Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1872-11-29


The dlu oi the designer j. 10 imagine
and draw such combinations Of leaves of
flowers and fruit, or ge0meuical lines, OF
unions of both, a- viii enable the master
printers % carry them out at a profit for the
home and foreign markets. The question Of
appropriation Ct % suitable color To- each pOr-
tiou Of the design produced is also of the
greatest Importance. As the FAINTER often
varies the grounding tint. of many Of the
patterns, wise designer Will also foresee the
changes which can Dee runs upon the colors
and thus secure % certain uuanimIJv through
outthr whole. lle viii not, for instance.
make the green 'ieaye~ TOO large. because
jhey may De converted into chocolates. or
pink~ and appear oufrc. He viii also pre-
serve % certain harmony throughout the de-
sign. NOT bringing one good feature out at the
expense of another good feature, and 50
ie~~ening the good eiierI Of the whole And
the same general rules viii Dee attended u
10y him, whether the leaves, the buds and the
flowers he of a natural or conventional tvpe
whether i9Elrth clrve-.iue Of beauty form
the standard to work by, or the lines and
angles of Euclid are pressed into the service
of floral illustration.
Designs for calico printing may he divided
generally into three groups. the furniture
group. the shawl group. and the garment
group In the furniture group may be in
,luded the chiutze~ which form such excel
lent covers and han-ins-
The Arabe~Que STYLES. many Of which are
charmiu.y suitable for the purpose, may
also be cia--ed under this head To the
shawl group belong the Persian and cha>-
mere designs. which may be said 10 repre-
sent the standard taste Of the Eastern ma
tiln~. and which are So beautifully produced
in the French muslin delaiue~. that they
might ra-- at first view for the real woven
5n,-iaIes from the mountain territories of
Hind1>tau. nder the garment group may
bee ranged almost the whole of the floral pat
terms. and ir Is this section of taste which
employs the best designing talent, and which
occupies the greatest number of ~orkmen.
This branch Of the trade l. practically mex
hau-tihle. and Will never 20 out of fashion,
th- side of AlaGulay- eruption Of New
Zealanlcr>. at all events. of course there
are subdivisions. such for instance the
striped and the eccentric patterns, where
the effect is got chiefly by the aid of ma
ehinerv. and where the help of the designer
is virtually Siueeure.
There !. also the fareti'a- school, mostly
applied o. ~hirting-. There is. moreover.
the handkerchief school, and the wai-tcoat-
ing school. which are more or less laws
unto thcmsrlye~
Many of the flowers, Nr., which are con-
.eiyei hy the designer, bear the same rela-
ti1n-hip 90 nature as 10 the montroSItie~ of
heradrv Shape~ which rasS by merest
courtesy for roses, are as like thar flower aS
% snake Ikea dragon, ,ora horse ike a griffin
The most riiicu.ous liberties have been
taken with leaf. bud. flower, calyx, corolla,
lsriauth. stamen. ui~til. oyule. fruit and
eei The bru-hv compound umbel of How
er,. like the carrot, have been made 20 sup
part drooriug catkius ike those Oithe birch,
merely because Jhe stalks Of the former
looked bare Tendrii- have been woven
around fig-leayes. which are, of course quite
.trangers To those thread-like processes, and
hairs. bri-tles. and -tings have even orna-
neuted the tendrils Flower tree, too,
which are naturally innocent Of thcrn-. have
been accorded as many spinous branches as
there are decorations upon Continental gen
erals
Ii may te questioned whether there is real
necessity for any more fancitul leaf designs
than what nature has given us The de-
-igner however. must needs have some
shapes of his own. Not content with the
simple leaves, the circular, elliptical, lance
shaped, arrow--haped, heart-shaped, kidney
shaped, wedge>haped. &c. be has invented
such new single forms Of leaves as would
drive Palla~ wild, and sometimes from the
same stalk produced the ~word-shaped leaf
of the garden hag aud the needle-leaf of the
iuniper of the l0hed leaf, whether hilohed
trilohed. pinuatifid. Ialmifd, pela~tisect, OF
whatever nwbreaker il Is, he las made fear
f.l havoc. And some Of the compound
leaves he has gifted with more leaflets than
there are legs on acentipede. The ornithol-
ogv which has been seen upon some OF the
English furniture patterns would he sun
more open TO criticism Common-shaped
birds. with the rump feathers longer than
the vent feathers, the upper tan coyert>
longer than the lower tail coverts, ana the
former divided and bent over IN such lash-
ION that no possible use could De maze oi
the wing feathers these would prove mlld
examples of an evil which, we think, ought
to have no place in any production III civl-
lied country, save IN one intended Tor earl
catuie.
The foregoing Is not too carmined If some
af the earlier designs are examined into, but
rather undermined than otherwise Variety
i charming without doubt, but an embargo
might wisely be laid upon any eccentricity
which is removed more than a cousinship
from nature. Now that Schools of Design
are growing up in our midst, and Art exhi-
bitions are becoming ANIMALS with Us, the
last yestige OF this false taste will soon be
trampled out Of sight. Our young design
ers have already made good use Of the Man
chester School Of Arts, and have picked VI
many practical hints from their French CO.
workers in the same trade For Paris has
been called the " Worlds Schoolof Design, -
and has richly merited the title. Independ-
ent Of the more mercurial, and, therefore
more inventive and fanciful character which
the Frenchman boasts, Paris Is stocked witt
libraries, art museums, schools and work
shops Of taste of all kinds. We, at al
events, excel in machinery with which tt
carry out design in good and cheap man