Slide 1
A tapestry’s threads make the image and the fabric
In tapestry, coloured threads create the image while they create the fabric itself. The picture is not added on top of finished cloth.
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A tapestry's image does not sit on top of a finished cloth. Colored threads make the picture as they make the textile. Looking closely reveals structure where distance first reveals a scene.
Slide 2
Two sets of threads do different jobs
Warp threads are held under tension. Coloured weft passes between them and is packed closely, making the visible surface.
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Warp threads are held under tension on a loom. Colored weft passes between them and is packed closely enough to cover them. The visible surface is therefore described as weft-faced.
Slide 3
The weft can turn back where a colour ends
Most tapestry weft turns within a local region instead of crossing the entire width. This lets different colours occupy neighbouring areas.
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Most tapestry weft does not cross the whole width. It turns within a region, allowing different colors to occupy neighboring areas. Repeated local passages build a larger pattern or picture.
Slide 4
A drawing guides where those colour boundaries go
A full-size design called a cartoon can guide the weaving. Turning its shapes into threads still requires skilled decisions.
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A full-size design, called a cartoon, can guide the weaver. Turning its shapes into interlaced threads requires skilled decisions: a painted boundary must become a boundary constructed in another material.
Slide 5
The coloured areas also hold the textile together
Tapestry’s coloured areas are threads doing structural work. Making the picture and making the fabric are part of the same process.
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Tapestry joins image-making with fabric-making. The colored regions are also threads performing structural work. Its visual richness comes from that relationship, rather than from treating the cloth as a passive support.
Sources
- What is tapestry?
Victoria and Albert Museum