OLD TAPESTRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 80

OLD TAPESTRY.

The ancient Egyptians, experts in the art of weaving, as can be seen from the . specimens of fine linen which have come down' to us, are known to have ornamented their fabrics with quaint devices wrought in threads of many colours-. The Babylonians and Assyrians were remark 7 able for the splendour of their tapestries, which furnish the designs of the alabaster bas~reliefs. formerly coloured, that coverthe walls of 4he palace of Nineyeh. To the Babylonians is given the honour of having attained the greatest perfection in the blending of colours, and their skill in workmanship, added to the richness of the material they employed, caused their hangings to be much sought after by the \ nations that succeeded them. aTe told that Boman collectors purchased them for their weight in gold, and that Nero gave £33,600 for a set for his banqueting chamber. There are many references to textile art in the Scriptures. The tabernacle^ built by Hoses in the desert was decorated with curtains richly coloured, or covereH "with embroidery. "Thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and ppxple, and scarlet ; with cherubim of cunning work thoii shalt Tnake- them" (Exodus). The veil with which Solomon adorned the Temple was richly wrought with cherubim, depicted on a groundwork of brilliant colours. And Josepnus tells us that when Herod the GTeat rebuilt the Temple o"P Jerusalem, he hung before the doore of the sanctuary a Babylonian curtain, 50 cubits high and , 16 wide^ on which* with the most won- I

derful skill, were blended azure and Uax, J scarlet and purple, as. representing the various elements^ scarlet signifying fire, azure -the air, flax the earth, and purple ' •the^ sea. Flax, cotton, hemp, and wool > were all woven by the ancients, the looms in use 3000 years before our era resemb>ling^ very nearly those in use at the present «lay, Wt eilk serins to ha-v-e Txsea untcnown, except to th« Chinese, until the ' time of the Bomans. Stuffs woven from other materials, however, were beautified , from the earliest times by interweaving I them with, threads of gold, and decorating them, with stripes and patterns of gor..geous colours. These patterns were sometimes' woven, bui more often worked by the needle, and formed coverings for, tents and canopies, draperies for walls, curtains for theatres and porticoes, decorations-. for festivals, in temples and .in public pageants, lending everywhere an additional^ splendour to the scene. — The Girl's Own' Paper.