In the way of actual technique there is in the art of tapestry weaving not nearly as much to be learnt as there is in embroidery, for there are no varieties of methods and of stitch to be acquired; still for a person to become a skilled weaver, capable of carrying out large wall hangings, is a thing very difficult of attainment—indeed it is said that it takes as long as fifteen years of constant application to acquire the necessary knowledge and skill. To carry out designs of less magnitude and intricacy is a very different matter; success in this smaller way is far more easily attained, and is well within the reach of unprofessional people.
NOTES ON THE COLLOTYPE PLATES
[Plate I.]—A Detail from a XIVth Century English Cope.—The figure of Christ which is shown in this plate is taken from a central group, representing the coronation of the Virgin, in a famous cope in the possession of Colonel J. E. Butler-Bowdon. The ground is of rich red silk velvet; the face, hands, and linings of the draperies are worked in silk in split stitch; the drapery, crown, and surrounding architectural decoration are in gold thread couched by the early method. The twisted column with oak leaves and the five lobed arch are both characteristic of English work of this period. Note the use of pearls in the lion's head and in the acorns, also the charmingly drawn bird. An interesting technical point displayed in this example is that the work is done directly on to the velvet ground, instead of being first worked upon linen and afterwards as a completed piece of embroidery applied to the velvet. The method in use here, if at all possible, is always the most satisfactory.
Size of detail, about eleven inches by six.
[Plate II.]—Two Heads from a XIVth Century English Cope preserved at Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire.—The cope is not now in its original state, for it has been divided into two parts and used for the decoration of the altar. The background is composed of a thin greyish white silk backed with a stronger material. The white may have been originally some other colour; it is, however, in its present state, very beautiful and harmonious. The drawing of the features in this cope is remarkably refined and true to nature (the reproduction does not do full justice to the original). The ancient method, of working the faces in split stitch commencing with the middle of the cheek and continuing spirally round, then afterwards pressing the centre down by some mechanical means, is plainly to be observed here. The effective drawing of the tresses of hair in alternate lines of two colours is well seen in the left-hand example. The gold thread which is freely made use of all over the cope, upon the draperies, nimbi, and surrounding foliage, is marvellously bright and sparkling, although nearly six hundred years old. The manufacture of untarnishable gold for embroidery purposes seems beyond present day enterprise.
Width of nimbus, two and a half inches.
[Plate III.]—A small portion of a Quilted Coverlet, probably of Sicilian work. Date about 1400.—In this interesting example of quilting, which is exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum, the ground is composed of a buff-coloured linen. The raised effect is obtained by an interpadding of wool. The background is run over irregularly with white thread, in order to keep it more or less flat, and the design, which is in fairly high relief, is outlined with brown thread. The entire coverlet is embroidered with scenes from the life of Tristan. Tristan frequently engaged in battle against King Languis, the oppressor of his country. This detail represents "How King Languis (of Ireland) sent to Cornwall for the tribute."
Size of detail, two feet by three.
[Plate IV.]—A portion of an Altar Cloth Band, embroidered in coloured silk threads upon a white linen ground.—This is a piece of German XVth century work exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum. It is embroidered almost entirely in one stitch, which might be described as a variety of herring-bone. The design is made up of two motives which repeat alternately along the band—a square shaped tree and a circle, the latter decorated with floral sprays and, in the centre of it, a group of emblems. Down the middle of the design runs a series of names in fine Gothic lettering—"Ursula" and "Augustinus" being the two that occur in this plate.