TAPESTRY (Fr. tapisserie), a kind of carpet-work for decorating walls and furniture. The art of working tapestry is extremely ancient, but we have little information about it until the time of the Saracens, who revived it, and brought it into notice. They, in all probability, only used tapestry as drapery or curtains for the courts of their houses; its use as a covering for walls seems to have been an invention of the Flemings previous to 1606, at which date it was introduced into France by Henry IV., who engaged Flem ish artists to teach it. At that period, so generally was its origin attributed to the Sara cens that it was called Sarrazinais. The oldest piece in existence is that described under the name of the BAYEUX TAPESTRY (q.v.). At first, the Saracenic tapestries were only ornamented with flowers and geometric figures; but the Flemings aimed higher, and sought to enrich them with historic subjects of the highest order; and so important (lid this art become, that the most eminent masters in painting, from Raphael down ward bestowed their greatest efforts upon cartoons to serve as copies for the tapestry workers, of which the celebrated Raphael cartoons, formerly at Hampton Court, now in a gallery especially designed for them in the Kensington museum, are illustrations (see CARTOON). After its first introduction into France by Henry IV. at the beginning of the 17 century, the art of making tapestry does not appear to have made much progress un til the middle of that century, when a small establishment founded by the brothers Can aye on the premises formerly occupied by Jean Gobelin, a dyer of wool, was commenced and was afterward carried on by a Dutchman named Gluck and his assistants with such success, that it was suggested by Colbert, the minister of Louis XIV., that it should be taken under the king's patronage; iu consequence of which the establishment was bought, and constituted a royal manufactory in 1667, under the management of M. Lebrun, who was the first director. A royal carpet-manufactory had been previously established in
1615; this was called La Savonnerie, from the previous use of the buildings for the manu facture of soap. The Savonnerie and the Gobelins were both carried on with great spirit by successive sovereigns, and were formed into one establishment in 1826, when the works of the Savonnerie were removed to the Gobelins, where this most interesting work is now carried to great perfection, and also at a minor establishment at Beauvais, in the department of Oise, where it is, however, worked in a different style and manner. At the Gobelins, a series of threads are arranged vertic^lly in a frame like the warp of a loom, and the workman stands behind the frame, the pattern being placed behind him for reference. To produce the design, he has a number of wooden needles threaded with wool and silk of the colors required, and these are passed through the upright warp-threads, and brought back, so that each thread becomes covered with the neces sary color; and such is the extreme nicety with which this is done, and such the delicacy and multiplicity of the shades of color employed, that but little difference can be de tected between the tapestry picture and the painting from which it was copied. At Beau vais, the warp is placed horizontally, and the workman stands over it; this renders it necessary to cut off the ends on the upper surface, which is avoided in the other plan of working from behind. The Beauvais is, however, a style intermediate between tapestry and carpet-work, and the roughness of surface so produced has a good effect. Much fine tapestry was employed in former times in decorating the palaces and mansions of Great Britain, in many of which it is still seen in great beauty. The modern works of the Gobelins were distributed as presents by the late imperial government of France. They are not produced in great numbers, and are of great money value. The number of artists employed is about 120.