In the primitive method of working tapestry with the needle, the wool was usually applied to a kind of canvas, and the effect produced was coarse and very defective ; but some finer kinds of tapestry were embroidered upon a silken fabric. The process of weaving by the loom, after the manner known as the haute him, or high warp, was practised in the tapes tries of Flanders as early as the 14th and 15th centuries ; the only essential difference be tween these and the productions of modern times being that previously noticed, the com parative size of the pieces woven in the loom. The weaving of tapestry, both by the haute lisse' and the hasse lisse,' appears to be of Oriental invention; and the difference between the two methods may be briefly described. In the ' haute lisse' the loom, or rather the frame with the warp threads, is placed in a perpen dicular position, and the weaver works stand ing ; while in the basse lisse' the frame with the warp is laid horizontally, and the weaver works in a sitting position. In weaving with the basse lisse,' which is now relinquished, the painting to be copied is laid beneath th e threads of the warp, which are stretched in a manner resembling that of common weaving, the pat tern being supported by a number of transverse threads stretched beneath it. The weaver, sitting before the loom, and leaning over the beau], carefully separates the threads of the warp with his fingers, so that he may see his pattern between them. He then takes in his other hand a kind of shuttle, called a fliete, charged with silk or wool of the colour re quired, and passes it between the threads, after separating them in the usual way by means of treddles worked by the feet. The thread of woof or shoot thus inserted is finally driven close up to the finished portion of the work by means of a reed or comb formed of box-wood or ivory, the teeth of which are in serted between the threads of the warp. In this process the face of the tapestry is down wards, .so that the weaver cannot examine his
work until the piece is completed and removed from the loom. The frame of the haute lisse' loom consists of two upright side pieces, with large rollers placed horizontally between them. The threads of the warp,which usually consist of twisted wool, are wound round tlie upper roller, and the finished web is coiled round the lower one. The cartoon, or design to be copied, is placed perpendicularly behind the back or wrong side of the warp, and then the principal outlines of the pattern are drawn upon the front of the warp, the threads of which are sufficiently open to allow the artist to see the design between them. The cartoon is then removed so far back from the warp that the weaver may place himself be tween them with his back towards the former, so that he must turn round whenever he wishes to look at it. Attached to the upright side-pieces of the frame are contrivances for separating the threads of the warp, so as to allow the flute or broach, which carries the woof, to pass between them.- Like the weaver with the 'basso lisse,' the operator works, as it were, blindfolded ; but by walking round to the front of the loom lie may see the progress of his work, and may adjust any threads which have not been forced into their right position by the reed or comb, with a large needle, called an aiguille a presser. The pro cess of working with the haute lisse ' is much slower than the other, and is indeed almost as slow as that of working with the needle. Lady Wilton, in describing the pro ductions of the Hotel Royal des Gobelins, observes that 'not the least interesting part of the process was that performed by the rentrayeurs, or fine-drawers, who so unite tho breadths of the tapestry into one picture, that no seam is discernible, but the whole appears like one design.' Now, however, the pieces are woven so wide that joining is very seldom resorted to, even for the largest pieces.