The lavish use of expensive Venetian laces at the court of Louis XIV convinced his finance minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to establish a competing French lace industry. The term point de France originally referred to both needle and bobbin lace made in France, but eventually became synonymous with French needle lace characterized by a hexagonal background mesh covered with buttonhole stitches and embellished with tiny projections known as picots.
This cravat with a hunting theme was reputedly part of a set made in 1697 for the marriage of Marie-Adelaide of Savoy and Louis XIV’s grandson the duc de Bourgogne.