decorative art of the world, so that you can say to him: 'This is
good work. Greek or Italian or Japanese wrought it so many years
ago, but it is eternally young because eternally beautiful.' Work
in this spirit and you will be sure to be right. Do not copy it,
but work with the same love, the same reverence, the same freedom
of imagination. You must teach him colour and design, how all
beautiful colours are graduated colours and glaring colours the
essence of vulgarity. Show him the quality of any beautiful work
of nature like the rose, or any beautiful work of art like an
Eastern carpet - being merely the exquisite gradation of colour,
one tone answering another like the answering chords of a symphony.
Teach him how the true designer is not he who makes the design and
then colours it, but he who designs in colour, creates in colour,
thinks in colour too. Show him how the most gorgeous stained-glass
windows of Europe are filled with white glass, and the most
gorgeous Eastern tapestry with toned colours - the primary colours
in both places being set in the white glass, and the tone colours
like brilliant jewels set in dusky gold. And then as regards
design, show him how the real designer will take first any given
limited space, little disk of silver, it may be, like a Greek coin,
or wide expanse of fretted ceiling or lordly wall as Tintoret chose
at Venice (it does not matter which), and to this limited space -
the first condition of decoration being the limitation of the size
of the material used - he will give the effect of its being filled
with beautiful decoration, filled with it as a golden cup will be
filled with wine, so complete that you should not be able to take
away anything from it or add anything to it. For from a good piece
of design you can take away nothing, nor can you add anything to
it, each little bit of design being as absolutely necessary and as
vitally important to the whole effect as a note or chord of music