Examples of household taste (1875) (14759510446)

Identifier: examplesofhouseh00smit (find matches)
Title: Examples of household taste
Year: 1875 (1870s)
Authors: Smith, Walter, 1836-1886 Smith, Walter, 1836-1886. Industrial art of the International Exhibition
Subjects: Centennial Exhibition (1876 : Philadelphia, Pa.) Decorative arts
Publisher: New York, R. Worthington
Contributing Library: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Library



Text Appearing Before Image:
Table - Cover: Turkish Court. When the famous factories of France were established, the carpets madefor royalty vied with the tapestries in magnificence of design and artisticexecution. The styles then in vogue have remained favorites in Europe eversince. Nor have they ever been surpassed, anywhere, in brilliancy of color anddelicacy of finish. Hence we commonly see throughout Europe, in the finergrades of carpet, a design combining exquisite imitations of natural flowers,disposed in garlands and scrolls, with vases and shell forms, such as wereaffected by ornamentists of the Louis Quartorze period. Or, again, we seethose arabesque designs with all sorts of natural objects grafted on a centralstalk like the stem of a candelabrum. These objects are shaded and roundedand brought into relief with all the skill possible. In short, the suggestion offlatness is avoided as much as possible. Conceding the intrinsic beauty of these 398 THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1876.
Text Appearing After Image:
Screen—Aubusson Tapestry : French Court, INDUSTRIAL ART 399 designs, the question remains, Are they excellent, even in an artistic sense, ascarpet designs ? In old times when, as we have seen, carpets were morelooked at than used, designs of flowers, or birds or beasts, or even pictorialrepresentations were not out of place; but all that is changed now: carpetsare made for use, to be walked over, and to be partly covered and concealedby articles of furniture. The eye looks down upon a carpet, not across hori-zontally, as a tapestry or curtain, and it is never more than from four to sixfeet above it; therefore all these considerations should be regarded in devisingcarpet designs. First of all they should be flat, because the surface on which