150 HISTORY OF LACE. CHAPTER XII. LOUIS XVI. TO THE EMPIRE. “Frond Versailles ! thy glory falls.” Vope. In the reign of Louis XVI. society, tired out with ceremony and the stately manners of the old court, at last began to emancipate itself. Marie-Antoinette (Fig. 76) first gave the signal. Rid Fig. 70. Marie-Antoinette. From a picture by Madame Le Brun. Mus. Nat. Versailles. herself of the preachings of “ Madame Etiquette ” she could not on state occasions, so she did her best to amuse herself in private. The finest Indian muslin 1 now supplanted the heavy points of 1 Madame du Barry, in her Memoirs, mentions the purchase of Indian muslin so fine that the piece did not weigh 15 oz., although sufficient to make four dresses.