Excerpt: ...of the period. It had from the beginning an immense popularity and was copied many times. Even now it is a favourite subject for those whose perverted taste leads them into the dubious art of copying tapestry in paints on cloth. The serious accusation against this set, which in composition seems much like the tableaux in grand opera, is that it invades the art of painting. And that is the Pg 132 fault of woven art at that period. The decline in tapestry in Paris began when both weavers and painters struggled for ...
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Excerpt: ...of the period. It had from the beginning an immense popularity and was copied many times. Even now it is a favourite subject for those whose perverted taste leads them into the dubious art of copying tapestry in paints on cloth. The serious accusation against this set, which in composition seems much like the tableaux in grand opera, is that it invades the art of painting. And that is the Pg 132 fault of woven art at that period. The decline in tapestry in Paris began when both weavers and painters struggled for the same results, the weavers quite forgetting the strength and beauty that were peculiar to their art alone. This fault cannot be laid to the weavers only, who numbered such men as Neilson the able Scot, and Cozette, who, with wondrous touch, wove the set of Don Quixote; nor were the artists at fault, for they included such men as Audran and Boucher. No, it was the director who blighted and subverted talent, and the vitiated public taste that shifted restlessly and demanded novelty. The novelty that came in large hangings was a suppressing of the delicate subjects that delight the imagination by their playful grace, their association of human life with all that is gaily exquisite. The mode was for leaving the land of idealised mythology, for discarding the flowers, the scrolls, the happy loves and charming crew that lived among them, and for plunging into Roman history, real and ugly, enwrapped in drapings too full, cumbered with forced accessory, or into such mythology as is represented in Cupid and Psyche. (Plate facing page 132 .) The History of Esther illustrates the loss of imagination sustained by the border which had come to be a mere woven imitation, in shades of brown and yellow, of a carved and gilded, wooden frame. At the close of the reign of Louis XV, borders were frankly abandoned altogether. Compare this state of things with the days when Audran and Coypel were producing the sets of The Pg 133 Seasons, The Months, and Don...
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Seller's Description:
Good. No Jacket. Hardback, no dust-wrapper. 275pp. 4 colour plates and 99 illustrations in black and white. 1935 reprint. Boards somewhat marked. Previous owner's bookplate to front pastedown. A decent copy. (bs122)
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Seller's Description:
Very good. No dust jacket. light toning to the spine, mild general uniform toning throughout, 1935, near fine. xvi p., 1 L., 275 p. col. front. illus., plates (part col.; 1 fold. ) 25 cm. Includes: Illustrations, Plates. First published 1912; reprinted 1935.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. No dust jacket. Unmarked. Near fine. Some reading wear. xvi p., 1., 275 p. col. front.; 4 color plates, 99 b/w; 1 fold. 25 cm. Most of the plates printed on both sides.
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Seller's Description:
Used-Very Good. Tudor Publishing Company, New York, reprinted, 1935. 275 pages. With four plates in colour and ninety-nine illustrations in black-and-white. 9.5 x 6.5", hardcover, no dj. No dj, owner bookplate, clean, tight, VG/none.
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Seller's Description:
Good. Hardcover; 1935 reprint of a 1912 copyright, with four plates in color and 99 illustrations in black and white; illustrated color cover; deckled page edges; fading and edge wear to exterior; in good condition with clean text, firm binding. Dust jacket shows scuffing, soiling, and edge tears.
