Embroidery and lace: their manufacture and history from the remotest antiquity to the present dayA handbook for amateurs, collectors and general readers . wondrous luxury at Versailles dazzled the wholeof Europe ; but the gorgeousness of many details init overshot the bounds of good taste, and was monstrousin exaggeration. There were, for instance, gold em-broidered caryatid figures in the kings apartmentmeasuring fifteen feet high, and proportionately bold inrelief. Such a substitution of embroidery for decoration,which should have been executed rather in metal orwood carving, was clearly a m
Embroidery and lace: their manufacture and history from the remotest antiquity to the present dayA handbook for amateurs, collectors and general readers . wondrous luxury at Versailles dazzled the wholeof Europe ; but the gorgeousness of many details init overshot the bounds of good taste, and was monstrousin exaggeration. There were, for instance, gold em-broidered caryatid figures in the kings apartmentmeasuring fifteen feet high, and proportionately bold inrelief. Such a substitution of embroidery for decoration,which should have been executed rather in metal orwood carving, was clearly a mistake. A textile fabricand threads are not materials appropriate to a design ofthis nature. And no matter what amount of skill mayhave been involved in embroidering them, we cannotacquiesce in Saint Aubins statement that these LouisXIV. caryatids were specimens of masterwork beyondeulogy. The king, however, showed better taste in matters ofcostume, and the blue uniforms which he recognized as regulation uniforms (fig. 64) were pleasing in appear-ance. In 1664 an order was issued that the right ofwearing them would be granted only by special favour. Fig. 63.—Cross or orphrey on the back ot a cope of Louis period,embroidered in gold and silver (in the collection of Messrs. Tas-sinari and Chatel). SIXTEENTH CENTURY TO DEATH OF LOUIS XIV. 139 of the king, and on a licence signed by himself! Thenumber of wearers was limited ; and when one diedanother was appointed. The coat was of blue, lined with red, embroideredwith a fine pattern in gold picked out with silver; metalspangles were freely scattered between the the sparkling saloons in which these uniformswere worn, the golden equipages which conveyed the
Size: 1095px × 2281px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectembroi, booksubjectlaceandlacemaking
