s were made by the
self-indulgent court, and by the political necessities, demanded not
only depriving the Gobelins of proper expensive materials, but in the
department of furniture and ornaments, demanded also the establishment
of a sinister melting pot, a hungry mouth that devoured the precious
metals already made more precious by the artistic hands of the
gold-working artists.

Mignard's futile work was finished by his demise in 1695. Such was
then the pitiable conditions at the Gobelins that it was not
considered worth while to fill his place. Thus ended the first period
of that beautiful conception, art sustained by the state, artists
relieved from all care except that of expressing beauty.

The ateliers were closed; the weavers had to seek other means of
gaining their living. The busy Gobelins, a very Paradise of workers,
an establishment which felt itself the pride of Paris and the pet of
the king, full of merry apprentices and able masters, this happy
solidarity fell under neglect. The courtyards were lonely; the Bievre
rippled by unused; the buildings were silent and deserted. Some of the
workers were happy enough to be taken in at Beauvais, some returned to
Flanders, but many were at the miserable necessity of dropping their
loved professions and of joining the royal troops, for which the
relentless ambition of the king had such large and terrible use.

The time when the factory remained inactive were the dolorous years
from 1694 to 1697. It was in the latter year that peace was signed in
the Holland town of Ryswick, which ended at least one of Louis' bloody
oppressions, the fierce attacks in the Palatinate.

The place of Colbert was never filled, so far as the Gobelins was
concerned. Louvois had not its interests in his hard hands, nor had
his immediate followers in state administrations up to 1708, which
included Mansard (of the roofs) and the flippity courtesan, the Duc
d'Antin. But power was later given to Jules Robert de Cotte to raise
the fallen Gobelins by his own wise direction, assisted by his
father's political co-operation (1699-1735). Once again can we smile
in thinking of the factory where the wares of beauty were produced. Of
course, the artists flocked to the centre, eager to express
themselves. The one most interesting to us was Claude Audran. Others
there were who contributed adorable designs and helped build up the
most exquisite expressions of modern art, but, alas, their modesty was
su