner of