CHAPTER I.

OF THE ELEMENTS OF BEAUVAIS TAPESTRY FOR FURNITURE.

(393.) THE elements of Beauvais Tapestry for furniture are essentially the same as those of Gobelins tapestry; but with this difference, that the light and the middle tones of the scales employed are of silk, while in the Gobelins tapestry these tones are almost always of wool; on the other hand, the scales of Beauvais are less varied in colour than those of the Gobelins, and their tones are less numerous. Besides, the working of the threads is the same in both kinds of tapestry, so that, the employment of coloured threads resting in like manner on the knowledge and observance of the principle of mixture and the principle of contrast of colours, I need not add to what I have already said on this subject in the preceding Section.*

(394.) I must remark that the furrows caused by the weft and the warp have not the same objection they have in the Gobelins tapestry (390.). In fact, the regular grain of the tapestry for furniture is so far from producing a bad effect in the image represented thereon, that we are obliged to give the appearance of this grain to many paper-hangings by means of parallel lines cutting it, or by points symmetrically placed.

CHAPTER II.

ON THE SUBJECTS REPRESENTED ON THE BEAUVAIS TAPESTRIES FOR FURNITURE.

(395.) THE subjects represented on the tapestries of Beauvais for furniture are simpler than those on the Gobelins tapestry, as they are generally limited to ornaments, flowers, animals, particularly birds and insects; I say generally, because formerly they produced small pictures for screens, chairs, glass doors, &c.

CHAPTER III.

OF THE PATTERNS OF BEAUVAIS TAPESTRY FOR FURNITURE.

(396.) THE objects, although generally smaller than those seen on Gobelins tapestry, being of simpler form, often symmetrical, offer less difficulty of execution, in order to be distinctly seen; and the nature of these objects also does not absolutely require the employment of colours much varied in their tones and hues; for I suppose that the Beauvais weaver does not pretend to rival the painter, consequently, when he represents flowers, for instance, he does not require a model painted in the manner which a pupil of Van Spændonck would make a picture or a drawing for a botanical work.

(397.) In the models of tapestries for furniture, we too often neglect the opposition of grounds with the dominant colour of the subjects placed upon them. For instance, if it is a crimson ground ornamented with a garland of flowers, it is necessary that Blue, Yellow, and White flowers compose the greater part of it. If we place on it Red flowers, they will tend to become Orange rather than Purple; they must be surrounded with Green leaves contiguous to the ground. When it is a greenish ground, Red and Pink flowers must, on the contrary, predominate over the others. If the ground is dead leaves, then Blue, Violet, White and Pink flowers detach themselves completely.

(398.) The patterns of tapestry for furniture must possess the qualities which we have desired in those of the Gobelins. Thus, graceful and simple forms detaching themselves completely from the ground upon which they stand, clothed with the purest and most harmoniously selected colours, are preferable to all others. The harmonies of contrast of colour must generally predominate over those of analogy.

SECTION III.

SAVONNERIE CARPETS.

CHAPTER I.-ON THE ELEMENTS OF SAVONNERIE CARPETS (399.-403.). CHAPTER II.-ON THE PRINCIPLE OF MIXING COLOURS IN ITS CONNECTION WITH THE MANUFACTURE OF SAVONNERIE CARPETS (404.-405.).

CHAPTER III.-ON THE PRINCIPLE OF CONTRAST OF COLOURS IN ITS CONNECTION WITH THE FABRICATION OF SAVONNERIE CARPETS (406.).

CHAPTER IV.-CONDITIONS WHICH MUST BE FULFILLED IN THE PATTERNS OF SAVONNERIE CARPETS (407.-420.).

M

CHAPTER I.

SAVONNERIE CARPETS.

(399.) THE manufacture of Savonnerie Carpets is entirely different from that of Gobelins Tapestry.

The elements of these Carpets are three in number :

1o. Woollen Threads, mostly white, forming the warp of the carpet ;

2°. Woollen Threads of various tints, which are knotted to the first;

3°. Hempen Threads, which serve to bind the threads of the warp together.

(400.) I. Warp. The woollen threads constituting the warp are properly suspended in the loom, parallel to each other, and at equal intervals.

(401.) II. Dyed Wool. This is, properly speaking, the coloured element of Savonnerie Carpets.

Although the scales of dyed wool are not so numerous as those of the Gobelins Tapestry, yet they are sufficient for imitating all the hues of a painting, as may easily be understood when we know that the thread employed in the production of a carpet must always be complex: it is composed of five or six threads. For, to imitate a pattern painted in various colours on the system of chiar'oscuro, the complex thread is composed of threads of 2, of 3, of 4, of 5, and even of 6 different colours; there is, then, a wide latitude in modifying colours according to the principle of mixing.

In making a ground, the complex thread is composed of five or six threads of the same tone of the same colour.

The tones of each scale are almost always sixteen or eighteen in number.

When a complex thread is composed of threads belonging to different scales, those which are united must generally

have the same number, with respect to their height of tone, in the scales to which they respectively belong. If we deviate from this rule, it is when we take into consideration the different alterability of mixed colours; for instance, when we mix Violet threads with Red threads, the former should be of a higher number than the second, because they change more under the influence of atmospheric agencies.

Every compound thread is fixed to a thread of the warp by means of a peculiar knot, and perpendicularly to the direction of this latter: this is called le point. When a certain number of coloured threads are thus fixed, appearing to the eye as a coloured line which is at right angles with the warp, we cut these threads perpendicularly to their axis, so that the coloured surface of a Savonnerie Carpet shows the interior of the coloured wool exposed by this section.

(402.) III. Hempen Threads. On attempting to consolidate le point, or, in other terms, the threads of dyed wool which have been knotted upon the threads of the warp, we employ a double hempen thread, called duite, and a single hempen thread, called trame, which is generally coloured Blue, Grey, or Black. These threads form, with those of the warp, a true canvas, which is completely concealed when the carpet is laid; then the spectator only sees a plane parallel to that of the warp, upon which the imitation of the model appears: this plane is the upper surface of a true woollen velvet.

(403.) We see how the weaving of a Savonnerie Carpet differs from that of tapestry; and if we also refer here the beauty of the effects to the knowledge and observance of the principles of the mixture and contrast of colours, there are some remarks to be made relatively to the special application of these principles to carpet-making, because this application is not absolutely identical with that of the same principles to the manufacture of Gobelins Tapestry. This will be demonstrated in the two following Chapters.