An American-made tapestryafter the style of those of the medieval period. The conventional designs are preserved, but the figures are drawn ia 
correct proportions and the background is in proper perspective. It is constructed with as neat craftsmanship as any of the antiques show 
Tapestries of To-day 
BY R. V. Goodhue 
Photographs by Peter A. Jnley 
T here is one great sacrifice 
made to the advancement of 
civilization, and that is the art of 
the handicraftsman. The individual 
must give place to the hundred¬ 
handed, fatigueless, rapid working 
machine that supplies those impera¬ 
tive demands of our present existence 
—quantity and speed. But this is not 
so with all arts. Where wealth is in¬ 
clined toward art and beauty the 
hand-worker still flourishes. Perhaps 
this is one of the economic services 
of the best type of rich man. 
Tapestry weaving offers a striking 
example of this, for within late years 
there has been a slow but sure growth 
in the manufacture of articles of this 
kind. If you care to delve among 
musty records you will find that the 
art of tapestry making is placed back 
in the earliest civilization ; that when 
our ancestors began to build and make 
for their comfort, they discovered the 
simple mechanics of basket weaving, 
and from this grew weaving in cloth. 
When they wrought in fabrics they 
made tapestries, first for use, then for 
decorations. Wherever the tastes for 
art developed, and it was encouraged 
by the wealthy, then tapestry appeared. 
Egypt, Greece, Rome, Phoenicia, and 
A portiere and an upholstered chair that are good 
examples of the artistic results obtained by work¬ 
men to-day 
the great Oriental nations all devel¬ 
oped the art in their golden years. 
To-day we find it again coming for¬ 
ward. for now we have a class that is 
able to encourage work of such ex¬ 
pense. Not that it requires great 
wealth to indulge an appreciation of 
these works, but it certainly needs a 
competence not only to purchase them 
but to show them properly. Since the 
really good work costs in the neigh¬ 
borhood of $100 a square yard, it re¬ 
quires a good income to afford them. 
A glance at what tapestry really is 
will enable us to appreciate its worth. 
Tapestry is really a combination of 
weaving and embroidery. It is not 
true weaving, because in this craft 
the weft or cross-going threads are 
thrown entirely across the width of 
the fabric; besides, the threads may 
be indefinitely long. Tapestry has 
its warp (the longitudinal threads), 
as has real weaving, but the weft con¬ 
sists of a great number of short 
threads twisted in and out, making 
each detail of the pattern, and only 
long enough to make the special color 
wanted in a particular part of the tap¬ 
estry. Then in embroidery w’e have 
an interweaving of threads on an al¬ 
ready created and dift'erent fabric; in 
(15) 
