The Garden Magazine, October, 1923 
89 
FOR THE 
SUN-PORCH 
Brilliant in color and 
tropical in effect is this 
“Indian River” pat¬ 
tern thus aptly named 
by Mr. Harry Wearne, 
its designer. Butter¬ 
flies, parrots, hanging 
moss, and a general air 
of gayety make this 
handblocked linen a 
persuasive antidote to 
the gray days of winter 
ahead 
she furnished to his fancy and fingers rather than with the single-hearted homage 
of the Celestial who took fewer liberties when recording the ways of his mistress. 
Into the company of such time-honored motifs as the Rose, Lily, Narcissus, 
Peony, Iris, Chrysanthemum, Ivy, and Plum, Turkish and Persian designers 
ushered a few personal favorites. The Hyacinth, for example, recurs repeatedly 
in combination with either the Carnation or the Fritillary on the brocades and 
rugs of Asia Minor; the Cornflower, too, plays a considerable part and occasionally 
the Convolvulus gives evidence of its graceful adaptability. 
O F EUROPEAN countries Spain was the first to take up the cultivation and 
manufacture of silk—introduced by the conquest by the Saracens at the be¬ 
ginning of the 8th century—becoming steadily more proficient in this art until by 
the 12th century she had in Cordova a great centre of industry. The Spanish 
seem not to have been very serious students of nature at first-hand, nor were the 
Italians who carried forward in preeminent degree the art of weaving during the 
latter years of the Middle Ages and throughout the Renaissance. 
A certain sedateness typifies the Italian designs of this period, strange in a people 
born under passionate skies, due perhaps to the inhibitory spirit of early Catholicism 
or possibly because—as that dean of British gardeners, William Robinson, has re¬ 
cently remarked (see August Garden Magazine, page 393) —they are by inclination 
a race of builders rather than a gardening folk, and so their natural flair is primarily 
for form and only secondarily for color. The serene Anthemion or 1 loneysuckle, 
prime motif of classic days, makes its reappearance and by contrast with the free 
naturalism of the Orient strikes a note of distinct severity. All the motifs of the 
Italians of this era- the Pomegranate, the Pine, the Palm, the Wheat, and even the 
birds so frequently used—seem imbued with an inflexibility in strong contrast to 
BATIK CUR I AIN 
Having as its motif the 
tropical tree, Grias 
cauliflora; an interest¬ 
ing and unusual design 
made at Kartabo, 
British Guiana, by 
Miss Anna Heyward 
Taylor. (Courtesy of 
American Museum of 
Natural History) 
TABLE SCARFS 
Floral patterns in soft 
rich rose, yellow, blue, 
green, etc. on ground 
of cream linen; de¬ 
signed and woven by 
Mrs. Elizabeth Fisk, 
Fisk, Vermont, winner 
of the Rosenwald Prize 
at Chicago in 1918 and 
in IQ19 of the Frank 
G. Logan Prize 
