Tapestry

Tapestry showing Narcissus

Tapestry is art made with threads. It is woven by hand on a vertical loom. It is weft-faced weaving. This means all the warp threads (the ones that go up and down) are hidden in the completed work. In normal cloth weaving both the warp and the weft threads can be seen.

In this way, a colourful pattern or image is made. Most weavers use a natural warp thread such as linen or cotton. The weft threads, which will be seen, are usually wool or cotton. They can also be made of silk, gold, silver, or other things.

Both craftsmen and artists have made tapestries. The 'blueprints' on cardboard (also known as 'tapestry cartoons') were made by artists, while actual weaving of the tapestries was done by craftsmen.

Function

Henry VIII is seated beneath a tapestry cloth of state

The success of decorative tapestry can be partially explained by its portability (Le Corbusier once called tapestries "nomadic murals"). Kings and noblemen could roll up and transport tapestries from one residence to another. In churches, they were displayed on special occasions. Tapestries were also draped on the walls of castles for insulation during winter, as well as for decorative display.

The famous Bayeux tapestry is not actually a tapestry, but a decorated cloth. And it was probably designed and made in England by Anglo-Saxon artists.

Tapestry Media

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  Weaving a small tapestry on a high-warp loom, 2022, New Zealand

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  Tapestry Room from Croome Court, moved to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, hung with made to measure 18th-century Gobelins tapestries, also covering the chairs. 1763-71

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  Haute lisse weaving loom at the Gobelin tapestry manufacture

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  King Henry VIII seated beneath a tapestry cloth of state

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  The five Överhogdal tapestries

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  A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, rallying Duke William's troops during the Battle of Hastings in 1066

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  Flemish 16th Century, The Return from the Hunt, c. 1525–1550, National Gallery of Art

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  The Apocalypse Tapestry in the Château d'Angers, in Angers, France

• A power loom in the TextielMuseum, Tilburg weaving a tapestry for the Niewe Kerk Middelburg.