Needlework As Art Part 32

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

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

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

[327] Phrygia in general, and especially Babylon, were famed for their embroideries. "Colores diversos picturae 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 st.i.tches.

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 comptees_.

[332] See Semper, ii. p. 213, for wood-work at Panticapaeum, 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] Peac.o.c.ks' feathers, either woven or onlaid, are those most commonly used in China and j.a.pan. "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 peac.o.c.k that is described.

"Thy food the peac.o.c.k, 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 peac.o.c.k, 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 Graeci a licionum varietate multiplici polymitarium appellant."--Robert Stephan.

"Thesaurus Linguae Latinae," s.v. Plumarius.

[343] Blumner, i. p. 209. "The Plumarii were a cla.s.s 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. Rom. 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 Archeologique, 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 Archaeological Museum at Madrid.

[350] Rees' Cyclopaedia 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' Cyclopaedia, "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 s.p.a.ces, 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." Littre 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 _la.s.sis_, 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 tr.i.m.m.i.n.g 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 "macrame," 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 st.i.tches 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).