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ing ceased large-scale production and returned to its origins as a private, domestic occupa-
tion. Many women turned to bobbin lace, a faster and therefore more economical technique
for turning out edgings for table linens and other accessories.
Venetian lace enjoyed a revival toward the end of the 1800s, thanks in part to the politi-
cian Paolo Fambri, who gathered the right group of people and resources to bolster Bur-
ano's sagging economy and bring the tradition of lace to life again. A small group of sup-
porters rallied around a vision to revive the tradition of Venetian needle lace, as well as
other bobbin lace traditions once practiced widely in the Veneto region, particularly in
Pellestrina and Chioggia. At that time, a single elderly, illiterate woman named Cencia
Scarpariola remembered how to execute the centuries-old
punto in aria di Burano
stitch,
which she passed on to several other women.
In 1872, the Scuola di Merletti, or lace school, opened thanks to the patronage of Count-
ess Adriana Marcello, Princess Margherita of Savoy, and several other noblewomen who
agreed to purchase the work produced by the school. Fambri also brought together sever-
al companies to begin producing and selling traditional lace. One of these companies be-
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