The Art of Tapestry Painting

Although tapestry painting as an art has been known almost as long as any other branch of painting, and so one cannot speak of it as new in that sense, the Gobelins or tapestry painting, which forms the subject of this article, is an entirely recent discovery. In England has been long felt the want of something more artistic in our home decoration, something in which we could show some individual taste, and so keep our homes from the monotony of the so-called correct style of furnishing.

Goddon, an artist in Paris, some years ago invented paints which so very nearly resemble the exquisite Gobelins tapestries of France as to make it impossible to detect the difference. These paints were so largely taken up on the Continent, especially in Rome and Florence, that machinery was also invented there to weave the necessary canvas or cloth to work on. It is only very lately, though, that we have come to appreciate and use this beautiful and artistic mode of decoration. Exquisitely brilliant as the pigments are, they are yet soft, and can be painted to tone with any colour and designs in any style of furnishing.

Whole rooms, walls, and furniture have been decorated with it, and with charming effect. There are two kinds of material. A fine white canvas, or ribbed cloth, which is called French, and a very heavy brown kind which is called German. Neither material is at all expensive, according to wear or appearance, and the colours, being fast dyes and penetrating right through the material, cannot possibly fade. The paints are very inexpensive and pleasant to use, being mixed with water. It is in the using and mixing of these paints, though, that the real art is shown. It is said that every eye forms its own beauty, and certainly if the eye is not that of an artist and the fingers delicate in application they had better not attempt this work. Like most other arts, but more so than most, it is better left undone than done badly. It is practically in the colouring that the difficulty lies, and especially in the representing or copying of old tapestries.

Taking all this into consideration, it is yet an art within the reach of ladies ambitious of making their homes beautiful, and by choosing simple designs the ordinary amateur can produce far more beautiful and artistic work than in any other form of decoration.

Overmantels in this work look well and can be got up in any style required; something may be done to avoid the terrible stiffness of the eternal English mirror.

Practice and experience, of course, can alone produce the finest effects in this work, but it is amazing what beautiful things can be done in a very short time by one who knows how to use the colours and produce their wonderful effects.

It is very well adapted for the decoration of public as well as private houses. Copies of the more serious pieces designed by the old masters have been used in churches with great effect. The rich tones of the German style look particularly brilliant and warm. The French style is more suited for theatres, ball-rooms and indeed anywhere that artistic decorations can be used. Music-rooms in private houses have been very successfully decorated with panels from suitable operas possessing historic and artistic interest. In the same way old houses can be renewed and done up without being detected; this is owing to the splendid imitatory adaptability of the art.

The illustration we are able to give is from the work of Miss Torrens, of 16 High Street, Belfast. Miss Torrens has studied in Dresden, and as the result of long experience is an expert in this branch of artwork. Unfortunately, die drawing is not able to give a very accurate notion of the beauty of this one of many pieces of exquisite tapestry painting executed by this artist, but it may serve as some corroborate evidence to the undoubted fact that the work is adaptable in a hundred ways for the beautification of our homes. Miss Torrens will be please to communicate with anyone who cans to write to her on the subject.

More on tapestries

• Needlework Notebook by Miss Clive Bayley