Morris,
designed by Mr. Philip Webb._--The work is carried out with floss silk
in bright colours and gold thread, both background and pattern being
embroidered. The five crosses, that are placed at regular intervals
between the vine leaves, are couched in gold passing upon a silvery silk
ground.

PLATE XIV.--_Two Pieces of Ancient Weaving taken from Tombs in
Egypt._--These are exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The
upper example is about five inches square, dated IIIrd to VIIth century,
Egypto-Roman work, and is said to have decorated a child's tunic. It is
woven in coloured silks upon a green ground; the colours are still
wonderfully fresh and bright. Weavers may see various interesting
technical as well as other points in this early work. For instance, how
the difficulty of the narrow detached vertical lines, necessitated by
change of colour in the weft, has been overcome by using surface
stitching instead, the easier horizontal lines being woven in the usual
way. A good deal of this surface stitching can be seen in the ancient
weaving; sometimes an entire pattern is picked out by this method, the
ground having been first woven all over in some plain colour.

The lower border pattern is a band of weaving about two inches in width,
Saracenic work. It is woven in coloured silks and linen thread upon the
actual warp threads of the garment that it decorates. The weft threads
were probably omitted for the space of one and a half inches when the
fabric was being made in order that some ornamentation might be put in,
in this way. Some of the weft threads have perished, leaving the warp
exposed to sight; this enables the student to understand better the
manner in which it was carried out.

PLATE XV.--_An Example of a Tapestry Field strewn with Flowers._--This
kind of decoration is characteristic of many tapestry grounds, for the
style is particularly suited to the method of work, and very happy in
result. The detail shown in this plate is taken from a piece of late
XVIth century Flemish work; it carries on, however, a much earlier
tradition. The ground is of a dark blue colour, and the flowers varied
as in nature.

PLATE XVI.--_A Tapestry Bag, woven in coloured silk and gold thread by
the Author._--The ground is woven with black silk, decorated with gold
at the top and base. The centre panel is carried out in brightly
coloured silks and gold thread. The various compartments are filled with
representation