This magnificent item was presented to Queen Marie-Henriette, wife of Leopold II, on the occasion of the royal couple’s 25th wedding anniversary. It was financed by a national subscription by Belgian women.
Shaped like a shell, the train is decorated with Belgian lions made with bobbin lace. Of increasing size, they were applied alternating facing left and right. Nine coats of arms of the Belgian provinces decorate the bottom. Made of bobbin lace, they represent, from left to right: Luxembourg, Limburg, Hainaut, Liège, Brabant, Antwerp, Namur, West Flanders and East Flanders. Seventeen splendid flower wreaths made of needle lace and in relief show: roses, daisies, ears of wheat and capsella (Shepherd’s purse). The edges of the train consist of floral motifs in relief made of bobbin lace.
