Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1892-10-08

green. These, with some help about the
knitting, can be made by quite young and
inexperienced fingers.
A hammock or sofa cushion Is effectively
decorated with spiders web which entire
ly covers the square. Work the heavy
CROSS threads-the spiders guy ropes-with
coarse white linen, and the slightly curv-
ing connecting threads with finer linen.
If the pillow is of blue denim work the de-
sign with white rope linen, or use the
creamy Bolton sheeting, and work the web
with blue. An easy way of embroidering
any large design with long, sweeping
curves is to 60 over the pattern with per-
fectly even running stitches. Afterward
connect these stitches by sewing over and
over through the stitches on the right side,
without putting the needle through the
cloth except when it is necessary to fasten
or join the thread.
Bureau mats that are very little trouble
to make and very decorative when done
require small squares of antique lace with
as many squares of butchers linen. The
lace is lined with the color desired, and
edged with narrow lace; the square of
linen is hemmed and edged in the same
way. The lace square is then laid over the
linen and the two fastened together with
invisible stitches. The corners of the upper
square project over the sides of the lower
bO tuhI tuo oiSaI ldCc-IIluuSu pOiuIb dtl
show.
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC POKER.
A late fancy in decorative work which
now bids fair to become a craze, is for
typography, otherwise fre-writing. If
pyrogravure, burnt wood engraving, is
preferred, the choice of terms is before
you, If you elect to speak plain, every day
English, call it poker work, or burnt wood
work. The effect will be the same in any
case. Even if you say scorch work, rest
assured that you have applied to the art
name as appropriate as any of the others.
This FIVE named art is not an invention
of the present day, but has been evolved,
like many other arts, from the crude and
fastastic devices of barbarisns, whereby
they sought to crafty the love of orna-
mentation, planted SO deeply in the savage,
as in the cultivated, breast Some curious
specimens of this fire engraving are to be
seen in the British Museum, the work of
natives of New Guinea and Western
Africa. In Russia, Germany and Switzer
land, there are now many skilled workers
in this art, especially in the country last
named, where it is made an effective ac-
cessory to wood carving.
The art is easily learned, and while
complete outfit consists of benzoline bot
tie with metal attachment, India rubber
bellows and tubing, a spirit lamp and pen
ellis with cork covered handles and plsti-
mum points, very artistic effects have been
produced with curling iron, and knitting
needles stuck in corks. There are Difficult
ties to be overcome, of course. Few peo-
pie use the right and left hand with equal
skill, and in poker work both hands are
oft h1a ha 70
in favor of training children to be ambi
dextrous are many and forcible. This is
one of them. Then there is difficulty of
making an even line of uniform width aud
color, and much practice is needed in max
ing curves and in shading, each involving
a different manipulation of the platinum
points.
The most satisfactory woods are chest
nut, sycamore, lime, holly and Georgia
pine, and as the color and texture of the
wood have much TO do with the beauty of
| the work the piece to be ornamented should
| be carefully chosen.
When the fine engraving is done the
wood should be carefully polished and
| this part of the work is usually placed in
the hands of an expert. Small articles are
coated with white spirit varnish. One
charm of the work is that it is practically
indestructible; as long as the wood itself
| is not cast into the burning the decoration
remains.
Panels, chests, picture frames, hall
seats; all manner of chairs and tables;
imaginable thing, in short, which is made
of wood, is being touched, charred and
SCARED with the hot poker. Very beauti-
full signs are furnished in the Art Jour-
nails aud directions given by which even
the amateur may produce some very credi-
table bits of home decoration.
An artist formerly located in this city
| used to show soms remarkable pictures,
that, at little distance, had all the ap-
pearanoe of oil painting grown dark with
age, and wonderfully rich in varied shades
of brown. These ''poker pictures" as
Mr.. Benham called them, were, perhaps.
not sufficiently appreciated as works of
art, being looked upon usually as mere
curiosities. They were just little ahead
of the times, but the "freak" of that day
is the reigning fashion in this.
A Russian lady, now in New York, has
the honor of having developed the art of
typography. Recognizing it's place in
household decoration she improved upon
mere poker work, invented and patented
tools, and taught it SO successfully that
the Russian work took the lead of that OF
all other nations. Madam Pogosky has
been spending some years in Great Britain
and has received any number of medals
and diplomas for industrial decoration.
The rival of wood scorching is wood
carving, an art which is receiving much
attention from American women. Both
are useful and both require conscientioui
work as we'll as artistic feeling. Chise
+ and clamp, or poker and lamp, or all these
. may now be found in my lady's workshop
replacing the embroidery frame of old
And the girls are even studying cabinet
, making and blacksmithing Truly thes'
close-of-the- century days have a strong
, bias toward the practical, even while We
seem given over, heart and soul, to th'
| pursuit of the ornamental HILARY.
NOMINAL,