re almost inappreciable, to
carpets of all kinds, where they are emphatic; so that a certain
squareness of mass becomes a desirable and characteristic feature in
designs for these purposes, and, indeed, I think it should be more or
less acknowledged in all textile design, in order to preserve its
distinctive beauty and character.

[The Artistic Purpose]

_Beauty and character._--In these lies the gist of all design. While the
technical conditions, if fully understood, fairly met, and frankly
acknowledged, are sure to give _character_ to a design, for whatever
purpose, _beauty_ is not so easy to command. It is so delicate a
quality, so complex in its elements, a question often of such nice
balance and judgment--depending perhaps upon a hair's-breadth difference
in the poise of a mass here, or the sweep of a curve there--that we
cannot weave technical nets fine enough to catch so sensitive a
butterfly. She is indeed a Psyche in art, both seeking and sought, to be
finally won only by devotion and love.

This search for beauty--this Psyche of art--is the purely inspiring
artistic purpose, as distinct from the technical and useful one, which
should, perfectly reconciled and united with it, determine the form of
our work.

In drawing or design we may seek particular qualities in line and form
either of representation or of ornament. We may desire to dwell upon
particular beauties either of object or subject. Say, in drawing from a
cast or from natural form of any kind, we desire to dwell upon beauty of
line or quality of surface. Well, since it is most difficult, if not
impossible, to get everything at once, and nothing without some kind of
sacrifice, we shall find that to give prominence to--to bring out--the
particular quality in our subject (say beauty of line), it becomes
necessary to subordinate other qualities to this. A drawing in pure
outline of a figure may be a perfect thing in itself. The moment we
begin to superadd shading, or lines expressive of relief of any kind, we
introduce another element; we are aiming at another kind of truth or
beauty; and unless we have also a distinctly ideal aim in this, we shall
mar the simplicity of the outline without gaining any compensating
advantage, or really adding to the truth or beauty of the drawing.

In designing, too, unless we can so contrive the essential
characteristics of our pattern that they shall be adaptable