A Manual of Historic Ornament: Treating upon the evolution, tradition, and development of architecture and other applied arts. Prepared for the use of students and craftsmenGlazier, Richard
History
A Manual of Historic Ornament: Treating upon the evolution, tradition, and development of architecture and other applied arts. Prepared for the use of students and craftsmen
Glazier, Richard
Decoration and ornament -- History; Decoration and ornament, Architectural -- History; Decorative arts -- History
Francis I. caused tapestry looms to be set up at Fontainbleau in 1339,
under the direction of the Italian, Serlio, but it was not until the
Gobelin tapestry manufactory was established in 1603 in the Faubourg
Saint Marcel by the Fleming, Marc de Comans, and François de la Planche,
that French tapestry reached any importance. Under the Minister Colbert
in 1667, the Royal Gobelin manufactory produced many fine tapestries
designed by the head of the establishment, Charles le Brun.
About 1590, some carpets called Savonnerie were made in the Louvre, the
technique being somewhat similar to the Persian carpets but the patterns
were more pictorial and naturalistic in treatment; fine tapestries were
also produced at Beauvais and Aubusson. Tapestry had been manufactured
in England as early as the reign of Edward III., but it was not until
the time of James I. that it assumed any importance, when a tapestry
manufactory was established at Mortlake by Francis Crane.
Some fine Flemish tapestries are in the South Kensington museum and
eight large pieces by Bernard Van Orley are in the Great Hall of Hampton
Court. The coloured cartoons by Mantegna in Hampton Court, representing
the Triumph of Cæsar, were to be reproduced in tapestry for the Duke of
Mantua. There are some fine Gobelin and Beauvais tapestries in Windsor
Castle which were gifts from the Court of France, and they all show the
most consummate technique, beauty of material and harmony of colour.
The well-known Bayeux tapestry is embroidered in coloured wools upon a
white linen ground. It is 214 feet in length and 22 inches in width and
divided in 72 compartments with incidents representing the Norman
invasion of England by William I.
Though reputed to be the work of Queen Matilda, the probability is that
it is the work of English hands some few years after the invasion. This
embroidery or tapestry is still preserved in the cathedral of Bayeux.
The remarkable civilization of the Incas or Peruvians, is shown in the
many splendid objects of the industrial arts now treasured in our
museums. Of these relics of a vanished civilization, the textile
[Illustration:
PERUVIAN TEXTILES. Plate 40.
]
[Illustration:
PERUVIAN TEXTILES. Plate 41.
]
fabrics are, perhaps, the most instructive and interesting. The high
technical skill of the craftsmanship, the fine spinning of the wool and
cotton, and the perfection of the dyeing of the yarn, together with the
skilful weaving of the figured cloths and tapestries are a tribute to
the vitality and civilization of a people remote from all Asiatic or
European influences.
Many of the fabrics are of double cloth, of deep brown and pale straw
colour, and show the same colour and pattern on both sides of the cloth.
Some of the fabrics are tapestry woven, having short strands of coloured
wool inserted into the fabric by the aid of the needle, and they
somewhat resemble the Gobelin tapestry in their method of production.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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