Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-09-26
HISTORY TOLD
BY TAPESTRIES

It Is not quite fair for us to COM
plain because the folk OF the olden
time did not leave US q legacy of wo-
mems magazines and fashion plates.
They did something better for u.s.
they woye tapestries. And in these
tapestries they betrayed themselves
In the most unconscious way, giving
Us faithful portrayals of their man
ners, their homes and gardens and
their clothes. No matter il the avow-
ed subject Of the hanging were Gre
clan myth or Biblical story, 1t was
an invariable rule that the architec-
tlre. all the costumes and all the ac-
cess0ries even the types Of the faces
would be of the period when the
piece was designed and woven. For
this reason, II for no other, the old.
tapestry can provide US with matter
both profitable and entertaining.
BY such means we learn how fond
these older folk were of heraldry, how
they delighted in the trappings OF
their trappings, Of their hor horses,
as, for instance, in the primitive tap
estry Of Joan Of Are before the castle
OF Chinon; again. how the women
loved pets and with what ardor the
men followed the chase. We see how
much stress was laid on the parapher-
MALTA Of rank and ceremonial, and
how fondness for jewelry was a
failing Of men and women equally.
However much we may ind of the
industrious and ridiculous In the an
Gent fashions as they are mirrored IN;
the tapestries, we may well learn les
sons from certain other features Of.
them. as. for example, the respect.
these older men and women showed
for fine material. Beauty of fabric.
was TO them something to honor even
while they loved to enhance il with
jeweled work upon cloak and mantle
and with display of arms blazoned IN.
'broidery.y
Did ever woman live who loved not
gowns wrought thick with How're
worker" A fcndness for such proves
one Of the most maidenly things we
know about Queen Elizabeth, who, we.
are told. preferred fabrics "all over
sowne with perles."
Undoubtedly the most important les
son to be learned from the fashions of
the old tapestries is the lesson of col
or. We have so long been afraid Of
color, We have not dared acknowledge,
much less cultivate, any sense for it.
1t was the oriental rug that at last
pried our eyes open. 1t has taught US
that colors may be rich and glowing
yet not gaudy. SO long as they are pro-
perly arranged in combination and
juxtaposition. 1t remains now for a
study of old tapestries to help us fur
Their, with object lesson in the practi-
cal application Of color principles to
dress and home accessories.
The tapestries show US our medic
val ancestors bringing In the harvests
from the fields, chopping wood In the
forests, following the hunt, or gather
ing sprays for the Rose Homage,
The tapestries show US. further, how
even in the narrow limits of the castle
wall there were tiny gardens for flow
ers as well as for herbs and kitchen
~messes;; sometimes for yeritabIe or
chard trees as we'll
They tell us how Milford and miladi
would not merely walk In these gar
den-closes, but how here, surrounded
by her tiring-maids. miladi would SIT
at her neutrality-suspicious.; how here
some wandering troubadour would
come to sing his fowery verses or to
read his high romance; how here the
clown would come to play his pranks
and here the talent Of the neighbor-
hood would gather to sing In concert
and perform on quaint musical instru-
ments, attuning their songs to the
merry splash Of the fountain. 1t is an
allround insight these tapestries give.