A Bare Carpet.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1818, 1 March 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

A Bare Carpet.

At the Woman's Exchange, Atlantic avenue, there is on exhibition a piece of embroidery which for its originality deserves special mention. In the list of modern and antique works of art it stands unique. The work was designed and executed by Mrs. E. G-. Miner, who resides in Canton, New York, a descendant of the Sedgwick family. She early developed an artistic talent, but marrying young and living in a new country where the resources as to culture, etc., were limited, her inspiration alone led to the making of a carpet, embroidered upon bagging, the designs sketched roughly in charcoal, filled with a satin or Kensington stitch. The work was commenced over fifty years ago, and required about seven years for its completion. In size it covers about sixteen feet square, being composed of blocks (one of which is now on exhibition) the centre forming landscapes and the border bunches of flowers. , It will be remembered at this time there were not any wools accessible to her; ex-

cepting the stocking yarns and ravelings from various knitted garments. All these were utilized, and the stocking yarns most ingeniously colored, the olives predominating. The colora have been imperishable, as the carpet was used for many years and then successfully washed. The designs were mohtly original, some though being taken from old pnmers and pieces of family China, all having to be enlarged and colored wholly according to individual taste. At the present time, with materials and artistic desigus so easily obtained, the accomplishment would not deserve more than a passing admiiation ; but, considering the drawbacks under which this work was completed, the cares incident to a large family, the scarcity of material and poverty of design, it is certainly a proof of unusual energy and innate artistic talent.

The Crown Princess of Germany must be as bad as any man in her dislike for buttons, for she has just ordered a dress from England, which is fastened most mysteriously. No buttons are visible, and no one can imagine how 11. li. H. gets into it. It is a state secret.

A suite of bed -room furniture made of glass is ceitainly a novelty, yet there is one to be seen in the show-rooms of an Oxfordstreet firm, in London. Bed, couches, chairs, and waahsland have all been made of crystal where wood is generally used, while the coverings and drapery are of red and blue velvet. The furnituie has been made to the special order of a Spanish giandee.

Colored coverings for beds have supplanted white counterpanes in the popular affection, and you can't talk any longer about snowy beds if you wish to bo thought artistic. Taste and money always arrange these matters to their liking, but if satin linings are too expensive for the toilc Colbert forming the outside, there is turkey twill and serge to be used in its stead. As much ingenuity is now used in decorating a bed as in draping a door or window. It must depend on individual taste and means, but some of the least costly stuffs are often used with capital advantage.