Patricia Camilleri

Ladies of Malta takes a good look at us – well, not all of us, our women, is what I mean. It goes right through society, so to speak, and I do not say this in an arrogant, condescending, or patronising manner. I say this to stress that, yes, there are ladies with different tastes and aspirations, ladies who are modest, grand, flamboyant, stunning, beautiful, flashy, serious, correct...

Oh, it’s all so wonderful – our collection of women, all resplendent in our so special, so unique little Malta; we have such a variety of delight and fascination all around us if we care to look at it. Which, of course, we do.

The project took quite a lot of persuasion, at times, to get the approval of all the nearly 100 sitters. They are ladies who are important, fashionable, (here we go again) knowledgeable, useful, flamboyant, critical, essential, beautiful, desirable, (slow down!) forbidding, bountiful and whatever else. The one thing they have in common in this book is that they are all wearing Maltese lace.

There are ladies with different tastes and aspirations, ladies who are modest, grand, flamboyant, stunning, beautiful, flashy, serious, correct...

The famous bizzilla featured in the book came from three different sources, collected over many years by my Aunt Cissie, who used to have a passion for high-quality pieces and had learnt the art as a child. She could both make and lecture on lace, and did a lot of this in the years she lived in the US.

Another collection was amassed, perhaps not so vehemently but with taste, by another aunt, Mona, who, like her sister Cissie, had an eye for quality. Her collection is now part of the Casa Rocca Piccola collection.

Daphne Cassar

Don’t ask me why, but I also collected lace while living in the UK in the 1980s.

People were selling at very reasonable prices, and I suppose nostalgia played a part in my enthusiasm to buy what rightfully should have been well beyond my means.

The three collections are now together, and the finest pieces are modelled by the ladies in the book. Naturally, although there is so much scope, in order to stress the ingenuity and sometimes the genius portrayed, I have limited the overall subject matter of this book. I have, for obvious reasons, excluded male items and anything clerical, as the focus is unequivocally the ladies.

My 100-or-so ladies include First Lady Margaret Abela, Michelle Muscat and her two little girls, Kate Gonzi... and away we go. We have a selection of wives of the Knights of Malta, we have Consiglia and two more well-known lace makers. We also have a judge, a high-profile lawyer, and, from the world of music, another four great Maltese ladies.

Nicola Paris

Gastronomy is well represented, and so is broadcasting, culture and the arts. Yes, we have style and pretension and beauty, but I have not forgotten one or two worthies like teachers, writers and benefactors, and there are others who are not included for any particular or obvious reason whatsoever. They just fitted in; they are simply ladies of Malta.

Tiffany, the model, took my breath away covered in lace. She was dazzling and, wearing lace, she looked angelic. Ira Losco looked amazing, and what the lace did for her you can see for yourselves.

We have a broad cross-section of Maltese ladies, but I hear the words of the saying ringing in my ears: fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Yes, indeed, the book is done; we are all set to go, but something is niggling.

Having completed the exercise, what now transpires is that there is scope for even more – if this book serves its purpose and makes its contribution to society; if this book does its job not only for charity (the Malta Community Chest Fund will benefit) and for those involved; and if the author, photographer and their team remain confident, then there is a definite next step to tread.

Sophia Bianchi, Ladies of Malta cover girl, wearing the għonnella.

Cheer up all you ladies who have not been included in this first volume, as there is still an exercise to be performed. We must find more lace from private collections throughout the length and breadth of these islands.

We shall dress another 100 ladies again with more treasures of the finest quality, until the whole job is done and placed in the lap of posterity. I am keen to create More Ladies of Malta without further ado. Items have already been suggested to me, but for the time being, I shall say no more other than to promise more wonderful surprises.

Ladies of Malta is not just about looking at the attractive pictures in a book; we have a fair-sized script, collected for the entertainment and enlightenment of the reader. Some of our finest poets, including Joe Friggieri, Maria Grech Ganado and Richard England have made brilliant poetic contributions.

There is more: a peppering of history and a sprinkle of humour to render Ladies of Malta a divertimento and also a treasury of pride and nostalgia. There is a behind-the-scenes chapter with informal photographs by Sylvana Xuereb, showing our professional photographer Patrick Fenech and the team of voluntary helpers, including Caroline Tonna and Melanie Pace Lupi, hard at work.

Two, short, illustrated research contributions have enhanced the book: Lace-inspired Ornamentation on Maltese Furniture, delivered by Joe Galea-Naudi; and The Common Factor – Design by Marika Azzopardi, who compares lace to filigree.

Even if you are not an ardent aficionado of lace, I hope, at least, that you will like the ladies!