FRENCH GARDENS: LATER 17TH AND i8th CENTURIES 123 



The art of treillage was considerably developed towards the end of the 

 seventeenth century, and Perelle's engravings of Clagny (illus., p. 137) and 

 the Trianon de Porcelaine show the finest examples. The idea was handed down 

 from classic times, but 



the French intro- 

 duced an elabora- 

 tion and refinement 

 that transformed the 

 rude carpentry of 

 classic and mediaeval 

 days into an import- 

 ant element of garden 

 architecture. We can 

 only translate treillage 

 into English as trellis- 

 work ; this, however, 

 does not suggest the 

 same meaning to our 

 minds as the French 

 word, because it does 

 not presuppose the 

 existence of design of 

 an architectural char- 

 acter. 



The best account 

 of eighteenth-century 

 treillage in France is 

 contained in Roubo's 

 rare work V Art du 

 Treillageur, which ap- 

 peared in Paris in 1 775 . 

 " The Art of Treil- 

 lage," says Roubo, "is one of the most modern, and its perfection, like that of 

 jardinage, is due to the French. Like many another art it was simple in its 

 origin and limited to utilitarian purposes, such as a support to the treillis 

 or tendrils of the vine — whence its name." At first it was only used to train 



A TREILLAGE DESIGN BY LE PAUTRE. 



