International studio (81.1925)

inCGRllAClOnAL

TAPESTRIES Made in AMERICA

5ignificant among Foussadier family, weavers the footsteps of their fore-
American industries 0f tapestries in France for fathers, generation after

which owe their exist- generations, manned first seneration- Often the

ence to strange beginnings /fmpr;rnn fnnedrv loom? young people marry fellow-

and unusual circumstances American tapestry Looms workers in the craft; and it

is tapestry weaving. An art, ANNE LEE is tne accepted thing that

rather than an industry, the the children should be ap-

compound noun, art-industry, is perhaps more prenticed as soon as they reach the proper age.
applicable. Although comparatively new to Thus it was with the Foussadiers. In the case of
America, it is a field in which we have gained the M. Jean the proper age was nine. Born in 1843,
recognition of connoisseurs and craftsmen abroad M. Foussaclier began his apprenticeship in the
as well as in our own country. But it is to a tapestry works of Aubusson in 1852. From that
Frenchman, rather to a French family, that we time until March, 1922, when he died in his little
owe our advent into tapestry weaving. home in the northernmost part of New York City,

Early in 1893, M. Jean Foussadier of Aubus- he devoting himself to the loom, weaving into
son, arrived in America with his family. Most the web tales of history, of conquest, of romance
important among the and of great achieve-

be longings they , mmm^^^^^^^m I ments- For several

brought with them 1 ||% ' J^^^^^^^^^^^^^^sw generations, ever since
was a small hand loom the founchng of the

on which the first piece I HTf/"**^ famous Gobelin fac-

of American tapestry V' ,. , jl tory in Paris early in

w a s wo v en. T h e IMF / the seventeenth cen-

Foussadiers' emigra- V;V^^«|i. ' tury and the estab-

tion to this country ^'"'^lBi> blishment of the Au-

was brought about by "^^^^^^S^ % I husson works shortly

a Fifth Avenue inte- f ^^^^HB^i^ after' ^ Foussadiers

rior decorator and art \ /J^SmK*" %£ 1 Iiave been tapestry

connoisseur. Recog- % ■ weavers. They are to

nizing M. Jean as a i W~ I tnis clay- Like their

master weaver of note L \^.* t. ' ' ~ ^A0t M father, the two sons

and his sons, Antoine B|k ' "^^^^^^m^h^^^^ jM are devoting their lives

and Louis, as weavers - "^^gasWslI^ ^jSk to the looms,

of similar potential!- H»^. '^^dA Perhaps the old

ties, the dealer pos- B^^Km^rtia^n cartoons depicting

sessed the perspicacity '--!--early conquests of the

to realize the advan- chair seat; replica of first p.ece of tapestry woven Bourbon reign no
uu icaiiz-c uie auvd.11 in America; m. jean foussadier, weaver 6

tages of weaving tap- Courtesy ojtbe FtM Museum, Chicago |onger hold the same

estries of the Gobelin interest for the weav-

type in America. Choosing a most opportune ers. Mayhap the process of transplantation has

moment, just after the close of the Royal Windsor dulled the feeling of nationalism which surged

Tapestry Works of England where the Foussa- through the veins of the patriotic old Frenchman

diers had been employed, the American's induce- as he retold, in fabric, the historic prowess of his

ments of good wages and steady employment for fatherland. Again, perhaps, the modern cartoons

the family won favor. And in transplanting them, may have more of the decorative and less of the

the dealer, too, assumed the role of the pioneer, historic, but, be that as it may, the brothers

sowing the seeds for the foundation of an art- Foussadier are still weaving fine tapestries in the

industry which had hitherto belonged solely to old French way taught them by their father, with

Europe and principally to France. the seat of action the Bronx, New York, instead

On the Continent where occupation is often a of Aubusson, France. But to go back to the story

matter of family tradition rather than choice, and of M. Jean—

where opportunities are circumscribed by local Heralded far and wide as a master weaver of

conditions, whole families are wont to follow in exceptional skill, M. Foussadier received the

JULY I925

two ninety-seven