Art and Handcraft in the Woman's Building
of the World's Columbian Exposition

64 ART AND HANDICRAFT other needlework stitch, to produce a desired effect; very much as a sculptor may pick up and use any bit of wood, or his own thumb, as a modeling tool, rather than the neatly turned instruments of his trade. The color sense which distinguishes our people is found as much in the embroiderers as with the painters. Both the English, and our own embroiderers surpass the European and the orientals in this respect. As far as pure technique goes, the Turkish Com- passionate Fund shows the best work exhibited. The workers DESIGN FOR CARPET. Lucy W. Valentine. United States. have the advantage of the inherited skill, which surpasses all other, and are directed in. the use of color by English taste. Sweden sends us some fine ex- amples, and France shows admirable work, but it is among our own women that we find the highest grade of em- broidery. The produc- tions of the Americans are scholarly, but not academic. They are full of fresh originality, and the motto of our needlewomen seems to be that they must use the rules that have here- tofore governed their art, but that they must not be hampered by them in their own fresh, spontaneous growth. In the great American revival of stained glass, our women are doing much creditable work. Many of the best firms, including that of Tiffany, employ women designers, who have met with very- great success. Fifteen years ago, no American manufacturer thought of buying an American design for his carpet, or wall- paper, or textile. The usual thing to do was to buy a yard of French or English material, and reproduce its color and design. To-day the manufacturers all agree that the most popular designs they can furnish are made by our native designers, who are, to a very large extent, women. In the exhibit of the Pratt Institute,