The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-03-20
The GObeliR Tapestries.
The first tapestries ever made at the

The frSt tapestries ever made IT the
Gobelins were woven in horizontal
frames. similar to those used by ladies
! n ordinary tapestry work. 1t was the
painter Lebrun who introduced the YER
! sical frames still in use; both for carpet
and tapestry making. This upright
frame is from four TO eight yards wide
and the warp chain is stretched on 1t
vertically. Behind this frame sits the
artist with his model OF. pattern behind
MIN. After having, with the assistance
Of tracing-paper, transferred the out
lines of the pattern to the warp he in
iicates the darn shades by the series of
black and the light shades by series
Of red dots for the portion of the work
which he expects to execute during the
day. Having .'made up his box with
the spindles of worsted of such coiors
as will be needed for that day, he be-
gins to. execute, using the spindies
called brooches, instead of shuttles, such
as are made use of by weavers. Ac-
cording as the pattern demands, he
twists the wool (frame) around one,
two or three threads of the warp, fast
ening it with knot, and repeats this
process with the same or with differ
emit colored worsted, according to pat
tern, at which he ofcourse glances from
time to time. 1t is because he has to
tic this knot on the wrong side OF
the warp that the artist is COM
PEELED to stand behind the frame.
The work is exceedingly slow, de-
manding great manual skill and also
much Judgment in the selection of the
colOrs.
1t is mosaic work, but instead of lit
tie stone cubes the tapestry artist uses
colored worsted. The tapestry in front
of which we are standing is about 6x1O
feet in size; it is not yet one-third fin
ished, and yet the artist has been work
ing on it for more than three years.
1t will take him about eight more years
to finish his work, and when it is done
it will represent 3 pastoral scene-a
Young man and young woman at the
side of lake, ducks and swans SWIM
ming in the waters, cows in the back
ground, flowers and shrubbery, servants
in livery, distant chateau-in brief. q
sort of Vatican in wOrsted. Its value
will be very large; l cannot say how
much, as it will not be for sale. From
the tapestry atelier we go into the car
pet-weaving rooms, where the artists
stand in front of their frames and have
their patterns spread out above their
heads. The wOrkmen are less skillful
and the worsted much coarser here
than in the room we have just left. and
when this wool is passed around the
warp it is cut off at certain distance
so as to leave long nap, the thickness
of the carpet depending on this length.
As the pattern progresses this nap is
clipped with pair of shears so as to
present uniformly even surface, and
thus is formed what is known in COM
MERGE as a velvet carpet.
1t is believed that the success of the
Gobelins depends to great extent on
the excellence of its cOlors and that
these are only obtained by using the
waters of the little stream on the banks
of which it stands. This, however, is a
mistake, for the waters OF the BieVre
have become so befouled by the nu.
merous dyehouses and tanneries in this
; part of Paris that it is no longer used
bv the Gobelins and has not been for a
!, great many years. All the dye waters
come from the city works-from the
same reservoirs that supply my bath
room. The woods used are carefully
selected and assorted according to theiI
degree of tineness when received from
the spinning-mill. They are then freed
from all trace of oil or grease, after
: which they are washed in thin white.
L wash; then they are arranged in skeinS
:. and plunged into a solution of alum OF
of boiling cream of tartar; finally they
are placed in the dye-vats. The simple
, colors are obtained by plunging the
skeins several times in the vat. Each
tint has its scale (gamme) of "a tones
which pass from the deepest to the
lightest shade, and the ightest of al
> are obtained when the solution is thu
: weakest 1t is practice rather thar
theory that guides the dyer in obtain
Z inc these various shades. When The
color is composite one the dyer mus
I know how to restore TO the mixture
: that Ingredient which is most rapidly
S absorbed, in order to keep it as even a.
! possible.
: The greatest difficulty of the art o
; dyeilg is to obtain neutral tints of ;
{ good Shade. l believe they have sue
=, ceeded in entirely overcoming this diff
: Guilty out at the Gobelins. When thu
], woods are dyed they are washed anC
= sent to the warehouse, whence they art
distributed to the tapestry or carpe
weavers of the GObelins or at Beauvais
VI Formerly the woods were rolled up il
y balls, but now they are wound on thu
J.; spindles and then kept in drawers in ;
u dark room, so as to prevent the discol
oring effect of light on the dyes. Durin:
the reign of Louis XIV, when the artist
at the Gobelins had to reproduce tn,
pictures of the painters of those days
d in which delicate shades and neutra
t tints predominated, the dyers made onl,
It such shades as were needed. Their
o were about 1000 different tints regis
t tered, each tint comprising abou
d twelve tones, but the result was con
e fusion from which there was no escape
The use of this infinite variety of shade
i and natural tints resulted in their rapit
e fading or discolorization, and this
!, the reason why so many of the tapes
y tries executed during the latter part O
!, the eighteenth century have such
!, washed-out, faded appearance Pari
o Cor. San Francisco Chronicle.
5 Texas.