Tapestries
 

Woven tapestry art has been one of the most effective forms of literary expression the world has ever known. This unique art form brought to life stories such as Homer’s Odyssey and Illiad for the ancient Greeks. Tapestry allowed Virgil’s Aneida and Ovid’s Metamorphoses to became vividly real to the Romans. The Old and New Testament of the Bible were made available to the illiterate through the use of these woven art pieces. Ancient Egyptians and Incas buried their dead in tapestry woven clothing. Important civic buildings of the Greek and Roman Empires had walls covered by them and countless heroes and nobility adorned their homes throughout with magnificent tapestries. During the Middle Ages, tapestries became status symbols amongst the aristocracy. Kings and nobles took tapestries with them on their travels from castle to castle for reasons of comfort and prestige. Tapestries provided insulation for castle walls, covered openings and gave privacy around beds.

In the heat of battle, tapestries would change hands, moving from victor to victor and often would be cut to different sizes for use as window or door coverings in the “Champion’s” castle. Tapestries might also be cut and joined to other tapestries. Between the hand-woven tapestry art of classical antiquity and that of the Thirteenth century, a long period of darkness and artistic void occurred in western culture, and for more than a thousand years weavers were content to leave the making of large wall paintings to artists and embroiderers. Early in the thirteenth and throughout the fourteenth century, Gothic art appeared in woven tapestry art with a unique emphasis on religious mystery. The hand woven tapestry art of this period permeated with religious fervour.

At the turn of the fifteenth century many of the best known works such as the “Lady and the Unicorn” series were woven in the Loire Valley in France. It is estimated that over 15,000 craftsmen were employed in the art at this time. Many were itinerant and passed their skill from father to son. Medieval weavers extracted their dyes from plants and insects in the range of less than twenty colours. For example, red came from madder, poppies or pomegranates. Blue was produced from woad, a process that was so profitable in sixteenth century France that importing woad from the East was punishable by death. The most popular medieval images were biblical stories, myths, allegories (the ever popular unicorn represented purity), and hunting scenes.

Medieval weavers used working sketches which they freely adapted with their own imagination and sometimes imparting a humourous touch. By the Renaissance these had become full-sized working drawings which were rigidly copied by the weavers. Thus tapestries became mere copies of paintings rather than independent works of art. However, during the Renaissance tapestry art evolved with completely opposite views from the art of the Gothic period. The purpose of Gothic pictorial art in hand-woven tapestry art was to tell the story beautifully and effectively, but in all cases to tell the story at any expense. The purpose of Renaissance pictorial art in woven tapestry was to produce illusions of what reality should be. It was actually more intellectual, more abstract, and more scientific with perfection of form, precision of method, and creative grandeur as it's objective for the viewer. The artist Raphael and his Renaissance School of Ancient Roman Art, in actuality, gave rise to the Renaissance tapestry art style in the early sixteenth century. In 1663, during the lavish reign of France’s Sun King, Louis XIV, Les Gobelins factory was founded in Paris employing over 800 artisans in the production of tapestries for the

royal court. Other European countries followed, opening factories on behalf of their rulers. They employed Flemish weavers who by now had to complete a twelve year apprenticeship. Louis XIV's estate inventory at his death listed 2,155 Gobelins tapestries. Henry VIII's collection totaled over 2,000 in seventeen royal residences. During the French revolution the social changes of the times so decimated the tapestry market that the French Directory ordered 190 be burnt in 1797 rather than retain them for their value complete. They considered the gold and silver threads (mention of the gold and silver should be sooner) to have greater value. A positive development of this period however was the invention of the Jacquard Loom in Flanders in 1804. It enabled tapestries to become accessible to a wider market and it still forms the basis of the techniques used today.

By the late 1800's the Gobelins dye works produced a colour range of 14,000 tones. Producing tapestries with such detailing became very expensive. Furthermore little creativity existed with most pieces being based on earlier designs. Modern tapestry weaving owes much to the enthusiasm and freedom brought by the Arts and Crafts Movement headed by William Morris in England. He revived many old crafts; tapestry weaving being one of the beneficiaries of his fresh vision and creative energy. He visited French weavers in 1878 and described the workshops at Aubusson as 'a decaying commercial industry of rubbish'. A year later he had a high-warp loom built in his bedroom where he taught himself to weave from an 18th century French craft manual. With colleagues and friends he designed tapestries, like the Woodpecker, based on medieval styles and techniques. The weavers at Morris and Co. achieved commercial success and, more importantly revived the ailing craft.

Today few tapestries are hand-woven. Most are reproductions of originals in museums. Modern yarns and techniques allow us to enjoy superlative copies of works of art at affordable prices (often cheaper than a framed print). Nonetheless, much work is still required to produce these, especially in the design processes. The selected design and its colouring has to be transposed onto the cartoon with one square representing each single stitch. A series of up to 36,000 Jacquard perforated cards are prepared for each tapestry: these determine the movement of each warp yarn intertwining with the weft yarns. Fortunately some use can be made of computers to reduce the time involved but much skill and experience is still required. The weavers match the yarn colours from a selection of about 1,000 shades. The loom is threaded with about 12,000 horizontal warp threads which are placed in the correct order on the loom and passed through the eye of each of the corresponding 12,000 vertical loom heddles. Smaller tapestries utilize cotton (with rayon) for its fine detailing whilst larger ones introduce wool for greater fullness and richness. Once an acceptable trial result has been achieved the weaving can commence, supervised by a fully apprenticed weaver.

A small number of tapestries are silk-screened rather than woven. A laborious series of processes by hand result in an antique appearance, just like the originals. The subtle shadings on a wool, cotton and linen material are accentuated by an irregular texture very similar to old tapestry stitching. GiftHorse Gallery offers several of such Equestrian themed designs, often in several

sizes, from select European weaving houses. These art heirlooms of the future are a tasteful compliment to any home décor. A tapestry wall hanging brings not just interior beauty into your home, but also a sense of timelessness, history and culture. Click Here to select your Tapestry.

Donna Nearing