subject: History of Tapestries [print this page] History of Tapestries History of Tapestries
When we follow the threads of any study of western culture in any aspect of its art, architecture, music, social and political history, including its wars, fashions and folk traditions, we come to a 1,000 year old art form called tapestry'.
In addition to the delightful decorative and highly artistic value of wall hanging tapestries, we find that tapestries are woven texts in which we can read of the human condition, past and present. Tapestry wall hangings provide commentaries of mans early and continuous need to not only survive but thrive, through culture. Tapestries give us a picture both psychological and literally of our society, of our nature, our lives, and our pastimes and our passions.
Even though the story of tapestry weaving dates back to ancient Egypt ( where fragments of wall hanging tapestries have been found in sealed tombs). Also a few fragments of Coptic tapestry wall hangings remain from the 4th to 9th century. Most of what we know and see in tapestries that remain intact today come to us from the Middle Ages Europe. Most of the tapestries that remain can be viewed in various museums around the world date to the Medieval and Gothic Tapestry period which is the 13th -15th century.
It is believed that the first tapestry weaving from the middle Ages came from monasteries and nunneries. Being exempt from war, these were the only cloistered institutions that had time to produce works of art. These wall hanging tapestries were produced mainly for the churches, monasteries and the nobility that could afford to commission a work of art. They were used during religious festive holidays when they were brought out to decorate the church walls or used as banners during religious ceremonies.
Wall hanging tapestries would be hand woven in 100% wool obtained from sheep which were raised for meat, milk and cloth and readily available throughout Europe. Today, Heirloom European Tapestries carries the largest selection of reproduction 100% hand woven wool tapestries, woven in the same way as they were 600-800 years ago.
During war time (which in the Middle Ages was a way of life), tapestries were taken as booty, and were considered to be almost as valuable as gold, jewels and silver. Wall hanging tapestries took years to produce, and were hung in damp castle walls which brought warmth to dank, cold environments heated only by a single central fireplace. Some of the later medieval tapestries contained gold and silver threads which would extracted by burning the tapestry and saving the gold or silver.
In fact, throughout the centuries, many tapestries were destroyed during wars. During the French Revolution many tapestries from the famous gobelins weaving mills, produced exclusively for the french kings (1500-1700's) were burned to extract the precious metals.
Hand woven tapestries of high quality that remain today are mostly found in museums, art galleries, stately historical homes and private collections.
