CHINESE NEEDLEWORK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18297, 13 January 1923, Page 4 (Supplement)

CHINESE NEEDLEWORK.

Not move than 30 years ago no trousseau was complete without a Brussels lace flounce' and a Honiton "set" of collars and cuffs; it was essential also to possess a "berthc" of Cammacross, and some delicate lengths of Mcchlinc or "point d Alencon." remarks a writer in an exchange. All this above and beyond tho exquisite film of the bridal veil, Now, all except the veil is discarded, and the only real lace the bride possesses trims her diaphonous lingerie, or "undies" as she now calls' them. As to embroideries on dresses, these are often elaborate and effective, but merely dressmakers' designs, not to be compared with the marvellous stitehery on dresses of the 16th. 17th, and 18th Centuries. Flowers and leaves then climbed over heavy quilted white linen, or fine silk was-decorated with branches of trees .and birds, and flowers and insects, with that tendency to "Chinoisene" always much beloved in England. Is it the eccentricity of the Chinese character that appeals "to the eccentricity of the English, the same eccentricity which was formerly characteristic of the rich Milord, and which must needs crop up in some fantastic manner in our houses? What is the mysterious alchemy that renders a Chinese embroidery so fitting an object for an English drawing room? Is it the old-age experience of the East that renders any work of theirs'(so long as it is not in the proximity to another Eastern style) suitable for almost any room? Their fashions do not change —the Chinese motives, such as the "Twelve Ornaments" as old as Confucius, are still favoured. There was a Princess of the T'ang Dynasty (Eighth Centurv) who is recorded to nave embroidered 3000 pairs of Mandarin ducks on a coverlet; to-day the duck is still a favoured subject. Early Chinese embroideries are rare outside their own country. Late in the 16th Century a new fashion arose even in that stronghold of conservatism. Embroideries were created for the European market worked by Chinese, in Chinese colours and silks, but in Portugese or Spanish style. The occasional strangeness of the birds and beasts adda a piquancy to the convential Western dosign. The large canopy brought by Cav., Filippo de Filippi from Ladakh (Western Tibet) is a perfect example of this treatment and period. ■ . Mr. Laurence Binyon in a lecture on "Art in the East" recently stated — "In their art we are transported into a world of stream and flow." Perhaps this feeling for stream and flow is the secret that links the English taste to Chinese.