s.

The earliest record of genuine Arras tapestry occurs in an order
from the Countess of Artois in 1313, when she directs her receiver
"de faire faire six tapis a Arras." Among the craftsmen at Arras
in 1389 was a Saracen, named Jehan de Croisetes, and in 1378 there
was a worker by the name of Huwart Wallois. Several of its workmen
emigrated to Lille, in the fifteenth century, among them one Simon
Lamoury and another, Jehan de Rausart. In 1419 the Council Chamber
of Ypres was ornamented with splendid tapestries by Francois de
Wechter, who designed them, and had them executed by Arras workmen.
The Van Eycks and Memlinc also designed tapestries, and there is no
doubt that the art would have continued to show a more consistent
regard for the demands of the material if Raphael had never executed
his brilliant cartoons. The effort to be Raphaelesque ruined the
effect of many a noble piece of technique, after that.

In 1302 a body of ten craftsmen formed a Corporation in Paris.
The names of several workmen at Lille have been handed down to
us. In 1318 Jehan Orghet is recorded, and in 1368, Willaume, a
high-warp worker. Penalties for false work were extreme. One of
the best known workers in France was Bataille, who was closely
followed by one Dourdain.

[Illustration: FLEMISH TAPESTRY, "THE PRODIGAL SON"]

A famous Arras tapestry was made in 1386 by a weaver of the name
of Michel Bernard. It measured over two hundred and eighty-five
square yards, and represented the battle of Roosebecke. At this
time a tapestry worker lived, named Jehanne Aghehe, one of the
first attested women's names in connection with this art. In the
Treasury of the church of Douai there is mention of three cushions
made of high loom tapestry presented in 1386 by "la demoiselle
Englise." It is not known who this young lady may have been. France
and Flanders made the most desirable tapestries in the fourteenth
century. In Italy the art had little vogue until the fifteenth.

Very little tapestry was made in Spain in the Middle Ages,--the
earliest well known maker was named Gutierrez, in the time of Philip
IV. The picture by Velasquez, known as "The Weavers," represents
the interior of his manufactory.

A table cloth in mediaeval times was called a "carpett:" these were
often very ornate, and it is useful to know that their use was not
for floor covering, for the inventories often mention "carpetts"
worked with pearls and silver tissue, which would h