The Encyclopedia britannica; a dictionary of arts, sciences, and general literatureWith new maps, and original American articles by eminent writersWith American revisions and additions, bringing each volume up to date . if^^ , the ^|h tothe 12th century,Baghdad, Damas-1cus, Ispahan, and ]many other towns (in Persia and Syria ]were producingwoven stuffs of the j,rioh6St materials <and designs; names:of reigning caliphs arc sometimes (mingled with Ar-abic sentences fromthe Koran andother sacred books,which are intro-duced freelyamongthe intricate pat-terns with the mostrichly deco
The Encyclopedia britannica; a dictionary of arts, sciences, and general literatureWith new maps, and original American articles by eminent writersWith American revisions and additions, bringing each volume up to date . if^^ , the ^|h tothe 12th century,Baghdad, Damas-1cus, Ispahan, and ]many other towns (in Persia and Syria ]were producingwoven stuffs of the j,rioh6St materials <and designs; names:of reigning caliphs arc sometimes (mingled with Ar-abic sentences fromthe Koran andother sacred books,which are intro-duced freelyamongthe intricate pat-terns with the mostrichly decorative effect. By this means some existing speci-mens of the 8th to th6 10th century can be dated.; Fig. 4shows a 16th-century example of the finest Persian damaskin silk and gold,—a masterpiece of textile design According to the usual story, Roger of Sicily, who in Sicilian:1147fijado a successful raid on the shores of Atticaahdtook Athens, Thebes, and Corinth, carried off as prisouersa numl)er of Greek weavers, whom he settled,at Palermoand made the founders of the royal factory for silk weav-iing. This story is doubtful, for the Saracenic inhabitantsof Sicily had apparently been producing fine silken stuffs. Flo. 4.— damask lu silk and gold.(South Kensington Museum.) TEXTILES 209 long before tho 12tk century. In part, however, thesiorj- rany be true; certaiiily an impetus was given to theweaving industry of Palermo in tlie I2tli century, and forabout two centuries Sicily became the chief seat in Europefor the production of the finest woven stuffy A largonumber of examples of these beautiful fabric^ still exist,showing an immense variety of designs, all of which areimagined with the highest decorative skill,—perfect mateter-pieces of textile art, combining freedom of in%ention andgrace of drawing with that slight amount of mechanicalstiffness Wiich is specially suited to the retiuirements oftho loomij One of the earliest existing s|)ecimens, whichshows the exist
Size: 1335px × 1871px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidencyclopedia, bookyear1892
