International studio (36.1908/1909(1909))

pretended that the work was carried on without
intermission during the whoie period, it was fuliy
six years in the loom before being finaHy completed,
and before it was ready for exhibition at the New
Galiery in the current year, r go8. Who of aH that
witnessed the Hrst germ of the idea in the
of twenty years previousiy couid possibiy
have foreseen such magnihcent fruition ? It is no
exaggeration to say that this one surpasses even
the hnest of ail Messrs. Morris & Co 's past
achievements in tapestry.
Now it may, not unreasonabiy, be inquired
whether any changes or improvements have been
introduced into Merton tapestry weaving during
the tweive years elapsed since Morris's death ?
The answer is that, in respect of material and
mode of working, there has been not oniy no
faliing away, but no departure frotn the founder's
tradition. The woois are stiii dyed on the spot
and with the same ingredients that Morris used,
with, if anything, a siightiy more extended range of
coiour. But as for the executants—most of them
oid hands, two or three of thern actuaiiy those who
worked with Morris from the outset—they have
attained to a degree of technical pro&ciency and

sureness in manipuiation that comes only of long
years of practice. Many are the stumbiing-blocks
that once would have been hardiy circumvented,
but can now be met squareiy and as triumphantiy
surmounted. This remark applies particuiarly to
the rendering of human features; and again, to
take the matter of colour, aiready mentioned, a
certain iight tone of mauve, admittediy most difHcuit
to deai with satisfactoriiy, and on that account
never empioyed in Morris's time, has been intro-
duced boidiy and (so far as can be judged in the
yet utihnished state of the work) with compiete
success in a new panel, now in the act of being
woven. It represents "The Siaying of Truth,"
from a cartoon by Mr. Byam Shaw.
A tapestry from the cartoon of another weii-
known designer, Mr. Heywood Surnner, has
recentiy been executed. Its subject, 77?^
is treated in a totaliy distinct manner from that of
Burne-Jones. The border, broken into separate
paneis, with woodiand birds and animals, is not
the least deiightfui part of the composition.
In one important regard a system has been
adopted which ciaims to be a definite advance on
previous methods, from those of the eariiest


"THE DEPARTHRE OF THE KNIGHTS" DEStGNED BY SIR E. BURNE-JONES
("HOLY GRAtL" SERtES) EXECUTED BY MORRtS & CO. LTD.
18