A Brief History Of Tapestries.

An Objets d'Art tapestry wall-hanging or cushion cover in your home brings not just interior beauty but also a sense of history. European weavers have produced these textiles for centuries, covering a huge range of artistic styles including works fron the Medieval, Renaissance and Arts and Crafts periods.It is not an exaggeration to say that woven tapestry art must be one of the most beautiful and enduring forms of artistic expression the world has known.

Tapestries have been woven for hundreds of years in diverse cultures. Both ancient Egyptians and the Incas buried their dead in tapestry woven clothing. Important civic buildings of the Greek Empire, including the Parthenon, had walls covered by them. Through the unique medium of tapestry making the stories of Homer's Odyssey and Illiad were brought to life in ancient Greece. In a similar way the accounts of Virgil's Æniad and Ovid's Metamorphoses were made accessible to Roman culture. Between the hand-woven tapestries of classical antiquity and the beginning of the thirteenth century we see a period of inactivity in terms of tapestry creation. This is sometimes called the Period of Darkness by historians although some artistic creativity was channelled into the creation of works of art by embroiderers and artists produced large wall paintings  However it was the French medieval weavers who re-ignited the passion for tapestries and returned the craft to greater prominence.

In the 13th and 14th centuries the Church recognized the value of tapestries in illustrating Bible stories to its illiterate congregations. Few of these have survived. The oldest existing set is the Apocalypse of St John, six hangings 18 foot high, totalling 471 foot in length which were woven from 1375 to 1379 in Paris. This was the centre of production until the Hundred Years War (1337 - 1453) caused the weavers to flee north via Arras to Flanders (now Belgium and northern France).The emergence of Gothic imagery in tapestries with its unique spirit of religious mystery and romance  beguiled the viewer with its rich symbolism and intensity of feeling.

Tapestries became status symbols amongst the aristocracy in the Middle Ages. They also had much practical use, providing insulation for castle walls, covering openings and giving privacy around beds. Kings and nobles took them on their travels from castle to castle for reasons of comfort and prestige. Tapestries often changed hands after battle, and since the victor's door and window openings might be a different size the acquired hangings might be cut up or even joined to other tapestries.

Many of the best known works such as the 'Lady with the Unicorn' series were woven at the turn of the 15th century in the Loire valley. It has been estimated that 15,000 people were employed in the craft at this time. Many were itinerant and passed their skills from father to son. Their charming 'mille fleurs' scenes had backgrounds of small local flowers, perhaps inspired by the practice of strewing roadways with flowers on local fete days. At this time it would take a skilled father/son team two months to weave just one square foot of tapestry.

Medieval weavers extracted their dyes from plants and insects in a range of less than twenty colours. For example, red came from madder, poppies or pomegranates and woad produced blue (a process that was so profitable in 16th 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 contemporary scenes of peasants working or nobles hunting. Battles were commissioned by victorious monarchs after the early 1500's. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was even accompanied into battle by his court painter who made sketches at the site for later weaving. Hunting scenes led to 'verdure' tapestries of lush landscapes which later became romanticized with increasing Italian influences.

Scholars define Medieval times synonymously with the Middle Ages, meaning from the fall of the Roman empire through the 14th century, and describe the Renaissance as the period from the 14th century through the 16th century. This time frame can only be used as a general rule of thumb, as the transition in art was more gradual. As a matter of fact, many tapestry pieces from the 15th and 16th century would be considered medieval, though technically woven during the Renaissance. Early works were usually adapted from manuscripts and weavers were free to create images as they perceived them: often with imagination and humour.By the Renaissance these freelance creations had become full-sized working drawings ('cartoons' - from the Italian cartone meaning a large piece of paper) which were rigidly copied by the weavers. Thus tapestries became mere copies of paintings rather than independent works of art. In 1515 Raphael was commissioned by the Pope to paint cartoons for the 'Acts of the Apostles' tapestries for the Sistine Chapel. Working in his Renaissance School of Ancient Roman Art his introduction of perspective and composition together with the use of finer yarns dyed with up to 300 colour shades led to the subservience of tapestry to painting for over 300 years.

In 1663, during the lavish reign of 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 totalled over 2,000 in seventeen royal residences.

Rococo landscapes were popular in the 18th century typified by the designs of Francois Boucher (1703-70), director of the royal workshops at Beauvais for 30 years. His cartoons produced over 400 tapestries.

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 to have greater value. A positive development of this period however was the invention of   

the Jacquard mechanical loom in Flanders in 1804. It processed perforated cards, like pianolas or like early IBM computers, which fed the coloured yarns to the shuttle. 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 dyeworks produced a colour range of 14,000 tones. Producing tapestries with such detailing had not surprisingly become very expensive. Furthermore little creativity existed with most pieces being based on earlier designs.

Modern tapestry weaving owes much to the vigour and freedom bought 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.

We offer many designs and period styles, often in several sizes, from many European and world famous weavers. Some tapestries have matching cushion covers too. These art heirlooms of the future are a wonderful feature in any home. Please feel free to browse our tapestry department in the Objets d'Art catalogue.