Existing comment:
Technique & Production:
Weaving a large hanging was a time-consuming and complex process requiring the collaborative effort of skilled artisans. The director of a tapestry workshop would seek out designers, usually painters, to produce sketches and larger working models (cartoons) based on the wishes of the patron. Merchants supplied fine wool and silk, and dyers provided the desired custom colors in many hues. Weavers worked in small teams on huge looms, creating the image from the back, which made the final tapestry a reversal of the cartoon image. Each shade of color, even in a minute area, needed to be woven separately. Silver and gold threads added a glittering effect to the deep jewel tones of the image. Most tapestry series took three to five years to produce, sometimes longer, depending on their size and scope.
It was necessary to erect large looms corresponding to the dimensions of the finished panels. Weavers worked either on horizontal low-warp looms (basse lisse) or on vertical high-warp looms (haute lisse). The low-warp loom allowed for greater speed because workers could raise and lower sections of threads through pedal-controlled heddles that left both hands free for the actual weaving. However, even with the design positioned directly under the weavers' threads, they could only work at widths of about two feet at a time and could not see what their composition looked like until they finished. Weavers on the high-warp looms, on the other hand, could check their work by looking through the threads at tilted mirrors that reflected their progress. But because they had to raise and lower groups of warp threads manually, they had only one hand free to complete the pass with the colored wefts. |