The sun., 1908-06-14
ARTTREASURESla TENEMEETS
BEAUTIFUL LACES FOUND ON
CLOTHES LINES
Or on Beds In Italian Households -Isn'e
broideries OF Value In Queer Places
-neautiful Hrasses Doing Humble
Duty--A Settlement cart Exhibition" )"

-ReautifuI Brasses Doing Humble
| g. Duty-A settlement "Art Exhibition" ("
Yes, this may truly be called an art OK
hibition. and most or II came from the
clothes lines in the neigbborhood." said Miss
Katherine LORD. head Of the handicraft
school of Greenwich House. the settlement
IN Jones street. The exhibition was Of en-
broideries and handiwork found In actual
use In the city tenements.
! I'VE know, Of course continued Miss
Lord, "that this work exists. and our search
for 1t 10 as hopeful and az persistent as that
Of prospector for the mother lode. In
our case the nearest approach TO that lode
10 the tenement clothes line. Very often we
may be on terms of comparative intimacy
| with family without ever having dis
covered that 1t Possesses any treasures in
the way OF native embroideries or laces.
Then one day we will spy, Auttering
high up on a pulley line among dingy
nondescript garments. a bit Of work that
sets us hurriedly to counting windows and
climbing stairs until We arrive at the tene-
ment that owns tho clothes line. Then
more than likely We will discover that that
very tenement 10 one with which We are
psS3cctly familiar and which has hitherto
failed to yield up single find.
| @The Bohemian and Rumanian families
are much moro reluctant to display their
! work than are the Italians. In fact the
Italians work is usually in plain sight all
| the time for it is almost invariably on their
beds. 1t is from these beds that we have
| gathered many OF the treasures Of the ex-
hibition They rank only second in produo-
tivsness to the clothes lines"
The handsomest piece of handiwork in
the exhibition was a bedspread which was
found in two room tenement on Avenue B.
1t is exceedingly large and would cover
two ordinary beds Of modern size.
1t is done on the finest inen-egg skin
| linen it is caled-which has not been made
for many years and which it is practically
impossible to buy Not only s the whole
thing mass Of the finest embroidery, but
| in large medallons the threads have been
drawn and then rewoven into intricate
patterns, no two medallions alike.
The woman in the Avenue B tenement ap-
preciates the value of her treasure thorough
| ly, but does not know its history further
back than the Ave generations that it has
been in her family. She does not know how
1t came to them or where or when it was
done. From the character Of the work 1t
is believed that it was done in an Italian
convent. probably for some rich and noble
family.
In collecting things for the exhibition
Miss Lord found the people most willing to
lend their belongings once they were sought
out, but rarely did they volunteer any
thing In one home of a somewhat better
class in which she was hopeful of finding
/ H. IL Foil
to bring forth anything more unusual than
a pair Of cross stitch slippers Of hideous
| design.
| She had left the place, but turned back
| for some purpose and found the woman
OF the family just putting on the bed a
| spread, hand knitted with fine thread Of
an elaborate and interesting pattern and
80 large that it reached to the floor all
around The woman explained that she
hadn't supposed that any one would care
| to see the old spread that her grandmother
had knitted when she was too old to work.
1t went out Of the tenement under the ex-
plorers arm and was one Of the most ad-
mired things at the exhibition.
There was only one case Of refusal to
lend to the settlement workers, and that
happened to be bedspread too, made of
flet and Italian cutwork. very beautiful
piece The owner, desperately poor and
living In squalid circumstances, wanted
to sell the piece, which had been in her
family for generations, and she would not
let it 20 out OF her possession unless Miss
Lord and her assistants would undertake
its sale.
The various nursing settlements send
various things to the exhibition that had
been stumbled on in the course Of the days
work. One nurse asked the Bulgarian
family that she was helping for night
shirt with the intention Of making more
comfortable the patient, who was wearing
the clothes in which he had apparently
done several weeks hard work.
For time there was CONSERVATION in
the family. with wild runnings to and fro
and frantic rummagings. Finally from a
box under the bed, beneath bundles OF
rags and castoff cooking utensils, came
night shirt of coarse hand woven linen,
soft with age and heavily embroidered in
dull reds and blues. after the distinct styles
and patterns Of the Bulgarian peasantry.
The family apologized humbly for offer
ing 40 poor q thing, and were completely
confused when the nurse refused to use it
and sent one of the children to the nearest
shop for more ordinary one. They hesi-
tated at accepting half dozen muslin
night shirts in exchange for 1t. for they did
not wish to take an unfair advantage Of the
nurse who had done 80 much for them.
Another night shirt even more unusual in
it's embroidery was rescued by a nurse just
as its owner was about to tear it into strips
for bandages. Still another was on the
point of being cut up into shirt waist for
little girl. who protested bitterly that she
wouldn't wear it because her schoolmates
would make fun of her for appearing in any
thing so ugly and old. The brightest pink
waist to be found on Grand street made an
exchange that the mother OF the child was
almost too conscientious to accept.
While Miss Lord and her helpers in the
handicreft school were collecting for the
exhibition one Of the young workers came
in and after enthusiastically opening q
bundle she carried and displaying a mans
shirt with the bosom. cuffs and collar COW
cred with embroidery done in fine red thread
she announced dramatically. Il took It
of man.
Her explanation proved her abatement.