urface is emphasized
still further, the rich deep nap of the less raised parts contrasting
pleasantly with the mat effect of the ground.

In designs for such material one should aim at boldly blocked-out
patterns in silhouette--bold leaf and fruit forms say--designed on the
principle of the stencil.

[Prints]

With prints the range is of course freer, the material itself suggesting
something lighter and more temporary. It seems highly probable that
printed cotton was originally a substitute for embroidered linen or more
sumptuous materials. There are certainly instances of very similar
patterns in Indian and Persian work in silk embroidery, and also in
printed cotton. In some cases the print is partly embroidered, which
seems to mark a transitional stage, and recalls the lingering use of
illumination in the early days of the printing press, in another
department of art.

Anything that will repeat as a pattern in what can be produced by line,
dot, and tints of colour, and engraved upon wood-blocks or copper
rollers, can be printed of course; and, as is generally the case with an
art which has no very obvious technical limitations, it is liable to be
caught by the imitative spirit, and cheap and rapid production and
demand for novelties (so-called) generally end in loss of taste and
deterioration of quality, especially in design. From the artistic point
of view we can only correct this by bearing in mind similar
considerations to those which hold good as general principles and guides
in designing for textiles generally, having regard to the object,
purpose, and position--to the ultimate use of the material, and
differentiating our designs, as in the case of other textile design
accordingly.

Thus in the matter of plan and direction of line and character of form
we shall at once find natural distinctions and divisions, as our design
is for hanging, or spreading horizontally, or wearing; and these
different functions will also determine scale and choice and treatment
of form and colour.

There is no doubt that with patterns printed more range may be allowed
than with patterns to be woven, where line and form are both controlled
by the necessities of being reproduced by so many points to the inch. At
the same time the object of all design and pattern work being the
greatest beauty compatible with the material and conditions, one should
seek, not such e