.

They had a success immediate. They became the fashion of the day, and
the pride of the factory. If the artist had drawn with inspiration,
the weavers copied with a fidelity little short of talent. So it is
not surprising that a set of sofa and chairs on which these tapestries
are displayed brings now an average of a thousand dollars a piece,
even though the furniture frames are not excessively rich.

Beauvais set the fashion for this suite, but as success has imitators
who hope for success, many factories both in and out of France copied
this series. How shall we know the true from the false? By that sixth
sense that has its origin in a taste at once instinctive and
cultivated.

Oudry drew hangings for the small panelled spaces of the walls, to
accompany this set of _Fables_. He also painted scenes from Moliere's
comedies, which at least show him master of the human figure as well
as of the lines of animals.

We are now, it must be remembered, in the time of Louis XV, the time
of beautiful gaiety and light sarcasm, of epigramme, and miniature,
and of all that declared itself _multum in parvo_. Therefore it was
that even wall-hangings were reduced in size and polished, so to
speak, to a perfection most admirable. Paintings were copied, actually
copied, on the looms, but however much the fact may be deplored that
tapestry had wandered far from its original days of grand simplicity,
it were unjust not to recognise the exquisite perfection of the manner
in vogue in the middle of the Eighteenth Century, and of the
perfection of the craftsman.

The pieces of Beauvais that are accessible to us are indeed charming
to live with, especially the verdures of Oudry on which he left the
trace of his talent, never omitting the characteristic fox or dog, or
ducks, or pheasants that give vital interest to a peep into the
enchanted woodland. At the same time the factory of Aubusson, and
looms in Flanders, were throwing upon the market a quantity of
verdures, of which the amateur must beware. Oudry verdures or outdoor
scenes are but few in model, and beautifully woven.

[Illustration: BEAUVAIS TAPESTRY. TIME OF LOUIS XIV]

In the prosperity of Beauvais, ambition carried Oudry into a gay
rivalry with the Gobelins. Charles Coypel had gained fame by a set of
hangings in which scenes were taken from Don Quixote. Oudry asked
himself why he should not rival them at Beauvais. The result was a
similar series, but composed by Charles