“It was only about two centuries ago that this trade was established in Paris. We owe it to some Flemish workmen who settled in the capital and left successors there. But on account of the nation’s prejudice in favour of all that comes from abroad, the hangings from Holland and Flanders were always preferred to those of our own manufacture, although they did not surpass the latter in quality or in beauty.
“Though equalling those of Holland and Flanders, it was not possible to find a sale for our hangings unless they were passed off as having been made in one or other of those provinces, and this was frequently done by our manufacturers. It must, however, be admitted that certain gilt leather hangings from England and Venice have never been equalled here. We are forced to allow their superiority in brilliancy, beauty of design and durability. Perhaps all that our workmen needed to be able to imitate them perfectly was to feel the assurance of greater constancy in our tastes, and to witness the cessation of that affection and preference for everything foreign, which might lead to the more favourable treatment of the native industry.
“Gilt leather hangings were at one time much sought after. Their qualities of being, unlike woollen and other materials, unaffected by damp and insects, of retaining their brilliancy unimpaired by time, of not attracting dust, and of allowing it to be easily removed by washing with a sponge, and finally, of not lending themselves to the multiplication of the insects which in summer infest the capital and which find in other tapestries convenient nests for depositing their eggs, were all advantages, forming so many reasons for their being in demand and gaining for them a place in the apartments of the great,
of which they frequently constituted the ornament. But to-day, a change of taste and the dictates of fashion which outweighs even the advantages and conveniences of life, have caused them to be almost forgotten and relegated them to the ante-rooms of a few county houses where some of the earliest are to be found, nearly as beautiful as when they were first made in Paris.
“Now that the art is less in vogue, we think it a suitable time to describe it to the public, thus following the intention of the Academy of allowing nothing to be lost that may now or hereafter be useful to the cause of art. We may at any time be desirous of returning to these older fashions, no longer being able to vary them, and this may be among those destined to return to favour. At any rate, it will be agreed that some of its processes merit description, and might find their application in other arts and help in bringing them to perfection.”
20. Embossed calf binding. Book of Common Prayer. Executed by Rosalie Vigers from a design by Frederick Vigers. Modern English.
The same author describes minutely and very clearly the various processes in use at the time for gilding or silvering leather. Instead of silver-gilt, which is necessarily very costly, he recommends silver leaf burnished and covered with a varnish, for which he gives the following recipe, found by him, as he modestly acknowledges, among the papers of Mons. de Réaumur:—
“Take four and a half pounds of colophony, the same quantity of ordinary resin, two and a half pounds of sandarach and two of aloes; mix these four drugs together, after having broken up those which are in large pieces, and put them in an earthen pot on a good charcoal fire. It is better for the fire to be of charcoal, because it makes but little flame, which would be dangerous if it should enter the vessel, as the ingredients are very inflammable. To guard against this accident and others of which we will speak later on, the vessel must be chosen large enough not to be more than half-filled by the drugs already mentioned and the others yet to be added, as will presently be explained. It is well also for it to widen out at the top, or to have a rim that will project the flame outwards. These are small precautions which it is always better to take; some, however, neglect them, and