No doubt this stuff was meant for hangings in a palace or dwelling-house; and among the flowers may be seen the bignonia or trumpet-flower, and the pomegranate opening and about to shed its seed.
1366.
Linen Diaper; design, square made out of four leaves. Flemish, late 16th century. 20 inches by 9 inches.
The pattern, though so simple, is very pleasing, and the stuff itself
speaks of Yprès as being the place of its origin.
1367.
Silk Taffeta; ground, purple; design, amid boughs, a pair of birds, with an artichoke between them, all in orange-yellow. Sicilian, 14th century. 9-3/4 inches square.
This light thin stuff, quiet in its tones and simple in its pattern,
must have been wrought for lining robes of rich stuffs.
1368.
Silk Damask; ground, white satin; design, amid flowers, among which the chrysanthemum is very conspicuous, a group, consisting of a man inside a low fence looking upwards upon a blue lion and a golden tiger, seemingly at play, side by side, one of which is about to be struck by a long spear held by a man standing above, within a walled building. Just over him stands another man with a short mace in one hand, in the other a small bottle, out of which comes a large bough of the pomegranate tree in leaf, flower, and fruit. Chinese, 16th century. 2 feet 6-3/4 inches by 10-3/4 inches.
For the soft warm tints of its several coloured flos-silks, the pureness
of the gold thread upon the human faces, the animals and the flowers,
