The Art of Tapestry

Wyld, Helen

£45.00

More than 600 tapestries hang in National Trust properties around England and Wales. Dating from around 1400 onwards, their rich, colourful designs and grand scale convey deep cultural, political, religious and symbolic messages. When new, they represented the epitome of luxury and status, woven by highly skilled teams of craftspeople using vibrant and expensive threads. This illustrated study by tapestry expert Helen Wyld, in association with the National Trust, explores what these tapestries can tell us about the British aristocracy’s projection of wealth and power, and their place in wider Western European art traditions.

Out of stock

Publish Date: 27/10/2022

Description

Extensively illustrated, this is the first accessible publication on the history of tapestry in over two decades.Woven with dazzling images from history, mythology and the natural world, and breath-taking in their craftsmanship, tapestries were among the most valuable and high-status works of art available in Europe from the medieval period to the end of the eighteenth century. Over 600 historic examples hang in National Trust properties in England and Wales – the largest collection in the UK.This beautifully illustrated study by tapestry expert Helen Wyld, in association with the National Trust, offers new insights into these works, from the complex themes embedded in their imagery, to long-forgotten practices of sacred significance and ritual use. The range of historical, mythological and pastoral themes that recur across the centuries is explored, while the importance of the ‘revival’ of tapestry from the late nineteenth century is considered in detail for the first time. Although focussed on the National Trust’s collection, this book offers a fresh perspective on the history of tapestry across Europe.Both the tapestry specialist and the keen art-history enthusiast can find a wealth of information here about woven wall hangings and furnishings, including methods of production, purchase and distribution, evolving techniques and technologies, the changing trends of subject matter across time, and how tapestries have been collected, used and displayed in British country houses across the centuries.

Additional information

Weight 1616 g
Dimensions 280 × 230 × 27 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

256

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

746.3942 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K