point Colbert, (French: “Colbert lace”), needle-made lace developed at Bayeux in France in 1855, inspired by 17th-century Alençon lace (q.v.) and named after Louis XIV’s minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who started Alençon’s industry. Like Alençon, it had conventionalized flowers, stems, and the like on a background of bars, or brides.