46 AMERICAN HOMES AND 
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This Gothic tapestry, and the ones shown at the bottom of this and of the facing page, were originally woven for bed hangings. 
GARDENS 
February, 1912 
Se * 
» only fp” Pe eA LY: 
They are in 
the Spanish Royal Collection and measure about thirty inches by eleven feet 
those in front of them, will appreciate the attempt here 
made to present the points of difference, with illustrations 
that effectively supplement the printed story. 
First, as to what constitutes real tapestry. ‘There have 
been many poetic descriptions glorifying it with the iri- 
descent beauties of the rainbow, and the rich tones of sun- 
rise and sunset; but such descriptions are of little help in 
deciding whether a particular textile is or is not a real 
tapestry. Only a definition based on weave can do that. It 
is the weave that makes the difference. 
A real tapestry is a fabric in plain weave with warp en- 
tirely concealed by the weft, which is of uniform thickness, 
and is exactly alike on both sides, except 
for the loose threads on the back that 
mark the passage of bobbins from block 
to block of the same color. With some 
exceptions, it is also a rep fabric—that 
is to say, it has a ribbed surface—and in 
weaving open slits are left where two 
colors meet parallel with the warp. 
This sounds harder than it really is. 
If the fabric is ribbed with from seven 
to twenty-four ribs to the inch, is of 
uniform thickness and exactly alike on 
both sides, with the characteristic open 
slits, then it is a real tapestry. If the 
threads that float loose on the back are 
parallel instead of zigzag, then the fab- 
ric is not a real tapestry, but a broché 
tapestry, with body that is thicker where 
figured. The loose threads on the back 
are not a necessary criterion, for they 
can easily be clipped close, leaving the 
back exactly as if it were the face show- 
ing through. ‘This is sometimes done 
to ancient tapestries, which are then 
mounted back side out, like two of the 
famous pieces of the “Seven Sacra- 
ments”’ series of the Fifteenth Century 
tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum, 
New York, in order to show the colors, 
that have faded less on the protected 
back than on the long-exposed face side. 
Between furniture-tapestries and wall-tapestries there are 
a number of usual but not vital distinctions. The latter are 
comparatively large, with coarse horizontal ribs, and tell a 
story. The former are comparatively small, with fine ribs, 
A Gothic tapestry, 
“Starting for the Hunt,” 
four by nine and a half feet, in the famous 
Hoentschel Collection now owned by Mr. J. 
Pierpont Morgan and exhibited in the Metro- 
politan Museum of Art, New York 
either vertical or horizontal, and with designs that are pri- 
marily decorative. Of wall-tapestries, wool is the basic 
material, with gold and silver to add richness and silk to 
increase high lights. Of French furniture-tapestries silk is 
the favorite material, with wool to serve as background 
and to supply the low tones. 
The first step in learning how to buy real tapestries is to 
learn where to buy them. It is foolish to seek fine china 
in a five-cent store, and it is equally foolish to look 
for important tapestries in ordinary shops. ‘Tapestries 
are in a class by themselves, and even the furniture cover- 
ings are rather above the heads of general dealers, 
who are less able than a few archi- 
tects and decorators and connoisseurs to 
see the superiority of an Aubusson set— 
five pieces, covering sofa, two armchairs 
and two side-chairs—at $1,400, over a 
Belleville set at $950, or a Nimes set at 
$700. Most of the business in real tap- 
estries—furniture coverings, as well as 
the vastly more important wall hang- 
ings—is done through auction- rooms 
and decorative shops—not the average 
auction-room, and not the average deco- 
rative shop—yust a few that, on account 
of their high reputation for straight- 
forwardness and quality, have as regu- 
lar clients persons who can appreciate 
good things of the sort. Among im- 
portant tapestries sold at auction in 
New York city during the last few years 
were those belonging to Henry G. Mar- 
quand, Stanford White, Charles T. 
Yerkes, James A. Garland, and Henry 
W. Poor. One of these, sold at the 
Yerkes sale, a Gobelin on the subject of 
“Vulcan and Venus,” designed by Bou- 
cher and woven by Andran, brought 
$17,700. For three or four days be- 
fore such sales begin opportunity is 
given to examine the tapestries at one’s 
leisure, and the catalogues supplied are 
not intentionally inaccurate. But they are 
seldom as complete as they should be. Perhaps that is why 
the tendency is for imperfect and damaged and artistically 
inferior tapestries to sell for more than they are worth, 
while the superior examples sometimes sell for less than 
