Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1882-11-10
MR. vANDERBILT,s TAPESTRIE>.
Magnificent Works Of Art in which
The Needle Nies with the Brush for
the AdOrnment OF his New House.
from The New Yak World.I

The Needle Vie. with the brush for
the Adornment OF his New House.
From the New iak World
The wall haugings and draperies that have
been for some months preparing for Mr.. Cor
nelus Vanderbilt ut the studios of Mr. John
Latargc and Miss Tilinghast have been fin
ished, The interest in them arises not only
from their richness and beauty, but also from
the fact that they are distinctly American
works, produced after original mtthrds.
For the diuing-room there are three por-
t;ercs each illustrating different decorative
treatment. The most striking ard original,
both in It's theory of decoration and in its eX-
ecutlon. is n large porlierc in tapestry stitch.
| The effect is distiuctively pictorial AS against
the generally received idea of decoration. In
this respect it is in kind with Gobelin tapes
tries. But with these its execution compares
most favorably. 1t is brush-woik, 10 fact,
with which the porticrc may be best com
pared.
| The groundwork is silver cloth, woven for
the possibilities of the tapestry stitch. The
decoration Of the portiere is fcstoon OF fruits
and flowers spanning the centre, with knot
ted white ribbons showing reflected lights at
each end. The design is appropriately sug-
gcstivc of the abundance of God things on
| earth. But its chief merits are the color of
the garland, which is low, full and rich, and
the manner in which it is toned into the back
ground. This background is the difficult
and successful feature of the portieic. The
surface is entirely covered with the tapestry
| stitch, leaving only the metallic CLEAN of the
silver cloth to be felt. The color is made
out of the tints used in the decoration. AT
hn of In mi ia lao lnt In,
Roman letters in silver on tablet, which is
also toned INTO the background. The border
above is conventional scrollwork in silver or
purple plush, taken from au altar cloth Still
above is an applied design of Italian Rcnais-
sance grotcsqueric on the same purple plush,
separated from each other by bands of gold
braid, also ravisheh from an altar cloth, as is
the gold fringe of the bottom to preserve the
harmony Tor which modern gold work would
prove too buoyant.
second curtain is Of the same silver
cloth, whose decoration is purely conventional.
The ground is divi led into panels by narrow
strips OF pale-green velvet bOrdercdby double
gold lines. In the centre of each panel is a
wreath of gold with clusters of flowers, pur-
pie, pink and yellow, and enclosing within,
IN one side the date, on the Other monogram
IN gold. The rest of the decoration is more
noteworthy From the wreaths above aud
below proceed elaborated scrolls made of gold
thread couched down with colorci silks. 1t
is on these couchngs that the color Of the
curtain depends. This exists, not in any pos
tive state, but as ilushcs OF purple, red blue,
deepening and fading all over the silver
ground. Nothing more exquisite and delicate
can be thun these effects which on cxamna.
ton prove to result from couchings following
out in color the ordinory laws of light aud
shade.
The third pOrtierc for the same room re-
latcs in embroidery the story Of -Encas's
Carlhagnian adventures, copied from Ra-
phaers cartoons. The story is told in panels
which make border about n cloth of-gold
centre, specially woven for this porlicic
The narrative begins in the upper rght-hand
corner, where Venus is seen in her chariot
drawn by doves aud attended by loves, on
her Grand TO Jupiter. Underneath, in gold
Letters, is the legend, "Sola,ur Vcntrcm Ju-
piter dictus Pater ipsc dolentem.' In the
centre sits Jupiter on his throne, with Venus
cntrcatng on one side and Mercury about to
start on The other. Surrounding the circle is
band, in which are the signs of the Zodiac
in raised gold-like hammered work. On the
left is Juno drawn by peacocks, sending forth
Eolus, and beneath the lines, "Eous immittit
lnone rrccanti.' Below these is the first panel
of the side border, showing Eneas making n
speech to his companions, and succeeding
this his meeting Venus disguised as hun.
trcss, with the flying geese above. Then
comes the inscription introducing the lower
lcft-hand panel, "Trojanos vagos Libycas en-
pc'lt in oras." The panel shows the outside
Of Dido's palace with 4Eneas and faithful
Achatcs. The corresponding panel is given
to the feast, with Dido claspng Ascanus to
her breast, and above is written Scar Venus
Ascanli sub imagine immittit Amorem.n
Above this, Dido and IEncas are seen walk. |
ing aud concluding the border is panel
with Dido seated on her throne and .Eneas
by her side. These designs are wrought out
in the nearest approach to old Venetian col
ors which modern dyes give, These panels |
are ON linen, whose surface is completely
covered with embroidery. The work itself
resembles most closely the old figure en-
brOidery on Italian ecclesiastical garments, !
and word should he said of the skilled
workwomen who from black and white mod |
els, have carried out so finely such com
plicated and difficult scheme of coloring.
The wall-hangngs for the watercolor room
are of jute velours Of delicate corn tint. These
are stencilled with Venetian design, an all |
over pattern which attracts no individual at
tention, aud this is overtraced with gold
threads
Two portieres for this room have been
made up in the studios from the San Donato |
embrcideres secured by Mr.. Vanderbilt at
the sale. These embroideries that are now
TO take the secular Turn are superb fifteenth
century altar cloths and vestments whose
preservation, notwithstanding the ravages of
the time, testify to their value. The most
remarkable of these is an altar cloth on white |
cloth on white satin. The upper border has
decoration which recalls the pomegranate
bells of the Temple hangings that are de
scribed with such excellence in detail in |
Leviticus. This is of gold wrought over
ropes, and stands in high relief. In the centre
is saint in priestly vestmcnts, his garments
wrought with gold and set with pearls, rubics
and other stones. From thisextend brackets |
magnflcently embroidered in gold and dotted
with stones, holding fowerpots The rest ofhe
surface is besprinkled with heavy gold en-