New-York tribune., 1920-11-27
Rare French Lace
Wins Admiration
At Art Exhibition
Beautiful Material, With Fur
niture and Other Objects,
10 Be Sold at American
Galleries Next Week
By P.oyal Cort:ssoz

1he current exhibition at the Amer
lean Art Galleries is one primarily for
women. Well in the foreground there
are placed quantities of lace, before
which masculine taste may only pause
1T dumb admiration. 1t belongs to
Nine. Annette Lefortier, of Paris, who
has sent it over with a lot Of furni-
ture and other objects to be sold here
next Thursday, Friday and Saturday
afternoons.
Perfect lace has glamour potent
even for one who has not been initiated
into its mysteries. There lies upon
its surface the beauty which belongs
to great art of any kind, the beauty
OF design. We dare say that to the
feminine vision much Of the material
i'll this collection must appeal with
instant suggestions Of ways n which
1t could be used. For our own part
we have found pleasure merely in the
enchantment of line and sairy-like
texture worked by magicians of the
craft in France, Italy and Flandcrs
we cannot pretend adequately to
characterize these pieces. All we know
ls that they are extraordinarily beau
tifu
Vestments Are Shown
With them there are shown vest
ments, embroidered velyets and the
like, which add to the austere lowell
ness of lace the more splendid, and.
paradoxlcally, more sensuous quality
OF eccles tical stuffs. There is a gold
embroidered chasube No. lSD, Of
seventeenth century Italian origin,
when may be taken as representative
OF the mass, glorious sheet ot flaw
less color. Catalogues are often read
able, but 1t is on occasions Ike this
That we are always tempted to quote
from their pages. Here is the icscrip-
ton of the chasuble just mentioned:
Ivory drap d'argeilt, enriched in
gold threads of many varied stitches.
the orphreys defined by light landings
and enclosing dainty balanced foral
arabesques; the field, rol-boriered
and bearing similar floral scrollincs to
orphreys.' 1t is wonder that the cata-
ltguers, with a vocabulary such as
frank .yrists. Catalogues of textiles
End flowers, in fact. form a literature
by thems elves, a literature into which
we love to dip. Even read by itself it
is absorbing and pages Of it contain
positive excitement when read in the
presence of the things themse ves
Such velvets Of amethyst and ruby as
are here displayed, such g.lttering
brocades! This is, we repeat, an ex.
hibtion for women, but we should be
sorry for the man who failed to feel
its spell.
Examples of Rare Tapestries
From the laces and ve'vets we pass
to the tapestries including some Of
the handsomest Renaissance IMPLIES
we have seen in a long time. There
is one sixteenth century Flemish set
of four (Nos. 508-511) which illus
trates episodes in the experience Of
Theseus at the court of Minos. The
classical legend is fairly overwhelmed
in a sylvan setting. We envy the col
lector who has the luck to get these
tapestries for his walls. There is a
great deal of excellent old furniture in
the show, early Florent'ne cabinets,
tables and chairs. and there are some
interes ting French pieces. There is
also lot of handsome metal work We
) ave noted especially certain Ita ian
grlles Nos. 36O-361363) the kind Of
thing for which we can see some of
our architects vigorously competing
These items indicate the miscel-
;aneous character Of the collection. It
repeats, in its way, the effect Of the
Charles collection. lately disposed Of
in the same place The galleries are
filled with all manner Of beautifully y
decorated episodes. A Louis XIV pal
ace table (No. 476) makes way for an
Id carved and gilded lectern (No. 458)
from Italy, and not far away we come
unon n carved cassone No. 454) of
Florentine gothic, or French mirror
Throughout the pieces are of good
quality not a'wavs brilliant, to be
sure, but authentic and interesting
The Charles collection made good
record in the auction room. This
ought to make another.