the new-york exhibition illustrated.

Gobelins. He confided to Le Brun, Ms first painter, and the artist who had deco-rated so many of tiie royal palaces, the direction of the new establishment, inwhich were soon employed several men who have left a reputation either in the

Of the number thus distinguished, we may men-

The wools and silks are kept in skeins ready for use in the general store; eachloom has however its own compartment, in which are deposited the materialschosen by the artist for the execution of his works.

Tapestry was formerly manufactured on both the high and the low looms;the former are now exclusively employed. The distinction in these namesarises not from any difference in the work, but from the position of theJJ^ nown engraving of the Mai des | looms. The low loom is placed horizontally, while the high loom stands

arts, or in industrial pursuits . VI HIV u.-****-'- - - %

tion the celebrated engraver, Sesbastian Le Clerc, for whom Colbert o tame agrant from the king in 1679, of apartments at the Gobelins with a pension of sixhundred crowns. He was the author of the well-known engraving of theGobelins , which was intended as a design for a permanent May-pole in t le court eiec .yard of the establishment, or rather as a trophy in honor of its royal founder, ancof Charles Le Brun, the director of the works. The base of the pillar forms apedestal of about twenty-one feet in height. Above it is placed an oval me a ^lonsurrounded with palms, on which Virtue is seen trampling on Ignoiance anvy. Beneath is a figure of History inditing its records on the back of ime. ebelieve that this design was never carried into execution. Le. ^erc, wioespoused in 1673 one of the daughters of M. Vandenkerchoven, kings yer othe establishment, died at the Gobelins in 1714, at the age of seventy-seven, er

having lived there more than forty years.

In order to complete the personnel of the tapestry woik-rooms, o erseduced by liberal offers several artists from the manufactory at Brusse s, w ohad become famous for their copies of the cartoons of Raphael and Ju es omain.Amongst them was the elder Lefevre, who was placed at the head of tie a e ters,with Jans of Bruges, who had been employed in the establishment from its com-lnftnnnrnflnf T'n +J-|AC£» olrilfnl workmen was also confided the charge of forming

irders were given by Col-

mencement.the pupils.

To Le Brun, and to all the best painters of the day, oi _

bert to compose pictures to serve as models for tapestry. Thus t us mawhich had hitherto remained in the state of imperfection w ic ia

its first efforts, became at this epoch an art in which all the lg.ies ^fi ua * ^_^

genius had room for display, and its productions wereout Europe, with as much eagerness as theyprosperity of the establishment began to decline,of Succession in Spain had

sought for through-are at present. In 1694, theem negan m .. The poverty, to which the warreduced the Treasury, caused the king’s orders to besuspended, and in the following year the number of empbyks was reduced by tiredismissal of several of the workmen and apprentices. In a curious little work,now lying before us, entitled “A Journey to Paris in 1698,” by Hr. Martin Lis-ter, the writer gives a sad picture of the condition of this once flourishing estab-lishment. He says:—

“ The formerly so famous workhouse of the Gobelins is fallen miserably intodecay, perhaps because the king, having finished all his palaces, has little more todo for them. Here I saw the making of marble tables, inlaid with all sorts of col-ored stones. Also the ateliers or workhouses of two of the famous sculptures.Juby, in which was a Laocoon copied in white marble admirably; also that otherof Quoisivoix, in which was, amongst the rare pieces, Castor and Pollux, in white

marble, exceedingly beautiful and large.”

Under the reign of Louis XV. the establishment was temporarily closed; after

a brief suspension of the works, however, it was again opened for the execution ofsome orders from the king for the decoration of the royal residences.

Up to this period, the tapestry had been manufactured by contract, or, inother words, at so much for the piece. The crown, however, lent its workshopsand the looms, and advanced to the contractors the warp, the silk, and the wool.All these articles were noted down on the books of the storekeeper, and whenthe contractors delivered the tapestry he deducted the value of the materials.The manufactory of the Gobelins was not, as at present, exclusively monopolizedby the crown; it enjoyed all the privileges of a private establishment, and carried \

on a trade in tapestry.

In 1791, the establishment was placed on a different footing. The workmenTvere paid by the year, and, with the exception of the manufacture of tapestry, allthe other branches of decorative art organized by Colbert were broken up. In1793 the operations of the establishment were again temporarily suspended.inconsequence of the enrolment of the workmen and the. dismissal of the pupils.This crisis, however, lasted but a short time; after a brief interval the Jury ofArte reorganized the manufacture.

The suppression of piece work was attended with the most beneficial results.By leaving to the artist the freer disposal of his time, and permitting himto apply himself rather to the quality, than to the quantity of his productions,a marked improvement in the former was soon perceptible. These who had talentnow took pains to cultivate it; and the study of the arts of design and paintingcontributed greatly to their progress. In short, the tapestry weaver becume anartist, and under his practised fingers wool was made as powerful and lifelike a

medium of expression as the pencil.

At present, the artist makes the warp himself, and traces and alters the designaccording to his judgment. He also chooses and employs his own colors, a partof the process which used to be kept quite distinct. The superintendence of eachpiece of tapestry is confided to one of the principal workmen ; the general inspec-tion to the chef d'ateliers, and the arrangement of the artistical details to an

experienced painter.

The lisses are small cords attached to each thread of the warp with a run-ning knot, which forms a sort of ring or mesh; they serve to keep the warp openin order to enable the workmen to pass the needle through it, charged with thewool or silk.

The basse-lisse or low loom resembles the ordinary loom of the weaver. Thedesign or picture which is to be copied is placed above the warp, whore it is

sustained by transverse oords. Two instruments suffice to work this loom_

the comb and the needle. The artist places himself before the loom, sepa-rates with his finger the threads of the warp, in order to see the design, and,taking the needle charged with the color he wants to use, passes it between thethreads, after raising or lowering them by means of the treddle upon which hisfeet rest; he then presses down the silk or wool ho has placed by striking it withhis comb. In the low loom, as well as the high, the artist can only see histapestry from the side after he has finished each operation, unless he chooses toshift his loom, an inconvenience rarely thought of.

The haute-lisse or high loom is composed of four principal parts; two longmadriers and a couple of large cylinders of wood placed transversely, theone above the madriers, and the other below them. When about a metre ofthe tapestry is finished, it is rolled on the lower cylinder, whilst the upper onefurnishes the warps for the succeeding part. The warp is separated into twodivisions by a heddle or cross stick; by this means half the threads are kept at anequal distance in advance of the other half. Tho threads of the latter, owing tothe position of the artist, can be brought forward at will by means of tho cords.

When the loom is prepared and the warp stretched, the first operation of thoartist is to trace with white chalk on tho threads of the latter the principal fea-tures of the picture which he has to copy. He then reproduces with a black-pencil on transparent paper applied to the picture, the outlines which appearthrough it in white. He lays this tracing on the front surface of the warp, andsecures it in its position by means of flat wands. He then reproduces the sketchon the warp by marking with a black crayon the part of the thread which cor-responds with the dark parts of the tracing, so that in fact the design on the warponly the reunion of the black outlines, each in its place. This process, which iseffected part by part, in order that it may not get effaced, is indispensable to thoproper execution of the work.

After these preliminary operations, the artist begins to copy with the worstedand silks which he has prepared, the model, which is placed behind him to hisright, at the distanco of about half a metre. In this position he has only to turnhis head, whilst if it hung before him the picture would interfere with hislight. There would be also this disadvantage in placing himself in front of thetapestry, that he would be obliged to cut the worsted or silk as soon ns he haddone with it, which would increase his labor considerably, and diminish thesolidity of his work. By working on the wrong side, all the dofects of the weftand the warp are drawn that way, and a smooth and delicate surface obtainedon the face of the tapestry.

After passing his left hand through the space mndo between the threads ofthe warp by moans of the heddle or cross stick, and making it wider by drawingtowards him the quantity of threads that is necessary, the artist passes throughthem, from left to right, the worsted with which he is working, and whenhe has stretched it, he piles it with the point of the needle, then draw-ing back the needle in a contrary direction, he passes the worsted through the ,space left in their turn by the front threads of the warp when abandoned to them-selves, whilst those at the back are brought forward. The backward and forwardmovement is called woofing. It requires two of these woofs to form the mesh.One of these weft threads is generally longer than the other.

It is owing to this ingenious combination of the woofs that the artist is enabledto pass with facility from dark to light colors, and to shade his picture with suchnicety that it requires the most practised eye to discover where a color or a tintcommences. It requires long practice, howover, before he can find his waythrough such a multitude of reels and learn to design correctly with worsted onthe movable threads. He has to imitate with this material the soft appearanceof velvet, the glossy surface of silk, the firmness and hardness of metals, and thebrilliancy and transparency of natural tints.

The principal tools or instruments used by the high loom weaver are thebroche or needle, and the comb. The former is generally made of ash, and is fromeighteen to twenty centimetres in length. Its head is round, and it terminates ina blunt point. The body is hollowed out in order to contain the worsted or silk.

The comb is made of ivory. It is made somewhat like an iron wedge for

splitting wood. Its length is from fifteen to sixteen centimetres, its width at the

top from five to six, and at the bottom from four to five. The bevelled end is

187