As tapestries have become a decorative staple among college-aged students across the United States in recent years, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back and see where and how they began, because as they say, “everything old is new again.” To begin, what exactly is a tapestry? A tapestry is a bobbin made cloth with a surface consisting entirely of weft threads, where discontinuous wefts form beautifully intricate patterns. Tapestries originated in Coptic Egypt around 42 AD, though there is not much offered detail wise until about 1300 AD. The earliest tapestries in Europe were called “Saracenic work” because the type of weaving used was known to have originated in Egypt, and later brought to Europe by the Mohammedan army. The
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We know that tapestries during this period were linen warp with wool weft, and that they had a long history in the Old World. A tapestry from this time “Sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham,” shows the views of this period. Byzantine Tapestry followed, which depicted New World imagery. Though there are a few examples of Coptic and Byzantine Tapestry, real tapestry history began in the fourteenth century. At this time, most of the production was centered in the European cities of Paris and Arras. Located in Paris was the Gobelins Manufactory, which was and still is the best-known royal manufactory, which supplied the court of Louis XIV and later monarchs. A famous set of tapestries created there is the set of 44 pieces in Charles Le Brun’s “The History of the King,” which chronicled the life of Louis XIV. It is often said that large-scale production, which requires collaboration of craftsman, high cost material like the best fibers and yarns, and organized workshops and guilds, began in Paris, and later became centered in Arras. By the turn of the century, Arras had become a major center of production, and by the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it had become more popular than Paris. The city name even became synonymous with high quality tapestries, and until about the seventeenth century, ‘arras’ had become the new name for the high quality product around Europe. The high warp and high quality works of art included threads of silver and gold, which were typically from either Venice or Cyprus, that added to the pristineness and elegance of the product. The city was widely supported by high figures, such as the Duke of Burgundy and Duke “Phillip the Good,” whom had a special building in the city to house his own personal collection of tapestry hangings. The city focused mostly upon themes of classical mythology, chivalrous romances, and instructive allegories. They prided
We know that tapestries during this period were linen warp with wool weft, and that they had a long history in the Old World. A tapestry from this time “Sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham,” shows the views of this period. Byzantine Tapestry followed, which depicted New World imagery. Though there are a few examples of Coptic and Byzantine Tapestry, real tapestry history began in the fourteenth century. At this time, most of the production was centered in the European cities of Paris and Arras. Located in Paris was the Gobelins Manufactory, which was and still is the best-known royal manufactory, which supplied the court of Louis XIV and later monarchs. A famous set of tapestries created there is the set of 44 pieces in Charles Le Brun’s “The History of the King,” which chronicled the life of Louis XIV. It is often said that large-scale production, which requires collaboration of craftsman, high cost material like the best fibers and yarns, and organized workshops and guilds, began in Paris, and later became centered in Arras. By the turn of the century, Arras had become a major center of production, and by the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it had become more popular than Paris. The city name even became synonymous with high quality tapestries, and until about the seventeenth century, ‘arras’ had become the new name for the high quality product around Europe. The high warp and high quality works of art included threads of silver and gold, which were typically from either Venice or Cyprus, that added to the pristineness and elegance of the product. The city was widely supported by high figures, such as the Duke of Burgundy and Duke “Phillip the Good,” whom had a special building in the city to house his own personal collection of tapestry hangings. The city focused mostly upon themes of classical mythology, chivalrous romances, and instructive allegories. They prided