April, 1 9 10 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



143 



which holds them well in place. When the warp has been 

 laid out, the weaver passes a one-inch glass tube between 

 the threads so as to separate the uneven-numbered threads 

 on the outside and the even threads on the inside. The 

 rod is placed about two feet above the working point. I'o 

 carry out the weaving process, the weaver takes his place 

 at the back of the loom, with the original design in colors 

 placed behind him. He repeats the design by making a 

 tracing in ink upon the threads of the warp, but this is only 

 to give him the principal points of the design, and the 

 weaver must be a veritable artist in order to copy faithfully 

 the painted cartoon upon the canvas. He is provided with 

 a great number of spools or shuttles, each containing a dif- 

 ferent colored thread. As the work progresses, the finished 

 part of the tapestry is rolled upon the lower cylinder. 



In the pierc- 

 i n g room 

 where the 

 weaves are 



C^lSfefc'sjsiii/ J^B prepared for 

 •inishing o r 

 repair, one 



Then he added one-tenth of black, so as to darken each of 

 the colors, and placed the latter shades in a second circle. 

 Adding two-tenths of black gave a third circle, and so on 

 down to nine-tenths of black. He thus had 720 color ele- 

 ments. Then each element was divided into twenty tones 

 ranging from light to dark, giving in all 14,400 color divi- 

 sions. Adding to these twenty tones for the gray, he had a 

 total of 14,420 shades. The dyeing establishment was re- 

 organized in 1890, and the formulae and processes for the 

 different colors were kept recorded in a special register, 

 along with samples of the wool or silk. In former times 

 the silk which came from the Lyons factories was dyed in 

 those establishments, but later on it was dyed in the silk as 

 well as the wool at the Gobelin works. In the register are 

 kept an account of the laboratory experiments and of all 

 the manipulations. In the storehouses are kept a 

 large number of spools of dyed threads, and three divi- 

 sions are used for the storehouses, the detail supply, 

 the general stock, and the old or disused stock. When 

 the design of the tapestry has been chosen, the choice 

 of the colored threads is commenced in the detail room, and 

 here are arranged a series of spools which has been already 



used for other tapestries and 

 holds part of their thread. 

 In this stock are kept some 

 34,500 spools of colored 

 wools and 5,600 of silks, 

 but some of these are dupli- 

 cates. If the desired color is 

 not found among the spools, 

 the second stock is resorted 

 to. In it the colors are kept 



Weaving three pieces of tapestry on the same loom 



of our engravings 

 shows two weav- 

 ers working side 

 by side upon 

 the same loom 

 upon different 



pieces of tapestry. 

 In weaving the 

 larger pieces the 

 worker is almost 

 entirely concealed 

 from view. 



In all the tapestry of the ancient period the warp con- 

 sists of woolen threads, and this seems to be the best, for 

 other kinds of thread have been tried without much suc- 

 cess. Cotton thread was substituted in 1850 for the wool, 

 as it was claimed to be cheaper and less liable to attack by 

 insects, but in 1890 the use of wool was resumed, as the 

 advantages claimed for cotton were not substantiated in 

 practice, and the economy was very small. Silk has also 

 been used, but without any advantage. 



The dyeing of the threads is one of the most important 

 operations, and this has always been carried out under the 

 direction of a chief dyer who stood at the head of his pro- 

 fession. As told above, the water of the Bievre was said 

 to have a special efficacy in dyeing, but chemical analysis 

 showed this to be a fallacy, and as far back as the last cen- 

 tury the Seine water was used, as the water of the Bievre 

 became fouled by the different factories along its course. In 

 1665 one of the famous master-dyers was Van Kerchoven, 

 and the secrets of the trade were handed down in this 

 family from father to son for nearly a century. After that 

 came other dyers, who were not as successful. The fam- 

 ous chemist Chevreul took charge of the dyeing factory in 

 1824, and was the first to establish a standard system of 

 color-shades. This he carried out by making a disk or 

 circle containing seventy-two principal colors in a series. 



The dye vats where the wool or silk is colored. 



in the dark and are classed according to Chevreul's system. 

 The stock contains about 11,000 shades of wool and 7,500 

 of silk which come directly from the dye shop, and in this 

 case there are no duplicates. Should this desired color not 

 be found in any of the stocks, the color is dyed upon the 

 wool according to a given sample, and an excess of the 

 thread is provided, so as to leave a part for the store- 

 house. One of the illustrations herewith shows the rcntral- 

 tiire or piercing-room, which is one of the important parts 

 of the factory. Here are filled up the gaps which are left 

 in a new piece when several weavers work upon it at the 

 same time, or else the borders, which have been woven sep- 

 arately, are added to a tapestry. Repairs to old pieces of 

 tapestry are numerous, seeing that many of them date from 

 an ancient period and have suffered more or less damage. 

 All this work requires great skill. To repair an old piece, 



