Chapter VI: Part 1 (2)

Net lace.
Cut lace.
Open lace.
Flowered lace.
Knotted lace.
Darning or square netting.
Venice point.
Burano point.
Drawn lace.[377]
Embroidered linen.[378]

The price of these laces is very high, but not beyond their value when we consider the vast amount of skilled labour bestowed on them. We are often told that old lace is cheaper than new, as an absurd fact, because the antiquity of lace is supposed to add to its value. Yes, but principally as an object of archæological interest; whereas that which is being made now is supporting by its daily wage the needlewoman and her family, and perhaps providing for her old age; and as the strain on the eye is very heavy, many lace-workers early in life lose their sight, at least for all the purposes of their craft.[379] For these reasons we cannot say that the prices required for such luxurious trimmings are unreasonable. Zanon da Udine gives us an idea of how costly they were in old times. He says that Giuseppe Berardi, a lace merchant in Venice, made a profit of 75,000 francs on a commission for a set of lace bed-hangings for the wedding of Joseph II., Emperor of Germany, which proves the high prices paid for the new laces of their day.

Blond laces, which take their turn occasionally as fashionable trimmings, veils, and Spanish mantillas, are so called from their original Venetian name, "merletti biondi," pale laces. De Gheltof derives this appellation from the celebrated collar of Louis Quatorze, and fancies it was made of the fair hair of the workers; but this is only vague conjecture. The term was applied in the seventeenth century to laces in silk, gold, and silver--never to thread laces. I confess I do not find the reason for the name, but accept De Gheltof's information that it was given by the authority of the magistrates of Mercanzia in 1759.

This is but a very slight sketch of the history of lace. Venice being its birthplace, and likewise the busy scene of its rehabilitation, I have lingered over its school, and left but little space for the discussion of those of Spain, Flanders, Belgium, and France. But these have been thoroughly investigated, and their individual merits are well appreciated, both as antique and modern dress decoration.

I have already said that the lace schools in France were instituted by Colbert, who placed one at Auxerre, under the especial care of his brother, the bishop of that city. Louis Quatorze made it one of his splendid caprices, and not only set the example, but forced the fashion into this luxurious and extravagant channel.

In Spain, lace was made to look its best by being worn stretched over the great hoops of the "Guard-Infante;" and the fashion spread all over Europe. The white laces, resembling carved ivory or those in gold and silver, which remind one of solid jewellers' work, when spread over the surface of these fortified outworks, guarding from all approach the persons of the Infantas of Spain, assume in the portraits by Velasquez, a dignity which is in keeping with their value. The splendid designs show brilliantly on a background of scarlet, rose colour, or black silk; and that which, hanging loosely, looks only tawdry and ragged, had a magnificent effect when thus displayed.

For ecclesiastical purposes, these grand solid laces seem most appropriate, being effective in large spaces, and easily seen at a distance, hanging over the edge of the altar, as a border to the linen cloths, or finishing the white alb of the officiating priest.

One cannot but agree with M. Blanc, who points out that each piece of lace had its intention, and that a fashionable ball-dress trimmed with the edging of an antique altar-cloth in loops, is in false taste, to say no worse of the misappropriation.

Though we have had no schools of lace in England (unless we can call our imitative industries schools), we have samplers of the time of Queen Elizabeth, and down to the middle of the last century, showing that drawn lace and cut lace were regularly taught, probably as an accomplishment, by Italians. The laces of Devonshire and the Isle of Wight (called Honiton) form a group totally distinct from those of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and Oxfordshire, which last are very simple cushion bobbin-laces.

From the sixteenth century English ladies have, for their amusement, made cut laces. Still, we must confess we have no national style of lace, and the only enduring ones have been those of France and Belgium, which have always kept the lead since their establishment, though fluctuating in design with the varying fashions of each epoch. Perhaps the reason of their longevity is that they have followed always the taste of their day. That of our time being decidedly archæological, ancient patterns are now the most successful.

There is a kind of embroidery darned-work, called "Limerick lace," which is said to be only made in Ireland, and being partly machine-made, is not pure lace, and therefore little esteemed. Very fine thread laces have been produced at Irish work schools; but no commercial result has followed. Clever imitations of Venice point have come from Ireland lately, called "raised crochet." This is a novelty, and it is extremely fine and beautiful work.

The Exhibition of Irish Lace in London (June, 1883), shows how widespread have been the efforts of Irish ladies to employ the peculiar genius of the sister island for delicate work with the needle, which has always been shown in their beautiful embroideries on muslin and cambric. It appears that every kind of lace, except, perhaps, Brussels point, has been made in Ireland within the last 180 years; but as in each case the effort was always that of one individual woman, the school fell away when she died.

The names of these ladies are now worthily recorded in the official catalogue of the exhibition, with photographs of the specimens produced under their superintendence and care. Perhaps a permanent industry may crown, however late, their exertions to help the women of Ireland.

_Part 8._

TAPESTRY--OPUS PECTINEUM.

It is necessary to define precisely what is meant by the word "tapestry."[380] The term has been applied to all hangings, and so caused confusion between those that are embroidered with a design, on a plain or brocaded woven material, and those which are inwoven with the design from the first.[381] This latter was called in classical language, "opus pectineum," because it was woven with the help of a comb (the "slay"),[382] to push the threads tight between each row of stitches; and the individual stitches were put in with a sort of a needle, or by the fingers only, and laid on the warp. It was thus practised by the Egyptians, by the Persians, Indians, and Peruvians; and in Egypt was often finished by embroidery. (Pl. 46.) In Egyptian tombs we have evidence of their tapestry, from the mural paintings representing men and women weaving pictures in upright looms. The comb which served to push the threads together after the stitches were laid in is sometimes found in the weaver's tomb.

We have, in the British Museum, pieces of "opus pectineum" from Saccarah, in Egypt; and also fragments from a Peruvian tomb, of barbarous design, but the weaving is equal to the Egyptian; and both resemble the Gobelins weaving of to-day. Whence came the craft of the Peruvians?

Tapestry is woven in two ways, by a high or by a low-warp loom (_haute-lisse_ or _basse-lisse_), vertical or horizontal. The "slay" is the implement which is peculiar to the craft. I shall not enter into any description of the mode of working the looms, as this has been thoroughly well done by masters of the art.[383] But I would call attention to the Frontispiece, copied from a Greek vase, where Penelope is portrayed sitting by her _haute-lisse_ frame. I also refer the reader to the illustration from the Rheims tapestries, in which a mediæval artist shows the Blessed Virgin weaving at one that is horizontal or "basse-lisse." (Pl. 47.)

For the best information I have been able to obtain regarding tapestry weaving, I must acknowledge my indebtedness to M. Albert Castel's "Bibliothèque des Merveilles."[384] He has given great care to the consideration of this subject, and has collected good evidences to prove his conclusions, which I willingly accept _en bloc_. Of course he has chiefly dealt with the French branch of the art, and with the Flemish, from which it immediately descends. He begins, however, by quoting Pliny, to prove the antiquity of weaving, and gives a verse of Martial's to this effect: "Thou owest this work to the land of Memphis, where the slay of the Nile has vanquished the needle of Babylon."[385]

Homer makes Helen weave the story of the siege of Troy; this may have been partly embroidered; and there are some pieces of woven tapestry introduced most ingeniously into the web of a linen shirt or garment, of which the sleeve is in the Egyptian department of the British Museum, proving that figures were pictured by weaving quite as early as the date of Troy, and unmistakably finished with the needle (Plate 18); at any rate, as early as the days of Homer. Arachne's web was interwoven with figures. She and Minerva rivalled each other in ingenious design and perfect execution. The description of the beautiful hangings they wove, the glorious colours with their tenderly graduated tints, and the graceful borders, appear to be almost prophetic of the highest efforts of the looms of the Gobelins.[386][387] Arachne's name is derived from the Hebrew word for weaving, "Arag."

It appears that the town now called Arras, but anciently Nomenticum, was always a centre of the trade of the weavers;[388] for Flavius Vopiscus, writing in A.D. 282, says that thence came the Byrri--woven cloaks with hoods, which were much in vogue amongst all classes in the later Roman Empire. The craft of weaving, which flourished in the Flemish and other adjacent countries, seems to have become native to that soil, and to have clung to it, surviving many historical cataclysms.[389]

Though in the fifth century the inhabitants of that country were transported wholesale to Germany by the Vandals, and among them those of the town of Arras, yet, thanks to the monasteries, there was a survival and a revival; the craftsmen grouping themselves round the religious houses. Specimens as models were brought from the East. Aster, Bishop of Amasis (a town in Asiatic Turkey), describes these Oriental hangings in one of his homilies. He says that animals and scenes from the Bible were woven on white grounds.[390]

Sidonius Apollinaris, Bishop of Clermont Ferrand,[391] says that some foreign tapestries are "pictured" with the summits of Ctesiphon and Nephates, "wild beasts running rapidly across void canvas, and also by a miracle of art, the Parthian of wild aspect with his head turned backwards." This might be a description of a Chinese composition, and probably it is so.[392]

Woven tapestry is also called "Arras,"[393] because that town in the Netherlands was the home and school of the art of picture weaving in the Middle Ages. It has been hitherto excluded from the domain of needlework, because of the different use of the needle employed in it. It has always been woven on a loom, and is, in fact, embroidery combined with the weaving; for the shuttle, or slay, or comb completes each row of stitches. It belongs as much to our art as does tambour work, which is done with a hook instead of a needle. Tapestry weaving is the intelligent craft of a practised hand guided by artistic skill. The forms of the painted design must be copied by a person who can draw; and the colours require as much care in selection, as in painting with oils or water-colours. Such a thing as a purely mechanical exact copy is impossible in any art; and the difficulties are increased a hundredfold when it is a translation into another material, and another form of art. Besides, in this case, the copies are worked from the back, and the picture is reversed. The question is this: Can it be claimed as belonging to the same craft as embroidery? I answer in the affirmative, and I claim it.

"When the Saracens began to weave tapestry we cannot tell; but the workers in woven pictures were called Sarassins, and their craft, the 'opus Saracenicum.'"[394] The French and Flemish artisans who continued to weave in the old upright frames (_haute-lisse_) were, whether Christians or not, called "Sarassins." Probably they came through Spain, possibly from Sicily to Flanders and to France, or else from Byzantium. Viollet-le-Duc says that the "Saracinois" was a term applied to the makers of velvety carpets (_tapis veloutés_).[395] This is possible.[396] Woven carpets of Oriental type were spreading themselves as articles of luxury through Europe early in the Middle Ages; and the Persian style of design was much the same then, when the first models were brought to Spain, and thence to Arras, as it is now in the carpets we buy just woven in Persia.[397] The oldest specimens known here have been exhibited in the Indian Museum, and may be of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The perishable nature of the material makes us dependent on the sculptured records of all artistic design for our knowledge of carpets and hangings of more than a thousand years ago; and we must confess that we find nothing really resembling a Persian pattern in any classical tomb or sculpture of the Dark Ages.[398]

I have allowed myself to touch upon carpet weaving, as it is germane to tapestry; though it is a branch that soon loses itself and leaves artistic work in the distance. Except the first design, it has become purely mechanical.

After what has been quoted from Ovid's "Metamorphoses," and bearing in mind the pictured webs described by Homer, and likewise the evidence of the frescoes in Egypt, and the woman weaving on the Greek fictile vase found at Chiusi, we may be justified in concluding that, like all other arts, that of tapestry existed in very early days, died out, and had to begin afresh, and gradually return to life, during the Middle Ages.

Bishop Gaudry, about 925, possessing a piece of tapestry with an inscription in Greek letters surrounded by lions "parsemé," was much put about till he obtained something to match it, to hang on the opposite side of his choir at Auxerre.[399] And it is known that the monks of St. Florent, at Saumur, wove tapestries about 985, and continued to do so for two centuries. St. Angelme of Norway,[400] Bishop of Auxerre, who died in 840, caused many tapestries to be executed for his church. At Poitiers this manufactory was so famous in the eleventh century, that foreign kings, princes, and prelates sought to obtain them, "even for Italy." The rules of their order of the monks of the Abbey of Cluny, dated 1009, were followed by those of St. Wast and of the Abbey of Fleury, and others in France, who all wove wool and silk for tapestries. Le Père Labbé, from whom much of this information is drawn and acknowledged by M. Charton (my authority), says that in 876, at Ponthièvre, in presence of the Emperor Charles the Bold, the hall of the council-chamber was hung with pictured tapestries, and the seats were covered with them.[401]

Sufficient has been said to show that during the dark ages hangings were woven in France, Germany, and Belgium,[402] and that England was not behind the rest of the civilized world in this craft. I think, also, that we have indicated its Oriental origin.[403]

Arras continued to lead as the great tapestry factory till the end of the fifteenth century, when the commercial failure of the city began, at the death of Charles le Téméraire, Duke of Burgundy.[404] Plate 48 shows a portion of his tent hangings woven with the order of the golden fleece taken at the battle of Grandson--now in the museum at Berne. Till then Arras had supplied most of the splendid decorations of which we find such marvellous lists. Every possible subject--religious, romantic, historical, and allegorical--was pressed into the service, and pictured hangings were supposed to instruct, amuse, and edify the beholders. The dark ages were illuminated, and their barbarity softened, by these constant appeals to men's highest instincts, and to the memories of their noblest antecedents and aspirations, which clothed their walls, and so became a part of their daily lives. The great Flemish and French workshops became the illustrators of the history of the world, as it was then read or being enacted. It is a record of faiths, religious and political; and of national and family lives and their changes. The Exhibition at Brussels in 1880 showed, by its "Catalogue Raisonné," how much could be extracted from its storied tapestries of both archæological and artistic information.[405]

Though the art continued to be the servant of refined luxury in the fifteenth century, Arras itself had done its work,[406] and was superseded as the greatest weaver of artistic tapestry by a neighbour and rival. Brussels, which had been gradually asserting itself as a weaving community, from that date absorbed most of the trade of Arras, and thence forwards, till Henri IV. established the works of the Savonnerie, Brussels led European taste, and employed the best artists. Brussels employed Leonardo da Vinci and Mantegna, Giovanni da Udine, Raphael, and later, Rubens and the great Dutch painters, to design cartoons for tapestry works. Raphael's pupil, Michael Coxsius, of Mechlin, superintended the copying of his master's cartoons. Shortly afterwards, Antwerp, Oudenarde, Lille, Tournai, Valenciennes, Beauvais, Aubusson, and Bruges all had their schools;[407] and the adept can trace their differences and peculiarities, and name their birthplace, without referring to their trade-mark, or to that of the manufacturer, which is usually to be found in the outer border. Poitiers, Troyes, Beauvais, Rheims, and St. Quentin likewise had their schools, and became famous.

Want of space prevents my entering more fully into this subject of the northern tapestries, and I must refer my readers to the authorities I have quoted from so largely.

ITALIAN TAPESTRY.

The word Arrazzi shows us whence the Italians drew their art. Doubtless there were looms in the Italian cities, and especially under ecclesiastical patronage, through the dark ages. Rome was in communication with the Atrebates in the third century, by whom she was supplied with the Byrri, or hooded cloaks then worn; and as it had been a centre for weaving commerce, it is probable that Rome received from Arras the craftsmen as well as the produce of their looms. At the Renaissance we find factories for pictured webs in Florence, Rome, Milan, Mantua, and elsewhere. The best artists of the Italian schools--Mantegna, Leonardo, Raphael and his scholars, &c., &c.--gave their finest designs to be executed in Italy, before they were sold to Arras, Brussels, France, or England, and they are accumulated in the treasure-room of every palace in Italy. But the finest collections are those of the Vatican, and of the Pitti in Florence. A splendid volume might be edited of these grand artistic works; such a record would be invaluable. Vasari[408] and Passevant give us occasional glimpses of local factories for tapestry, but, as we have before said, this subject has still to be investigated.

FRENCH TAPESTRY.

In France, as elsewhere, tapestry was probably woven in private looms and in the religious houses from early days. M. Jubinal believes that it was made at Poitiers, Troyes, Beauvais, Rheims, and St. Quentin as early as 1025.[409] Froissart describes the entry of Isabel of Bavaria as a bride into Paris, when the houses were covered with hangings and tapestries representing historical scenes.[410] The Cluny Museum possesses a most curious mediæval suite of hangings from the Chateau de Boussac, of the early part of the fifteenth century. They tell the story of the "Dame au Lion," and are brilliantly coloured and charmingly quaint and gay in design. Hangings designed by Primaticcio were woven at Fontainebleau, where Francis I. started the manufacture in 1539. However, the first national school of tapestry weaving was that at Chaillot, under the experienced teaching of workmen from Arras; afterwards transferred to the town of Gobelins, 1603, by Henri Quatre.[411] Louis Quatorze and his minister Colbert splendidly protected this manufacture by law, privilege, and employment; so did Louis Quinze. Before the Revolution, other considerable tapestry works were flourishing at Aubusson in Auvergne, at Felletin in the upper Marches, and at Beauvais. These two last were especially famed for velvety tapestries (_veloutés_).

As usual, the French have surpassed all other nations in this textile art. The pictorial tapestries of the Gobelins have carried the beauty of wall hangings to the utmost perfection. Nothing can be more festive than a brilliantly lighted hall, glowing with these woven pictures or arabesques, framed in gilded carvings or stuccoes. Still we must acknowledge that, in choice of worthy subjects, the Flemish ideal, which had been left far behind, was the highest. The weavers of the time of Louis Quatorze aspired only to teach the glories of France, not the moralities of society and civilization, in their historical compositions, which were then superseded by classical mythology, or else by scenes from rustic life, of the Watteau School. La Fontaine's fables gave some of the prettiest and gayest designs, and were generally the centres of splendid arabesques. The drawing and execution were perfect.

It is to be feared that in the future, great works of textile decoration will be few and far between. It is only when the State, or the monarch that represents the dignity of the State, protects and fosters these artistic factories, that they can continue to thrive. Without such powerful encouragement, fashion, commercial depression, or a war will stop for a time the orders without which funds fail, discouragement sets in, and ruin quickly follows; and the best workman when unemployed, or forced for some years to wield the sword, loses his practised skill never to be restored. In France, whatever has been the form of government, the old traditions of protection for the Gobelins have been acted up to and maintained. The consequence is that science and art still contribute their efforts in the machinery, the colouring, and the designing of hangings of which the materials[412] and the execution are unrivalled. Probably there will never again be a Tuileries or a Versailles to adorn, but an Hôtel de Ville, especially if it is occasionally destroyed, may give from time to time opportunity for such decorations.

ENGLISH TAPESTRY.

When we consider the antiquity and the excellence of the art of tapestry on the Continent, we cannot pretend that there can be the same general interest in that of our English looms. But to ourselves it naturally assumes the greatest importance; and I have tried to trace the efforts of our ancestors in this direction, by noting every certain sign of English production, in what must have been an imitation of Flemish or Oriental weaving. The few facts here collected may be of service to the future writer of the history of English tapestries.

Comnenus, Prince of Arras, fled before the Romans from Nomenticum to England; and he and his Atrebates settled themselves between Silchester and Sarum, and the Belgæ and Parisi did the same. The Romans found them here when they invaded England. Wherever the Belgic tribes spread themselves, the art of weaving was established. Comnenus probably brought over, and left to his descendants, the inheritance of this craft.

Dr. Rock thinks that pictured tapestry was woven at an early period in the Middle Ages by the monks in England. The earliest proof of this that we possess, is the notice by Matthew Paris (thirteenth century) describing the three reredos for St. Alban's Abbey; the first, a large one, depicting the finding of the body of the Protomartyr; the others, "The Prodigal Son" and "The Man who fell among Thieves." All these were executed by the orders of Abbot Geoffrey.[413]

While in London in 1316, Simon, Abbot of Ramsay, bought for the use of his monks, looms, shuttles, and a slay. "Pro weblomes emptes xx^d. Et pro staves ad eadem vj^d. Item pro iiij Shittles, pro eadem opere vj^d. Item j sloy pro textoribus viii^d."[414]

In Edward II.'s time there were hangings woven in England which appear to have been absolutely tapestries. They were much valued abroad, and were called "Salles d'Angleterre." Charles V. of France (1364) possessed among his articles of costly furniture, "Une salle d'Angleterre vermeille brodée d'azur, et est la bordure a vignettes, et le dedans de Lyons, d'Aigles, et de Lyopars."[415]

Our trade with Arras must have improved our tapestries. We are told of Edward III. selling his wools to that town, and being therefore called by Philip de Valois, his "Marchant de Laine." Horace Walpole refers to an act, "De Mysterâ Tapiciarorum," of the time of Edward III., 1327, "regarding certain malpractices of the craft," which proves its existence in England at that period.[416]

Mr. French, in his catalogue of the Exhibition in London, 1851, quotes the tapestries of St. Mary's Hall at Coventry, to prove that there was a manufactory in England, _temp._ Henry VI. There were certainly individual looms, though we doubt whether it had yet become a national industry, as we have so few specimens remaining. The St. Mary's tapestries contain portraits of Henry VI., Cardinal Beaufort, &c., and are probably contemporary works. The subject is the marriage of Henry VI.

There is also a piece of tapestry at Bude, in Cornwall, the property of Mr. Maskell, which came from a royal sale. Here the marriage of Henry VII. is depicted, and the style resembles that of the Coventry hangings. The costumes are certainly English, and the original pictures must have been English, though they might have been wrought at Arras, reminding one of the groups of figures and the dresses on the Dunstable Pall (see Plate 78).

Dr. Rock also quotes the reredos belonging to the Vintners' Company, representing St. Martin sharing his cloak with a beggar. He thinks this is executed by the monks of St. Alban's, and attributes to those of Canterbury the fine tapestries of the legends of the Virgin at Aix, in Provence, of which we have the history. They were originally given to Canterbury Cathedral by Prior Godstone, and were called Arras work. There is no doubt that there were looms and artists in the convents and monasteries before there was any recognized school of such work in England. Probably till the Reformation such hangings were being woven all over Europe, and only then ceased in Germany and England. One cannot but regret that the weight of the evil which preponderated over the good in the Houses of the Church, should have caused so much that was beautiful in art to be crushed by their ruin.

Chaucer speaks of "tapestry of verd."[417] This green tapestry seems to have been intended to give a bowery effect to the room it hung; and one can imagine that it pleased the taste of the poet of the "Flower and the Leaf." It seems to have been much the fashion in England and elsewhere about that period, and generally represented landscapes and woody foregrounds only; but sometimes figures and animals were portrayed, and always in the same tints of bluish-green.

Dr. Rock gives us an extract from the wardrobe accounts of Edward II., containing the following items: "To a mercer of London for a green hanging of wool, woven with figures of kings and earls upon it; for the king's service upon solemn feast days in London;" therefore the "tapestry of verd" was not a novelty even in the time of Chaucer.[418]

Oudenarde was famous for these "hallings" or "salles." All the specimens mentioned in the catalogue of tapestries exhibited at Brussels in 1880, are said to be from thence. But we see no reason why it should not have been an English style of weaving also. The first establishment of a permanent manufactory in England, did not, however, take place until the latter end of the reign of Henry VIII., when Robert Sheldon "allowed" his manor-house at Barcheston, in Warwickshire, to "one Hicks," whom he signalizes in his will as "the author and beginner of all tapestry of Arras in England." This will is dated 1576.[419]

There are four pieces of tapestry representing the Seasons, removed from an old family house and placed by Lord Salisbury at Hatfield House, where they hang in the great corridor. These were probably woven in Barcheston. (Plate 49.) The style is English Renaissance, and the design full of intention; in fact, they have the seal of the time of Henry VIII. Only one characteristic reminds one of Flemish art, and that is the mode of drawing the plants and flowers, which might have been taken out of an old German herbal. The landscapes and peasantry are unmistakably English. The pictures are worked with strong black outlines which emphasize every detail and give the effect of a highly coloured outlined engraving; reminding one of the children's books by Marcus Ward or by Walter Crane.[420]

The tapestries called the "Spanish Armada hangings" were probably woven here late in Elizabeth's reign. In her time we find in catalogues of household goods, descriptions of splendid hangings, furnishings of palaces and private houses. The MS. inventory of the Earl of Leicester's belongings, in the library at Longleat, astonishes us with the abundance of suites of hangings of tapestry that it enumerates, as well as those embroidered by hand, and others of stamped and painted leather.

It was in the reign of James I. that the manufacture was set up at Mortlake, in Surrey. Aubrey, in his "History of Surrey, i. p. 82," however, dates the institution in the subsequent reign; but Lloyd[421] is not only positive for the former date, but affirms it was "of the motion of King James himself," who gave £2000 towards the undertaking; and we have further proofs extant that he spent largely, and encouraged it in every way. He gave to Sir Francis Crane, who erected the house at Mortlake, "the making of three Baronets" towards his project for manufacture of tapestry.[422]

Another curious item which we quote, shows that the funds for the enterprise were not easily forthcoming. It is a warrant "to Sir Francis Crane: £2000 to be employed in buying £1000 per ann. of pensions or other gifts made of the king, and not yet payable, for ease of His Majesty's charge of £1000 a year towards the maintenance of Sir Francis Crane's tapestry manufacture."[423]

Apparently this little arrangement did not succeed, for there is an acknowledgment by Charles I., in the first year of his reign,[424] that he is in debt to Sir F. Crane: "For three suits of gold tapestry we stand indebted to Sir Francis Crane £6000. Also Sir F. Crane is allowed £1000 annually for the better maintenance of said works for ten years to come." The king also granted the estate of Stoke Bruere, near Stamford, in Northamptonshire, as part payment of £16,400 due to him on the tapestry works at Mortlake.[425] The great value of these tapestries is shown by the prices named in the Domestic Papers of the State Paper Office, and in private inventories; they were woven in silk, wool, and gold, which last item accounts both for their price and for their disappearance.

William, Archbishop of York and Lord Keeper, gave £2500 for four pieces of Arras representing the four Seasons.[426] Their value, however, fell during the civil wars, for the tapestries of the five Senses from the Palace of Oatlands, which were from the Mortlake looms, were sold in 1649 for £270. The beautiful tapestries at Houghton were woven at Mortlake: these are all silk, and contain whole length portraits of James I. and Charles I., and their Queens, with heads of the royal children in the borders. A similar hanging is at Knowle, wrought in silk, containing portraits of Vandyke and Sir Francis Crane.[427]

Francis Cleyne was a decorator and painter employed in the works at Mortlake by Charles I., who, while he was still Prince of Wales, brought him over to England from Rostock, in Mecklenburg (his native place), while the Prince was in Spain wooing the Infanta. Cleyne was great in grotesques, and also undertook in historical designs.[428]

Three of the Raphael cartoons were sent to be copied at Mortlake.[429] The purchase of these cartoons by the king, showed how high was the standard to which he tried to raise the art in England. The "Triumph of Cæsar," by Mantegna, was obtained for the same purpose in 1653; and certain Dutch prisoners were forwarded to the manufactory to be employed on the work.[430] It was entrusted to the care of Sir Gilbert Pickering, who was either an artist or the superintendent of the works.

After the death of Sir Francis, his brother, Sir Richard Crane, sold the premises to Charles I. During the civil wars, the property was seized upon and confiscated as having belonged to the Crown. It occupied the site of what is now Queen's Head Court. The old house opposite was built by the king for the residence of Cleyne the artist. Gibson, the dwarf, and portrait painter, who had been page to a lady at Mortlake, was one of his pupils.[431]

The value of the king's collection of tapestries was well understood during the Protectorate. The tapestry house remained in the occupation of John Holliburie, the "master-workman." After the Restoration, Charles II. appointed Verrio as designer, intending to revive the manufactory. This was not, however, carried out; but the work still lingered on, and must have been in some repute, for Evelyn names some of these hangings as a fit present among those offered by a gallant to his mistress.[432]

Arras is said to have been woven at Stamford, but we have no data of its establishment or its suppression. Burleigh House contains much of it; and there is a suite of hangings at Belton House, near Grantham, of which there are duplicates at Wroxton House, in Oxfordshire, all having the same traditional origin at Stamford. Possibly Sir Francis and Sir Richard Crane may have received orders at their house at Stoke Bruere, which lay near enough to Stamford to account for the magnates of the town and neighbourhood obtaining furnishings of their tapestries, and, perhaps, vying with each other in decorating their apartments with them.[433]

In Northumberland House there was a fine suite of tapestry, woven in Lambeth, 1758.[434] This is the only sample of that loom of which we ever find any mention. There were also works at Fulham, where furniture tapestry in the style of Beauvais was made. This manufactory was closed in 1755.[435] It may be hoped that the revival of tapestry weaving at Windsor in our own day may be a success, but without the royal and noble encouragement it receives, it would probably very soon fall into disuse.

Unless it is supported by the State, such an exceptionally expensive machinery cannot possibly be kept at work. It requires the superintendence of the best artists, and the weavers themselves must needs have the highest technical education to enable them to copy really fine designs. These artistic requirements, besides the extreme tediousness of the work, make it the most expensive of all luxurious decorations--even more costly than embroideries by the hand, covering the same spaces. However, the two styles of hangings never can enter into competition, except in a financial point of view. Tapestries are the best fitted for wall coverings, and embroideries for curtains of all kinds--for beds, for windows, and for portières.

The old hangings are now again having their day, and we are striving to save and restore all that remain to us. We must continue to guard these treasures from the moths, their worst enemies; and science should be invoked to assist us in the preservation of these precious works of art, of which the value is now again understood and appreciated, and which increases with every decade that is added to their antiquity.

Tapestry, as art, has its own peculiar beauties, and one of them is the softening, yet brilliant effect of the alternate lights and shadows of the ridge-like surface; the separation of each stitch and thread also casting minute shadows in the opposite direction, and giving an iridescent effect. It is a mistake to struggle against this inherent quality, instead of seeking to utilize it. The coarser and simpler tapestries of our ancestors are really more beautiful and effective in large spaces--flat in the arrangement of colours, and sharply outlined--than the imitations of paintings of the last two centuries, in which every detail of form and colour is sought to be expressed.[436]

M. Blanc says that tapestries were intended to cover the bare walls, but not to make us forget their existence. The wall being intended for comfort and defence, the mind is solaced with the idea it conveys. It is a mistake, therefore, to substitute a surface picture, so real that it at once does away with this impression of security, while a certain conventional art should amuse the mind with shadowy representations and suggestions.

It is, perhaps, fortunate that the possibilities of tapestry weaving are restricted, and thus its very imperfections become the sources of its best qualities as decoration and comfort. One element of textile weaving, the use of gold, both in the backgrounds and in the draperies, takes it at once out of the region of naturalism, while giving it light and splendour.

The designer for tapestry need not be a great genius. Harmony, repose, grace, and tender colouring are the qualities most valuable to such an artist. Battle-pieces, and other exciting and awful subjects, are only bearable in apartments that are used for state occasions, or for hanging corridors and anterooms. They are painful to live with.

All tapestries are liable to suffer by the double nature of their materials--their woollen surface and linen threads which are affected by both damp and heat crinkling the forms and puckering the faces, and bringing out unexpected expressions and deformities. For this reason the design should be as flat and as simple in its outline and shading as is consistent with beauty.

FOOTNOTES:

[317] Birdwood, "Indian Arts," p. 283.

[318] "The word in Sanskrit for a needle is _suchi_,
from _such_, to sew or pierce. This is the same word as
the Latin _suo_, to sew; so probably the common word
used by the Aryans in their primeval habitations was
_su_, and they clearly knew how to sew at that remote
period. Eve sewed fig-leaves together. Adam sewed also.
The Hebrew word is _tafar_, and clearly meant _sewing_,
not _pinning_ together with thorns. Sewing is the first
recorded art of our forefathers."--Letter from Mr.
Robert Cust.

[319] Semper, "Der Stil," Textile Kunst, i. pp. 77-90.

[320] Semper, Textile Kunst, "Der Stil," i. p. 77. The
German word "naht," here literally translated, would be,
uniting, weaving, bringing together.

[321] "Handbook of Plain Needlework," by Mrs. Floyer.
See also her "Plain Hints for Examiners," &c.

[322] Dr. Rock, "Introduction," pp. cix, cx, calls it
"thread embroidery," and names some specimens in the
South Kensington Museum. He says it was sometimes done
in darning stitches for ecclesiastical purposes, for
instance, for coverings for the pyx. It is mentioned in
the Exeter inventory of the fourteenth century. There is
notice of white knotted thread-work belonging to St.
Paul's, London, in 1295, by Dugdale (p. 316).

[323] St. Catherine of Sienna's winding-sheet is
described as being cut work (punto tagliato) on linen.
This sounds like embroidery of the type now sold as
"Madeira work," the pattern being cut out and the edges
overcast.

[324] Semper, "Der Stil," i. pp. 132, 203.

[325] See Semper, "Der Stil," i. p. 289.

[326] Ibid. He cites Athenæus, iv. 64.

[327] Phrygia in general, and especially Babylon, were
famed for their embroideries. "Colores diversos picturæ
intexere Babylon maxime celebravit et nomen
imposuit."--Pliny, lib. viii. 74. See D'Auberville,
"Ornement des Tissus," p. 7.

[328] "Der Stil," i. p. 196. "Opus Phrygium," in the
Middle Ages, included all gold work in flat stitches.
The cloak worked by Queen Gisela in the ninth century,
for her husband, St. Stephen, King of Hungary, the
imperial mantle at Bamberg, of the date of 1024, and the
robes of Bishop William de Blois (thirteenth century),
in the library at Worcester Cathedral, are all "opus
Phrygium," and resemble each other in style.

[329] In the Museum at Munich are two remarkable
examples of these imitations. There is an embroidered
badge of the Order of the Dragon, worked in gold and
woven over with coloured silks, so as to present the
appearance of enamel (sixteenth century). The second is
a dress for a herald of the Order of St. Hubertus, which
is richly embroidered in gold and silver, and the badge
and collar are imitated in the most extraordinary
manner, and laid on entirely in gold needlework. This is
of the seventeenth century.

[330] In Salt's collection from Saccarah (British
Museum); also at Turin, in the Egyptian Museum; and in
the collections in the Louvre, figured by Auberville in
the "Ornamentation des Tissus."

[331] Hence the French name, _pointes comptées_.

[332] See Semper, ii. p. 213, for wood-work at
Panticapæum, Kertch, in the Crimea, which evidently has
descended in style from panelled needlework hangings.
Chaldean wall decoration at Khorsabad and Warka, near
Nimroud, recalls the effect of "opus pulvinarium"
according to Loftus. See Semper, i. p. 327.

[333] "Der Stil," i. pp. 196, 248. This is known from
the archaic books of imperial commerce.

[334] Peacocks' feathers, either woven or onlaid, are
those most commonly used in China and Japan. "Ka Moolelo
Hawaii," by M. Jules Remy, Paris, 1861. See Ferdinand
Denis, "Arte Plumaria," p. 66.

[335] Yates, "Textrinum Antiquorum," p. 373, translates
from Publius Syrus the word _plumata_, "feathered." The
word "embroidered" would have here improved the sense,
even though it is a peacock that is described.

"Thy food the peacock, which displays his spotted train,
As shines a Babylonian shawl with feather'd gold."

He also quotes Lucan, who is praising the furnishings of
Cleopatra's palace: "Part shines with feathered gold;
part sheds a blaze of scarlet."--Yates, p. 373.

[336] Sir G. Birdwood, with all his enthusiasm for
Indian art and its forms, yet cannot resist a touch of
humour when he describes a state umbrella, of which the
handle and ribs are pure gold, tipped with rubies and
diamonds, the silken covering bordered with thirty-two
fringed loops of pearls, and "also appropriately
decorated with the feathers of the peacock, heron,
parrot, and goose."--Birdwood, "Indian Arts," ii. p.
182.

[337] "History of the Kingdom of Congo," c. viii. p. 55,
by Filippo Pigafetta (translated by Mrs. M. Hutchinson).

[338] In the Tyrol certain embroideries are called
"Federstickerei."

[339] For the feather hangings at Moritzburg, see
Appendix 2.

[340] "Arte Plumaria," by M. Ferdinand Denis. Paris,
1875.

[341] The Plumarii mentioned by Pliny were craftsmen in
the art of _acu pingere_, or painting with the needle.
Though Seneca speaks of the "opus plumarium" as if it
were absolutely feather-work, yet it may have been at
that time undergoing its transition into embroidery,
suggested by feathers, and imitating them in gold,
silver, wool, or thread. When Lucan describes the
extraordinary change introduced into Roman habits and
luxury by Cleopatra's splendours, his use of the words,
"pars auro plumata nitet," probably means their
imitation or mixture with gold embroidery, and would,
therefore, come under the head of "opus Phrygium."

[342] It is said that the work, named "Plumarium," was
made by the needle; and the Greeks, from the variety of
the threads, called it "Polymitum." "Plumarium dicitur
opus acu factum quod Græci a licionum varietate
multiplici polymitarium appellant."--Robert Stephan.
"Thesaurus Linguæ Latinæ," s.v. Plumarius.

[343] Blümner, i. p. 209. "The Plumarii were a class of
persons mentioned by Vitruvius, and found likewise in
inscriptions. It cannot be decided with certainty what
was their occupation; their name would lead us to
suppose that it has something to do with
feathers."--Becker's "Gallus," ii. p. 288. But see
Marquardt, "Handbuch d. Röm. Altert." vii. pt. 2, p.
523.

[344] "Plumarium qui acu aliquod depingit super
culcitris plumeis."--R. Steph., "Thesaur. Lat."

[345] See "The Funeral Tent of an Egyptian Queen," by
Villiers Stuart.

[346] See Auberville's "Tissus," Plate i.

[347] "Compte Rendu de la Commission Archéologique, St.
Petersburg, 1881." Pl. iii. pp. 112,119.

[348] In the British Museum is the lining of a shield
which shows the arms of Redvers, third Earl of Albemarle
(who died 1260), applied in different coloured silks.

[349] Lent by the Archæological Museum at Madrid.

[350] Rees' Cyclopædia speaks of embroideries "on the
stamp or stump," as being so named "when the figures are
high and prominent, supported by cotton, wool, or hair;"
also in "low and plain embroideries, without enrichment
between." He speaks of work "cut and laid on the cloth,
laid down with gold, enriched with tinsel and spangles."
Rees' Cyclopædia, "Embroidery," 1819.

[351] "Opus consutum." The way in which this applied
work is used in India, for the special adornment of
horse-cloths, saddles, and girths, is very interesting.

[352] The chapter on "application," in the Handbook of
Embroidery of the Royal School of Art Needlework, will
be useful to those who need instruction in the most
practical, and therefore the quickest way of doing cut
work.

[353] Mrs. Palliser's "History of Lace." The origin of
needle-made lace-work is attributed by M. de Gheltof to
the necessity for disposing of the frayed edges of
worn-out garments. This I think somewhat fanciful.
_Fringes_ may have been so suggested.

[354] See M. Blanc's "Art in Ornament and Dress" (p.
200).

[355] Mrs. Bayman (late Superintendent in the School of
Art Needlework) writes thus: "I see no reason to doubt
that the word guipure is derived from 'guipa' or
'guiper,' a ribbon-weaver's term for spinning one thread
round another; and that guipure was originally more like
what we now call 'guimp,' or like 'point de Raguse,'
first being made of thread, of more or less thickness
and commoner material, wound round with a finer flax,
silk, or metal; then they cut shapes, bold scrolls, and
leaves out of cartisane, vellum, or parchment, winding
and covering them over with the more precious thread.
These figures were then connected by brides, only as
close as was required to hold them together, and leaving
large open spaces, thus forming the large scroll
patterns seen in so many old pictures." No doubt the
heavy "Fogliami" and "Rose point" laces developed
themselves from these still older kinds of point. As the
cord and card lace disappeared, the name slid on to all
laces with large, bold patterns and open brides, though
the special method which first created it had been
effaced. Latterly, embroidered netting or laces have
been called "guipure d'art." Littré gives the derivation
of the word; he says it is from the Gothic _Vaipa_, or
German _Weban_ or _Weben_ (_g_ and _p_ replacing the _w_
and _b_).

[356] The word lace came from France, where it was
called _lacis_ or _lassis_, derived from the Latin
_laqueus_ (a noose). These words originally applied to
narrow ribbons--their use being to lace or tie.

[357] The Venetians early made much lace for furniture
or ecclesiastical linen adornment, of what they called
"maglia quadrata," which was usually squared netting,
afterwards filled in with patterns in darned needlework.
This somewhat primitive style of lace trimming was
popular on account of its simplicity, and descended to
the peasantry for their domestic decorations in Spain,
Germany, France, and Italy. There are specimens of this
work believed to be of the thirteenth century. At the
time of the Renaissance the simple geometrical designs
developed into animals, fruits, flowers, and human
figures.

[358] See Rock, p. cix, cx. He says that a sort of
embroidery was called network, and certain drawn work he
calls "opus filatorium." See Catalogue of Textiles in
the South Kensington Museum, by D. Rock, p. cxxvii.

[359] Reminding us of the description of a net--"holes
tied together by a string." As a contrast in descriptive
style, we would quote Dr. Johnson on network: "Anything
reticulated or decussated at equal distances, with
interstices between the intersections."--Johnson's
Dictionary.

[360] Isaiah iii. 18, xix. 9.

[361] The nets of chequer work which hung round the
capitals, with the wreaths of chain work, were designed
by Hiram of Tyre, at Solomon's desire (1 Kings vii. 17).

[362] A fringe lace is made on the Riviera, of the
fibres of the aloe, and is called "macramè," which is an
Arabic word. Mrs. Palliser's "History of Lace," p. 64.

[363] A collar of fine white human hair was made in
point lace stitches at Venice, and worn at his
coronation by Louis Quatorze. It cost 250 pieces of
gold. "Scritti di V. Zanon da Udine" (1829). Cited by
Urbani de Gheltof, "Merletti di Venezia," pp. 22, 23.

[364] See, for example, the inventory of the household
goods of the great Earl of Leicester at Longleat; also
the lists of the possessions of Ippolito and Angela
Sforza (sixteenth century).

[365] Coloured thread and silk laces are still made in
Venice.

[366] In the British Museum.

[367] M. Blanc's use of the word "guipure" is different
from that found in the notices of the art by other
authorities.

[368] The first lace-making machine was contemporary, or
nearly so, with the stocking-making frame. About the
year 1768 it was altered, and adapted for making
open-work patterns. In 1808, the Heathcot machine was
started for bobbin net. In 1813, John Leaver improved on
this idea, with machine-woven patterns. The Jacquard
apparatus achieved the flat patterns, and the new
"Dentellière" has perfected the art. Lace-making by
machinery employed by the latest official returns in
1871, 29,370 women in England, and 24,000 in France. See
Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition, p. 183-5.

[369] M. Charles Blanc, "Art in Ornament and Dress," p.
211.

[370] The information contained in these volumes is most
valuable, for the lace-worker as well as the collector.

[371] Lady Layard suggests that the cut lace work, which
was the earliest made in Venice ("punto tagliato,"
"point coupé"), simply consists of button-hole stitch
with purl ornaments. These are varied with geometrical
stitches and needle-weaving in those solid laces called
"punti tagliati Fogliami," and "Rose point de Venise,"
of the finest kinds.

[372] Urbani de Gheltof, in his book, "Merletti di
Venezia," p. 9, says that Venetian laces and fringes
were furnished thence for the coronation of Richard III.
(1483). I fancy that gold guimps or braid, rather than
netted laces, must be here intended, as we have no other
notice of lace so early. See _Ibid._ pp. 10-20.

[373] Henry VIII. had a pair of hose of purple silk,
edged and trimmed with a lace of purple silk and gold,
of Milanese manufacture. Harl. MSS., 1519.

[374] The manufacture of point d'Alençon was created
under the special orders of Louis Quatorze, by Colbert,
in 1673. Now more than 200,000 women, besides the
machinists, are employed in lace-making in France.
Colbert imported the teachers from Venice.

[375] Yriarte says that Alençon, Argenton, Sedan,
Mercourt, Honiton, Bedford, Buckinghamshire,
Oxfordshire, Mechlin, Bruges, Brussels, all followed in
imitation of Venice. Yriarte's "Venise," p. 250.

[376] Titian drew the designs for one of these books for
"punti tagliati." The laces made in the Greek islands
probably owe their origin to Venice, showing the same
"punti in aria."

[377] I have already spoken of "lacis" as either darned
netting or drawn work. Of this there is an English
specimen at Prague, said by tradition to be the gift of
Queen Anne of Bohemia, wife of Richard II. It originally
trimmed or bordered an ecclesiastical garment.

[378] For further information, we refer the reader to M.
Urbani de Gheltof's book on Venice laces already cited
(Organia, Venice, 1876), and Lady Layard's translation
(1882).

[379] I am assured on the best authority that this is
unknown as yet at Burano; but the workers, as well as
the revived industry, are very young. The modern school
of Burano has only been established eleven years. It is
certainly delightful to see the 320 happy faces,
singing, chattering, and smiling over their graceful
occupation; and the beauty of the Buranese women, which
is celebrated, has not suffered from their occupation.
There is a charming little article of the _Revista di
Torino_, 1883, which describes the improvement in the
social condition of Burano, morally and physically, and
the way it is recognized by the inhabitants. Instead of
signs of miserable poverty, the promoters of the lace
school are greeted by the women leaning from the windows
with, "Siestu benedetta!" ("Be thou blessed!").

[380] The word "tapestry" comes from the Greek _tapes_,
which is used equally for hangings or carpets. The
Italians call carpets "tapeti" to this day. It is
believed to have been originally an Egyptian word for
such fabrics.

[381] For instance, the embroidered hangings of the
eighth century at Gerona, in Spain, have been more than
once quoted as proofs of tapestries having been
manufactured there at that period.

[382] The "slay" means the "strike." The word had the
same meaning originally: to slay a man was to strike
him.

[383] See De Champeaux, South Kensington Museum Art
Handbook, 1878.

[384] "Bibliothèque des Merveilles" (sur les
Tapisseries), publié sous la direction de M. Edouard
Charton, à Paris, 1876.

[385] Martial, xiv. 150.