The Washington herald., 1912-03-15
BAYEUX TAPESTRY
NOW ON EXHIBIT

Il
monument to Industry must have unduiy
sacrificed her share Of minstreisy. jousts'
or hawking. But to visit the Belgrave
Square mansion. where Lady carew and
her sister. Lady Cory. do their masnin-
cent tapestry work. Is to have this IL
Iuxion dispelled. Hence Queen Ma
thilda, the wife Of William the Norman,
might have been an expert musician,
lover OF Journeys, or country pleasures,
and even a leader of society, and yet
have painted pictures with her needle
| and decorated panels, screens, couches-
| whole suites Of furniture with lovely coll
oring and designs.
The marvels OF the Belgravia house
begin in the hall. where a mastery copy
in tapestry Of Mr.. Holidays Meeting
OF Dante and Beatrice" greets the eye,
besides some exquisite panels after
Bourne-Jones' Pomona and Flora. Half
way up the staircase a particularly fine
rendering Of Turner'S "Deer Forest cap
tures the attention; and the landing from
whence Il is best seen is adorned by
other magnificent pieces. The door Of
the large double drawing-room being
thrown open, discIoses sight. delight
full, indeed. The coverings Of chairs and
couches form a white background upon
which quantity graceful designs OF trees
and fruit and flowers with many
strange medieval bird and beast, are
worked In soft. rich hues. Back and
sides are rs lavishly adorned as front
and centers-for this has been an artists
labor of love. On the walls more panels.
and yet again Heedle-painted pictures
Ieplicas in tapestry Of Burne-Jones'
pOesy and music.
Lady Carew deprecates the idea that
TO produce such results Is a herculean
task. On the contrary, she insists that
nothing 4 so soothing to the nerves than
needIework, and that, II more Of It were
done. there would be fewer nervous
breakdowns.
These two ladies. who began their tap
estry training together some few years
ago. have greatly diverged in Individual
work. Lady Carew has followed on pure
ly decorative and conventional lines.
while her sister. Lady Cory. works fig
ures and landscape. flowers and fruit,
adapted and copied from nature and
paintings. Lady Cory is the eloquent ex-
pOnent OF her sisters achievements in
decorative applied. art.
Quite obnormal sensitiveness to colors
is required for faces and figures. Eight
shades may A used in an eye, and the
cobblestones In the foreground of Dante
and Beatrice. for instance, show count
less Eradations Of tints blending imper-
Ceptibly. But the veriest novice can ad-
mlre II even although unable to tell how
the eXcellencies are obtained. A piece OF
broken masonry under repair on one of
the buildings tells" extraordinarily with
its eXquisitely felt values. and the tiny
figures in mid-distance are as instinct
with life as the principal group.
In the dining-roOm a masterpiece from
Lady Cory's needle is dispIayed-Alber-
tinellrs Meeting of Ouchard and ST. ElIz-
abeth,' generally known as The Saluta-
ton" Faces, hands, delicate finger nails
are marvels Of detail. and the flowing,
-blllowy draperies veritably seem to have
movement. BY the window is Lady Ca
rew's tapestry frame on its trestle, a
great basket OF woods in graded shades
separately tied at the side.
The perseverance of this artist of the
needle Is really marvellous. Not long ago
Lady Carew worked thirteen panels for
her and Lord Carews Irish home. Castle
Enniscorthy. When finished, they all
proved misfits. Nothing daunted. she
started all over again, and this time ac-
compllshed the task. the magnitude of
which may he guessed from the fact that
two OF the panels-heraldIc designs Of the
arms OF Carew and Lethbridge Uady
Carew's maiden name) each measured
eight feet six inches square.
II goes without saying that all these
large-framed works. panels or pictures.
when glazed, are extremely heavy. They
are fastened by iron stanchions TO wall
and flooring. IL takes five TO six strong
men to move them. and this is one of the
chief reasons against their public eXhi-
bition. Otherwise. art lovers would have
endeavored before this TO promote II.
Lady Carew is the possessor of India's
most famous historic jewels-a polished
uncut ruby weighing 1921 carats. en-
Graved with the names Of Akbar and
three Of his imperial successors to the
great mogul empire. Though often incor-
rectly described as the "Carew ruby" II
came to its present owner through Mr.
Allison, an uncle OF Mrs Lethbridge
Uady Carew's mother). who was British
Minister at Teheran. II worn at the re-
cent durbar II would have created con-
siderable sensation. But Lady Carew was
not among the distinguished visitors to
that gorgeous function. And had she
been so. both Lady Carew and Mr.. Leth- |
bridge would have been averse to its
public display in a country OF whose |
former splendid. IL corrupt, state It was
once an insignia.
King Alfonso Of Spain had arranged 10 |
go to Vienna from Bordeaux, where he |
went under the knife Of a famous |
French specialist to relieve his ever-re- |
curing. nose and throat affiiction This |
Hapsburg inheritance). in
order to attend the celebration of the |
diamorI wedding Of the Archduke |
Rainer. but the trip had to be given up. |
as the aged Emperor Franz Jose: did not |
desire the presence OF any guests from |
abroad, the company for the rare obser- |
vation being by him limited TO the home |
circle Of the imperial family.
NJ. Deschanel and NJ de Selves both |
are tired of Paris and its political wor-
ries and upheavals. The former would |
just love to go TO Vienna as French am
bassador and the latter would not at all !
object TO ending his days at the Farnese
Palace. the French embassy Louse at /
Rome, when at least he would be draw
ing-a substantial salary. There are
few other candidates for these exceed
ingly desirable posts, neither Of which,
however, happens TO be vacant. Besides, 1
both OF these mansions are getting TO be
rather out of date. showing the Eavages
or time. and a great deal of money must |
be spent on the Farnese Palace and the
Vienna embassy.
Nj. Barrere, the envoy at the Qurinal |
all suavity and suasion. shows of his
tall figure in the saddle at the