REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1909. 17 



tions. There is a revival of the art crafts; renewed interest in the 

 study of design ; and woven fabrics, baskets, pottery, and works in 

 metal are being given place with jjaintings and sculpture in current 

 exhibitions. America has become a great manufacturing nation; 

 her industries are one of her principal sources of wealth and are des- 

 tined to steadily increase in importance. At the present time only 

 in matter of design does American china, American figured silk and 

 like products rank lower than those of France, which in this field 

 has so long held supremacy. It is partly with the purpose of remedy- 

 ing this shortcoming that collections of exemplary craftsmanship are 

 being exhibited by educational institutions, and that the early estab- 

 lishment of an industrial art museiun is being strongly advocated. 

 In the early eighteenth century Bishop Berkeley is quoted as having 

 said, ' How could France and Flanders have drawn so much monev 

 from other countries for figured silk, lace, and tapestry if they had 

 not had their academies of design ? ' And, he might well have added, 

 such fine examples to follow. All considered, therefore, it is not, 

 perhaps, to be lamented that lack of space made it necessary to 

 exhibit in the same hall in which are set forth the paintings and 

 sculpture included in the National Gallery collection the textiles, 

 laces, jewelry, fans, and enamels generously lent and admirably set 

 forth by Mrs. Pinchot and her aids. 



" Much might well be written of each of the several features of this 

 industrial art loan exhibit, but special attention must be called to 

 the collection of laces, which is particularly complete and peculiarly 

 notable, ranking, indeed, only second, it is said, to the collections 

 owned by the Metropolitan Museum of New York and the Museum 

 of Fine Arts of Boston, which are among the finest in the world. 

 To fully appreciate this collection and comprehend its worth one 

 must of necessity be a student of laces or a connoisseur, for it is 

 not alone the charm of the several specimens but their rare quality 

 which commends them. It is true that every kind of known lace is 

 by no means included in the collection, but all the principal kinds 

 are, so that the history of lace-making from the earliest time to 

 the present is admirably illustrated. 



" Iif this collection, for example, are found specimens of the cut 

 and drawn work from which real lace is descended. There is a piece 

 of uncommonly interesting old Spanish drawn work lent by Mrs. 

 W. A. Slater which shows precisely how the stitches w^ere counted 

 off and the pattern worked in, somewhat after the manner of elabo- 

 rate darning, and yet, at the same time, in the spirit of embroiderj^ 

 Human beings, birds, harps, and altars are part of its quaint device, 

 wrought with archaic simplicity and childish convention. There 

 is also a beautiful specimen of old English church lace, lent by Mrs. 



