730
SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT ON DESIGN.
[Class XXX.
tints interfere with these inherent qualities of the ma-terial.
A hanging exhibited by Messrs. Mathevon and Bon-vard (France , 1349, p. 1240), decorated with bunches offlowers, on an ash-coloured lilac ground, displays greatability in the designer, combined with thorough knowledgeof the powers of the loom, and it has been executed withequal skill by the weaver; it is, indeed, a choice exampleof the style; yet its lustre and beauty, and fitness as ahanging or curtain, are not commensurate with the cost-liness of its production, and it cannot compete for apparentrichness of material with a plain mulberry-coloured hang-ing, ornamented flatly in satin and tabby, that hangsbeside it. Had these dowers been treated flatly, arrangedgeometrically, and coloured in simple tints, they wouldnot have been so artistic, but they would have been farmore truly ornamental, and more suitable for hangings.
There are some well-designed fabrics among the Prus-sian silks, exhibited by G. Gabain (Zollv. (1), 119,p. 1055), consisting of an heraldic treatment of thePrussian eagle, on a red ground, with the ornament ingold. The silk hangings of the Austrian bed are likewisein good taste. With these must be named the hangingsof the Mediaeval Court, and those in mixed materials,executed for the Duke of Devonshire by Messrs. Rey-nolds, of Dublin (Class XII. and XV., 266, p. 498, 499),consisting of lleur-de-lys and shamrock, in silver, on asubdued crimson ground, or in gold-coloured silk, on awatchet ground. The hangings decorated with ornamentsfrom the Alhambra , exhibited by A. Destrieux and Co.(France , 164, p. 1181), are in good taste and on goodprinciples, as are also some in mixed fabrics, in the samestyle, by Akroyd and Co., of Halifax (Class XII. andXV., 130, p. 491).
The natural treatment of flowers as the ornament oftextile fabrics is nowdiere seen to greater disadvantagethan in the rich altar-cloths in gold brocade exhibited byFrench, Austrian, and Russian manufacturers. Thecoloured and shaded dowers instantly vulgarise and givea commonness to this essentially rich material; whilediapers of colour, or a different texture produced byweaving, or silver threads woven with the gold, as insome of the Russian fabrics, have a rich and true effect.
The consideration of chintzes comes under the head ofhangings: and upon these fabrics it is quite necessary tomake a few remarks, since their decoration seems atpresent to be of the most extravagant kind. Overlookingthe fact that the lightness and thinness of the materialwill not carry a heavy treatment, and that, in addition toall the principles which have been shown to regulatedesigns for hangings, the use of imitative floral ornamentis peculiarly unsuitable on account of the folds, the taste isto cover the surface almost entirely with large and coarseflowers—dahlias, hollyhocks, roses, hydrangeas—or otherswhich give scope for strong and vivid colouring, andwhich are often magnified by the designer much beyondthe scale of nature. These are not only arranged inlarge groups, but often cover the whole surface, in themanner of a rich brocade. Nothing can be more erro-neous, or more essentially vulgar, as would at once beevident did not fashion blind us for a time, and a feelingfor costly labour and difficult execution prevail overtruth and good taste.
Moreover, it is scarcely possible in such distributionsof colours, whether arranged or woven, to arrange themaccording to just or scientific laws; for although this isattainable when colour is in simple flat tints, and subor-dinated to geometrical groupings, when the tints arebroken up and gradated into shades, and distributed withregard to flowing and naturally-dispersed forms alone,the due quantities for harmony, the juxtaposition ofcomplementary and harmonizing tints, and true balanceof parts, easy in any simple or symmetrical arrangement,becomes difficult or impossible. The present mode ofornamenting these fabrics seems to have arisen from thefalse spirit of imitation -a desire to rival the richness ofsilk; but it is overlooked that the texture, naturallylight, requires lightness and elegance of forai and colour;that, as a summer fabric, richness and fulness of hue, astending rather to a sense of warmth, is out of place, and
that, on the contrary, fresh and cool light grounds, withflat ornamental forms, either “all over” or in “up anddown” bands, or diapers of floral ornament, on a simpletexural ground, are the true principles for the decorationof chintzes.
Before completing this Report on furniture, it is neces-sary to say a few words on muslin curtains, of whichthere is a large display in the Exhibition. These fabricsshould, of course, have a perfectly flat treatment, whetherpurely ornamental forms or flowers are used for theirdecoration. The best effect for borders is obtained by asymmetrical arrangement of flowing lines, which may helarge in pattern, from the lightness of the material; whilea diaper treatment, or small sprigs arranged with large andregular spaces over the central field, are the simple rulesfor their decoration. It would seem hardly possible to errmuch in designing for a fabric which admits of such smallvariation, the contrast of the thick work with the morefilmy ground being the source of the ornamental form, andcolour being rarely used; yet, perhaps, iu the whole Ex-hibition, there are not more glaring mistakes than aremade in the decoration of these goods. In the Swissmuslins, the effort seems to have been directed rather tocurious skill in workmanship than to taste in design, andsome of the most costly goods are in the worst conceivabletaste—immense cornucopias, pouring out fruits and flowers,palm-trees, and even buildings and landscapes being usedas ornament. Even when this only consists of flowers,they are used imitativcly and perspectively, foldings ofthe leaves, and in some cases the actual relief of fruits,being attempted. Although the same faults occur in theEnglish manufactures, these, on the whole, slightly inclineto better taste, especially in some of the woven curtainsfrom Nottingham, and in the fabrics exhibited by theUtrecht Company (Class XIX., 265, p. 570), hut thereis a sad want of good design in this class.
Except that curtains allow of an “ up and down” treat-ment, which table-cloths do not, most of the same rulesapply to damask table-linen as to white muslin curtains.The ornament of damask linen arising, as it does, merelyfrom the gloss obtained by various distributions of thewarp and woof in weaving, ought to be extremely simplein form ; yet even in these goods we find buildings, land-scapes, vases, baskets, fruits in relief, and flowers perspec-tively treated as the details of decoration,while one designerhas copied a centre-piece of precious metal, the propertyof H.R.II. Prince Albert , in the table-cloth upon whichit is meant to be placed. These faults are present, notonly in the Irish linens, hut in those of France andSaxony also. There is a good design, in the GermanGothic style, applied to a cloth exhibited by D. Birrell(Class XIV., 27, p. 511), and some well-considered adap-tations of Greek ornament in the borders of some damasksby A. H. C. Westermax and Sons, of Westphalia (1 Zollv.,544, p. 1081) ; but the general manufacture of such goodswants serious revision. A border of flat ornament,consisting of flowing lines or flat floral treatment, carefullystudied as to the distribution of quantities; a diapergeometrically arranged over the inner field, either offloral or ornamental forms, with a judicious interspace (thediaper being rather dispersed than crowded), and a centralform, give the best general distribution for the surface oftable-linen. Proper attention should be paid, in designingthe border, to the quantity allowed for turning downover the edge of the table; and care should be taken,when heraldry and heraldic devices are introduced, thatthey should be strictly flat. Landscapes, solid and shadedforms, perspectives, and architectural relief ornament,should be carefully avoided. Although the principleswhich govern the decoration of these fabrics appear to besimple and self-evident, there are few manufactures wherea greater amount of error prevails, the nearest approachto purity of style being floral treatments, iniitutivelyrendered.
In concluding our remarks on the design of this section,it is worth calling attention to the different relativeimportance, in an ornamental point of view, of the variousarticles which are comprised under the head of the furni-ture of an apartment. These are the work of variousmanufacturers, each endeavouring to give the greatest