248 



DECORATIVE ART 



AMERICA. 



particular use of color is American, and finds 

 expression in numerous decorative features. 



Embroidery. Embroidery in this country has 

 taken a high place in decoration, and assumed 

 certain well-established characteristics. Some 

 of the pieces equal anything that has descended 

 to us from the past. American work is exe- 

 cuted in a much finer manner than that in 

 England, where decorative embroidery is now 

 so prominent a feature. The stitches fall into 

 no category, but are used only with a view to 

 effect. A conspicuous example is seen in a 

 curtain that was made by Mr. John Lafarge 

 for Cornelius Vanderbilt. This is a reproduc- 

 tion of the cartoons of Raphael, relating the 

 adventures of ^Eneas in Carthage, a series of 

 decorative panels in solid embroidery, set about 

 a cloth-of-gold center. That which gives the 

 curtain its distinguishing mark is the toning 

 of the gold center into harmony with the em- 

 broidered border. This is done by broken lines 

 of colored silks, introducing the tints of the 

 embroidery, through which the sheen of the 

 metal appears, until the color seems not so 

 much a part of the work as to float in changing 

 hues above it. 



A series of tapestries produced by Mrs. T. 

 M. Wheeler are, however, the most impor- 

 tant addition to decorative embroidery in this 

 country. The method is new, and consists in 

 running the thread with the needle over the fill- 

 ing of the material known as the tapestry 

 fabric, taking up the single thread of the warp. 

 In this way the decoration becomes a part of 

 the body of the stuff, and serves the same end 

 as the Gobelins tapestries of France, which in 

 effect it most resembles. The peculiarity of 

 the stitch is, that it allows for effects before 

 obtainable only in painting with the brush. 

 So marked is this characteristic, that in some 

 of the work recently produced the resemblance 

 to Roman water color washes amounts almost 

 to deception. A series of tapestries of this 

 kind was produced for Cornelius Vanderbilt. 

 The designs were female types, drawn with 

 graceful fancy by Miss Dora Wheeler: "The 

 Spirit of the Air," "The Water-Spirit," "Psy- 

 che," "The Spirit of the Flowers," "The 

 Winged Moon." In these the body of the 

 tapestry served for the flesh tints, and the 

 modeling draperies and other accessories were 

 wrought by the needle. 



Recent work has carried the artistic spirit 

 much further. Two remarkable pieces are an 

 adaptation of the "Vestals" by Jules Leroux, 

 and a copy of "Titian's Daughter" finely re- 

 producing the delicate modeling of the face, 

 and the superb texture of the drapery. A 

 more significant advance is in the realization 

 of an artistic mood, of the sentiment of twi- 

 liffht in a draped female figure in landscape. 

 The brush could carry this no further. At the 

 same time, the use of the tapestry is preserved, 

 since it requires no framing, and may be made 

 serviceable as a curtain or wall-hanging. 



Tiles. The Low tiles have been one of the 



most important contributions to decorative art 

 yet produced in this country, and their origin 

 is a curious instance of the assertion in the be- 

 ginning of this paper as to the influence of the 

 Centennial Exposition on the art-products of 

 the United States. John G. Low, after study- 

 ing for the fine arts with Couture and Troyon, 

 turned his attention to the painting of inte- 

 riors, and finally to scene-painting, in which 

 he had much success. At the Centennial Ex- 

 position he became interested in the exhibit 

 of English tiles. Since 1840 these have been 

 made by what is known as the "dust-pro- 

 cess," the invention of Mr. Prosser, the chief 

 results of which were made known to us by 

 the Minton tiles. Successful as these were, up 

 to this time and after repeated experiments, 

 no one had been able to produce tiles in relief 

 after this process. This was the task that Mr. 

 Low undertook. The peculiarity of the Low 

 tiles is not confined to the relief, but is more 

 popularly understood to lie in the color and 

 glaze. This is a combination of extreme hard- 

 ness and brilliance of the glaze, united with 

 gradations of tint. Formerly, and in the Min- 

 ton tiles, the chief object was to secure uni- 

 form tint. The tiles were placed in seggars, 

 china is fired, and the greatest care is takei 

 to keep them level, that the color may be dis 

 tributed equally over the surface. The L< 

 tile is colored by a method exactly the re- 

 verse. The tiles are placed flat in boxes, and 

 these are separated by fire-clay rolled by the 

 hand, and inevitably of uneven thickness. The 

 boxes are placed on one another in bunks, and 

 the uneven pressure, first inclining to one side, 

 again to the other, causes the tint to flow un- 

 evenly over the surface, and results in those 

 gradations of tint that are the great charm of 

 the Low tile. 



The work has by no means ceased with these 

 results. Continued experiments have pro- 

 duced a tile molding by means of the dust-pro- 

 cess which is, perhaps, the natural outcome ot 

 the relief tile, but, until accomplished by Mr. 

 Low, was considered impossible. The produc- 

 tion of new forms has led to new uses of the 

 tile. Their recent introduction into stoves 

 may be mentioned; remodeling of base-burn- 

 ers, in which the tile moldings serve as col- 

 umns. These moldings receive also ornament 

 in relief, and are distinguished by the same 

 color-effects that we find in the tile. Experi- 

 ments in fiat, dull color, such as the potter 

 would call a smear, are now undertaken with 

 prospects of success. The plastic sketches by 

 the Low process belong rather to pictorial than 

 decorative arts, but may be mentioned as an 

 interesting art -growth of the Low processes. 

 The impetus to decorative tiles given by the 

 Low art tiles has been very great. The large 

 tile- works of Indianapolis, Zanesville, Cleve- 

 land, Pittsburg, and Brooklyn, have attempted 

 the same work with more or less success. 



Pottery. The interest in decorative pottery 

 began in Cincinnati in the independent efforts 





