The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1883-04-07
SEWING MACHINES,

-, aud Human. and the Improve
re- ,na Progress They Have Made IN
~r.a,aer,-rheir skill With the Needle
r.,,elally In This Particular Surprising
,na unprecedented.
number Of lady artists and ART sympa'
- listened yesterday afternoon to a
-. an Embroidery" by Miss Lorraine
= pycxlin, at the rooms Of the Ladies Art
.'.,;on. No. p West Fourteenth street,
S s. srseimens of art needlework were
,'.0,srsS and on one table were number
D r5,Iis beautifully dressed in the peasant
..~nes of Norway, the work OF Miss
I,nra Grimsguard, anative OF that country.
II, appreciate the value OF the needle" y
,T;s. Bucklin in introducing her sub
Ss I'VE have only TO imagine for an IN.
lsvs,, he world without needle; its manu-
s.s l,,,,a a lost art, and as a natural result,
.%. ,a,ions of the earIn robbed OF splendid
tn t,'"nt and clothed in rags and tatters,"
r. needle itself, the speaker said, Is con-
~ with the first man or woman
W. stroye to shape clothing TO the human
s,srs' AT first 1t was probably strong
I'm or splinter OF wood or bone.
rSs art Of embroidery is very
arc ent; it precedes that OF paint
;r, nerhsps suggested 1t, and during the
,"'jile ages down TO the close OF the six
,ssnth century the needle rlvaled the efforts
ofthe brush. The jews gained the knowl-
oS,s of embroidery from the Egyptians;
sSsIc ,ssss and Romans carried the art to
~, - nsrfection, and the Phrygians were
sssnscislIy celebrated for their skill with the
ossg,e We read in the story of the Trojan
as- that Hector sought to propitiate Mi
,srya by gifts OF costly wells, so exqulsitely
.ronoht with silver that they shone like
stsrs The embroidered hangings in the
lining hall of the Emperor Nero cost a
Srn, equal to $40, 800 of our money, and
Tncian describes the embroidery worn by
Cleopara NJ the feast given by her to Caesar
,iter the death of Pompey. Superb en-
nruideries were taken rom the palaces of
The Persian Caliphs ut the conquest OF the
slracens in the year $50 A. ID.
III was, however, during the middle
oces y continued Miss Bucklin, that the
mi reached its highest development. IL
may be divided iuto three schools-the
Oriental, the Italian, remarkable for ara
ba,0ues ana good effects in relief, and,
lastly. the French, in which realistic ten
depcy was shown" The English work of
the same period resembled the French. As
early as the ninth century tapestry was in
use 10 ado-n the wall and TO carpet the
ioors of churches. Women who sought
asylum in converts daring the feudal pc
Rod spent their time in the fabrication of
tapestry. Women OF rank and fashion
considered it the highest possible accom-
pshment, and the poets Of the day COM
posed songs to be sung while the tapestry
was being woven. The glove during this
period had great significance attached to ii,
anu those worn by knights and ladies were
deliberately ornamented by the needle.
IN the earliest embroidery figures
and drapery were worked in fiat
silk, with strips OF gold here and there
fastened with concealed stitches. In this
work the faces were made by a stitch be.
ginning at the center of the cheek and
working outward in concentric lines. At
the beginning of the fifteenth century
kind OF embroidery called high relief and
low relief appeared, which aiterward at
tanned its highest degree of excellence in
Italy, in the time of the renaissance. Then
followed method of making embroidery
with pieces of brocade appliques. The most
celebrated German and French artists did
not disdain to furnish patterns. Up to the
end OF the thirteenth century the tints of
tapestry manufactured were very sober, and
the figures were in dignified attitudes, with
grave faces. In modern tapestry the colors
are more glowing and distinct. Tapestry
was first manufactured in France in mo
nasteries, where the art was preserved from
extinction through the middle ages. From
this time the art has steadily progressed,
France still maintaining her superiority.
During the last ten years" said Miss
BuCklin, in conclusion, art needle-work
has made enormous strides in this coun-
try, aud we need not despair of its assum-
ing its true place in art eyentually."-[New
York Times.