Class XXX.]

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT OX DESIGN.

745

lcnce is heightened rather than diminished by such a !treatment of the ornament as contrasts with the general ;ground without covering it too much (see G F, fig. 4);when the grouud, therefore, is entirely covered, as inthese imitations, this appeal to the eye is lost, and, how-ever suitable such patterns may be for the poorer classes,they take from the true beauty of the fabric. The ]contrary is the case with woollens; the material does not 'admit either of the same easy purifying, nor has it the ;same native whiteness; the whole grouud, therefore, maybe coloured, or where its native hue is retained it mustbe more largely covered with the pattern. Thus fig. 2(p. 1069) is a pattern of a de-laine manufactured byDolfus Meig and Co., (1191, p. 123 4) and show’s notonly a proper flatness of treatment, but an agreeablequantity and a due amount of the surface covered bythe ornament, and is therefore suitable for such goods.

The consideration of texture and surface is necessaryin the application of design to other fabrics as well ascotton, and to other means besides planting; thus colour,■which has such effect on printed woollen goods, andshows with such richness aud fulness in the absorbentmaterial of de-laines and flannels, where it may be used 1broken over nearly the whole surface, is apt to destroymore valuable qualities when applied in varied tints to ;the decoration of silk, and should be used more sparingly !on this material either in woven or printed patterns, ,leaving large spaces of the ground untouched, so muchof the true beauty of silk residing in its lustrousness andthe textural beauty of its surface. Of course this remarkdoes not refer to self-coloured silks or to figured brocadesin a self-colour, where the greatest brilliancy of colourdoes not interfere with the textural beauty, but only toweaving or printing patterns, consisting of many colours,too largely over the surface; the fact is, that a variety ofcolours tends to vulgarize both cotton, woollen, and silkfabrics, and, although least objectionable in woollengoods, they want an attention to laws of harmony whicheither has not been given them, or is not easily attainableby those hues which chemistry lias placed at the commandof the manufacturer as comprising durability among theirother qualities.

The proper treatment of texture has other considerationsas respects the ornamentation of garment fabrics whichmay find a place here, although a little irrelevant to thepresent matter: graceful and elegant foldings are veryimportant in all goods intended for personal wear, andmany of the most beautiful qualities of materials arebrought out by the interchange of light and reflectionplaying over their surface on the motion of the wearer ;it is important, therefore, that no mode of decorationshould be adopted to destroy this quality, even irre-spective of the sacrifice of proper utility which takesplace in all works so overcharged with decoration or stifffrom embroidery as to impede ease of movement andfreedom of action in the wearer: the full lustre of silkmore especially is dependent upon the folding, and everyfabric is more or less influenced by the same cause.When gold or silver threads are introduced in theweaving, stiffness must result from it, and the skill ofthe designer should be so exercised as to give the greatesteffect from the least possible use of such materials. Thishas been particularly understood in the Indian tissues,which exhibit the best effects under folding in a remark-able degree, while the opposite error was noticeable inmany costly priests’ robes exhibited in the North-EastGallery, so stiffened with gold and covered with raisedembroidery that the wearer must be encased in them asin a suit of armour; the whole were not only vulgarizedby excess, but were perfectly unsuited for use, and forthe best display of those ornamental qualities sought for.The priests’ dresses exhibited in the Mediaeval collectionhad not this error; they were soft and flexible as thetissues of India , yet rich withal and fully decorated,suitable for use, and adapted to give the best effect inthat use.

The restrained use of means has often been before ad-verted to, nor is it unnecessary to recur to it in this sectionalso ; under the old and simple methods of cotton printing, jwhen the resources were few and the means limited, the :

style was in some respects better than at present obtains.Thus block-printing by hand required flat forms and flattints diapered regularly over the surface, and somesimple flower or leaf so used had a pleasing and justeffect, of which Peel’s well-known parsley-leaf may serveas an instance. It will at once be seen that these quali-ties are herein advocated as principles , to be filled up andenriched by more modern resources, yet as ascertainedtruths not to be departed from. In the place, however, ofthe former limited means.priming from metal cylinders hasput at the command of the designer all those powers ofmore perfect imitation enjoyed by the engraver, and,instead of using them as they should be used, consistentlywith the requirements of manufacture and the principlesof ornamental art, they are wasted on the imitation offlowers, foliage, and accidents of growth, quite out ofornamental character and opposed to just principles.

Having thus remarked upon the principal excellencesand defects of design in this section, it is felt that thedifficulties before stated, arising from the varied prin-ciples adopted by one and the same manufacturer, thelarge number of the works exhibited, and the impossi-bility of referring to any particular work alluded to,almost entirely preclude any comment upon individualworks. Generally, however, it may be stated that thereis less dereliction from true ornamental art in woven thanin printed goods, the powers of the weaving process beingmore limited than those of the printing process, so thatvaried tints and complicated forms fortunately presentgreater difficulties in production in the former than inthe latter case. Thus, whilst the skill of the designer,and, irrespective of principles, the taste of the printedsilks of F. Choql’eel (1148, p. 1233), must be admired,a comparison with woven silks of much simpler patternwould certainly result in the favour of weaving. Of thissome of the silks exhibited by Campbell and Co. (ClassesXII. and XV., 201, pp. 495-96), are examples, as well as theIrish poplins of Reynolds and Co. (Classes XII. and XV.,266, p. 498), and Atkinson and Co. (Classes XII. and XV.,256, p. 498). In these latter goods there is evidence ofmuch taste, and a greater adherence to the principlesherein laid down than in almost any other fabrics exceptthe Indian. The mixed materials of Bradford and Hud-dersfield, and some of those of the same kind exhibitedin the Zollverein by Messrs. Hermann and Co. (1 Zollv.,580, p. 1082), are also very satisfactory where those manu-factures are not too attemptive; they bear the addition ofcrude colours ill, and the low tone and quiet contrast ofsuch goods are greatly in their favour. Silk, as has beenbefore stated, is so rich a material in itself, that colour ishardly needed, and where used it should be with greatcaution; the silk which forms the pattern on wovenmixed fabrics is in itself a bright contrast to the moreabsorbent woollen ground, and should not be forced intoopposition by bright colour; and in all cases the chanceof error is diminished by abstaining from colour inpattern rather than the contrary: that crude colour ismost dangerous in silk goods is shown in the very feelingthat prompts to moderate it in chine silk, wherein thepattern is blurred and made more undefined by the processof dyeing to get rid of the crudeness that must be causedby printing in colour on the finished material, and whichwould almost reduce silk to the grade of glazed cotton orchintz.

Shawls.

Tn the section of garment fabrics, design as applied toshawls has been reserved for a separate head; not somuch from the importance of the manufacture, althougheven for this reason it would call for careful considera-tion, as that it leads to the examination of the prin-ciples on which these fabrics were decorated in thecountries from which this article of dress has been de-rived to us.

The exhibited “designs” come first under notice:these are almost exclusively by French designers. Thebeauty, excellence, and costliness of the shawls importedinto Europe from the East have united the Cashmere pattern so intimately with these fabrics in the publicmind, that it has become almost a fixed idea connected