Embroidery and lace: their manufacture and history from the remotest antiquity to the present dayA handbook for amateurs, collectors and general readers . impressionhe received from Oriental embroideries :— It might almost be said that Indian embroideryseeks to engage in a contest with the sun, to have aduel to the death with the blinding light and glowingsky; it attempts to shine as brilliantly beneath thisfiery deluge ; it realizes the wonders of fairy tales ; itproduces dresses in colours of the weather, of the sun,of the moon ; metals, flowers, precious stones, lustres,beams of light, and
Embroidery and lace: their manufacture and history from the remotest antiquity to the present dayA handbook for amateurs, collectors and general readers . impressionhe received from Oriental embroideries :— It might almost be said that Indian embroideryseeks to engage in a contest with the sun, to have aduel to the death with the blinding light and glowingsky; it attempts to shine as brilliantly beneath thisfiery deluge ; it realizes the wonders of fairy tales ; itproduces dresses in colours of the weather, of the sun,of the moon ; metals, flowers, precious stones, lustres,beams of light, and flashes are mixed upon its incan-descent palette. Over a silvery net it makes wings ofbeetles to vibrate like fluttering golden emeralds. Withthe scales of beetles bodies it gives birth to impossiblefoliage mixed with flowers of diamonds. It avails itselfof the shimmer of tawny silk, of the opalescent hues of l6o I. EMBROIDERY. mother-of-pearl, of the splendid gold blue blendings ofthe peacocks plumage. It disdains nothing, not eventinsel, provided it flashes brightly ; not even crystal, solong as it irradiates light. At all costs its duty is to. Fig. 74.—Slavonic peasants cap embroidered in gold, eighteenthcentury (in Monsieur G. Bapsts collection). shine, sparkle, and glitter, to send forth prismatic rays ;it must be blazing, blinding, and phosphorescent; andso the sun acknowledges its defeat.* * Theophile Gautiers VOrient a VExposition, quoted by Didron inhis Report upon the Decorative Arts, 1878. FROM LOUIS XV. TO THE PRESENT TIME. l6l What more could this glowing writer have said hadhe even seen the astounding splendours of the specimenpresented some forty years ago to Mahomets tomb byKinderao, Rajah of Baroda ? It was a chadar or veilcomposed entirely of inwrought pearls and preciousstones, disposed in an arabesque pattern, and said tohave cost a crore of rupees (a million pounds). Al-though the richest stones were worked into it the effectwas most harmonious. When sp
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