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 Embroidery |
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Brief history | |
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Making a tapestry |
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Resources | |
Brief history
Tapestry weaving is an ancient technique. Tapestries for interiors were
very popular with the upper classes in the late middle ages. Rich tapestry
owners liked large-scale scenes of aristocratic life, such as hunts, or
improving biblical stories or allegories.
The V&A holds a number of medieval tapestries, including a series depicting
hunting and courtly pursuits known collectively as the Devonshire Hunting
Tapestries.
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| Front and reverse of a detail from Falconry, Devonshire Hunting Tapestries. | ||
The term tapestry [or tapetum in Latin documents] originally meant a wall hanging, including woven tapestry. The term tapestry is often applied today to needlepoint or other stitched textile. True tapestry is woven.
Areas of production
Workshops in France, Flanders and Germany produced most of the tapestries that graced the walls of the great houses of England in the middle ages. These expensive and luxurious tapestries were exported throughout Europe and were considered a great luxury.
Tapestries on display
Tapestries made rooms more colourful and comfortable, keeping rooms warmer by insulating stone walls, whilst at the same time proclaiming the owner’s wealth, power and status to visitors. They could also be taken down, rolled up and moved from place to place easily.
Tapestries could be bought ’off the peg’ or could be commissioned to fit a particular room or theme. They were sometimes ordered in sets known as ’rooms’ or ‘chambers’, consisting of several pieces designed to fit together which could include cushion covers, wall hangings, bed hangings and bench backs.
Professional weavers
Tapestry weavers worked in professional workshops which were often large scale. Some weavers also travelled between workshops. We don’t usually know the names of the weavers or workshops that produced surviving tapestries of this period. Rich tapestry owners would also employ a man to take care of their tapestries, transporting them from place to place as needed and carrying out any mending or alterations in workshops.
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This illustration shows a single weaver working on a small tapestry. For a larger piece, several would work side by side at a large loom. Illustration by Gina Barrett.
Cartoons or designs
The weavers worked to a full-scale pattern created by an artist or specialist, known as a cartoon. These were used as a reference tool by the weavers. Many designs were re-used and adapted to suit the project. The most famous tapestry cartoons from Renaissance Italy are by Raphael and are on display in the V&A.
Tapestries in the exhibition:
· The Triumph of Chastity over Love
· Heraldic tapestry made for John, Lord Dinham
· Tapestry of Saints Martin of Tours and Dunstan
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