FRENCH GARDENS: LATER 17TH AND i8th CENTURIES 125 



treillage began to form a distinct and separate part of garden craft. Its 

 execution was entrusted to workmen who made it their sole occupation 

 and assumed the title of treillageurs, working under architects, or from their 

 own designs, until in 1769 the^ were united to the Corps des Menuisiers. 

 The use of treillage became very popular. It was a material particularly 

 suited to the period when gardens often had to be designed and carried 

 out within the space of a 

 few months, and gave a 

 finished effect long before 

 the tree backgrounds had 

 time to grow up. It was and 

 is still especially used in town 

 gardens, and often provides a 

 most effective covering to an 

 unsightly wall. Summer- 

 houses, salons, gateways, gal- 

 leries, and indeed any archi- 

 tectural feature could be easily 

 imitated in treillage, and from 

 its lightness of construction and 

 cheapness it is often more 

 suitable than solid stone or 

 stucco. 



The Parterres of Le 

 Notre's gardens are lighter 

 and more refined than those 

 of the previous century, animal 

 forms being omitted and an 

 attempt made to imitate 

 embroidery patterns. Parterres were divided into four kinds : — Parterres 

 de broderie, in which the box lines imitated embroidery, — these were con- 

 sidered the finest ; Parterres de Compartiment, which consisted of a com- 

 bination of scrolls, grass plots, knots, and borders for flowers ; Parterres a 

 Vanglaise, consisting of grass plots all in one piece or cut into shapes, and 

 surrounded by a border of flowers ; this was considered the most un- 

 attractive kind of parterre ; Parterres de Pieces coupees, differing from the 



LE MOULINET, BY WATTEAU. 



