Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-24
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
/. C.. M.

/. C. M.
wEAvEs AND DRAPERIEs: Classic
and Modern. Helen Churchill Can
dee. Frederick A. Stokes Co.
Climate started It.
An equable heat by day and night,
long seasons through, the earth around,
and much Of the great accomplishment
to be seen on every hand would hardly
have been begun. Man, by and large.
works only under whip Of one sort or
other.
Those earliest folk, nipped by morn
ing frost and chilled by nightfall dew,
grew contriving for ways and means
of bodily comfort. 1t was, maybe, q
wayside web woven by some instinc-
lively mechanic insect that threw q
hint their way. Or. maybe, the climb
ing interlaced Llama mats set them
pattern. Or, some other ingenuity
of vegetable or animal that suggested
long plant fibers close-laid side by side,
stretched taut and held fast at the
ends, while across this surface other
fibers were threaded, lone over, one
under" the length of the foundation
made ready to receive and hold them.
Finished, here was a cover against the
cold, or q screen hung against fierce
sun or slanting rain.
And SO, in some such rude fashion,
priceless rugs and tapestries began. That
, primitive gesture toward bodily comfort
became the forerunner of long pag-
cant Of splendor. Fabrics Of every de-
sign and use-tapestries, silks, velvets,
brocades and damaskS-go back to an
origin not much above the one so
crudely sketched. These march with
civilization from East to West ACROSS
the continents Of the Old World, ex-
employing one of the high arts of
civilization in its various stages of
advance.
Those far beginnings held the seed
Of the huge textile industry of the
present. Held, also, the substance of
genuine art whose sheer beauty con-
tributed along its way to the pomp and
circumstance OF royal living, to the
high ceremonials of religious ritual. All
gone, that great day of woven art. Only
in museums and galleries and in the
personal possession of individual COL
lectors may fragments and relics of
this patiently fabricated art be found
An interesting story lies in the be-
ginning of many a familiar object.
Light, heat, wood-eraft, metal-work
and innumerable other commonplaceS
read like invention when traced back
TO origin and advance and arrival into
the utilities of the present. Marvellous
tales, these, In possibility.
Here is one OF them. A chapter of
industrial history, useful and beautiful.
Mrs. Candee, with the narrator's gift
and the adventurer's spirit, jumps of,
SO TO speak, straight from the readers
side into far and deep places of this
absorbing theme. After a brief Begin
ming with originals and copies" the
pursuit becomes wide as the art itself
in its advance toward the present And
so, under an expert guide, we go roam
ing wherever the art of weaving calls
by virtue Of its superior excellence or
beauty, by virtue also of progress made
IN the mechanics of production In
Europe it Is Spain that stands out
through the weaving of silks and cloth
of-gold by way of the conquest of that
country by the MoSlem, who, in a blend
OF Coptic and Moorish weavings greatly
enriched the defeated country. Periods
as we'll as nations provide this writer
with points Of departure. The effect of
the Renaissance, earlier and later, upon
the seemingly Unborn discrimination of
the French comes out here in deScrip-
tons Of the particular textiles and de-
signs that set of the French national
style from the development that took
place under Louis XIV and again under
the revolution and so on. Changing
political patterns appear to have gone
as deep as the draperies and tapestries
OF each succeeding regime. France abb
serbs much of this consideration. It
would, by right.
Interesting minor points stand all
along the way OF this study. Here Is
one: Mrs. Candee points upon the con-
sistency existing between the dress of
any period and the furnishings of the
house itself. When dress Is voluminous,
ruffied and gathered and punched. then
curtains and bed furnishings and drap-
cries OF every sort conform to the gen.
eral bounty Of fabric and design. Proof.
as the author points. exists in our own
time when both attire and house drap-
cries are Scant, straight, short. Inter-
esting, such rather unusual consistency
OF mode and manner. Coming up along
this delightful path of history, the au-
thor gives brief summary of modern
textiles, In material, quality, source of
design and decoration, the fitting uses
of different classes of these. Mass pro-
duction has taken the place of the old
limited output, has taken the place of
much of the clear artistry of early
weaVings. Yet, this author is no growl-
er against the present, no mourner over
a glorious past. Much of good and
more OF promise exists in this particular
DAY OF generally quantitative aim and
end. with its often Scant care for quail
tative effects.
A book useful for study. Interesting
to read and of prime Importance in
helping toward sense of fitness and
harmony. OF consistency and proportion
In selections and arrangements for the
modern home itself. OF prime impor-
lance are the illustrations of this book.
covering every period important to the
fabrication of textiles, picturing COM
mon uses OF the various weaves and
strange uses as we'll Chinese and Per-
sian prints. Coptic ornaments. Syrian
silks. Persian damaSks and velvets and
many other illustrations serve, taken
together. as pictorial worldwide his
tory upon the development of this art.
book bound to breed enthusiastic &C
ceptance.
THE CREATION OF A HOME. Emily
Newell Blair. Farrar & Rinehart.
A modern woman, writer, politically
minded and public spirited, here takes
up the important business of creating
a nome with her own daughter, under
the impression, no doubt that most good
things should start as close by as this
Is possible.
A thoroughly practical, sound COM
nonsense, plain-Speaking document is
the one here offered by mother to her
daughter. Yet, reading merely the
table of contents, one wonders just how
much of this useful disclosure is likelv
to lodge in the mind. or heart, of girl
hood. Merely way of saying that the
business looks formidable. Not any
shadow Of intent to take away the au-
thors clear mission of general we'll
doing. To create a home there must be
a sense of proportion and scale of
measurement. Purpose and plan to
mt. an agreement involving income, So
cial implications and other public or
quasi-public obligations. Then to Sc