1630 / 1639, Mortlake

1630 / 1639, Mortlake

Identifier
T.57-2005
Acquisition
Given by Wendy Hefford
Carried out by
Cleyn, Francis (http://data.silknow.org/activity/designer)
Collection
Technique
Depiction
Dimension
57 cm (height)
50.5 cm (width)
Production time
Production place
Type of object

Description

This tapestry fragment, woven with wool, silk and silver-gilt thread, is from a tapestry border designed by Francis Cleyn in the1630s, and woven at Mortlake. The tapestry workshop at Mortlake was established by Francis Crane under the patronage of King James I, and fifty Flemish weavers were brought there in 1620. Through their skill and the advantages of royal involvement, the workshop produced some of the finest tapestries in Europe during its first twenty years; the quality of these fragmentary pieces is testament to that. We already have in the V&A's collection Perseus on Pegasus, the only surviving tapestry from the early Mortlake series The Horses, which is, however, missing its border. This fragment may be actually from the missing border, and is at least among a group of the only known survivors of the same border design. The design includes hippocamps, sea creatures half horse and half fish, which in mythology drew Neptune's chariot. Fragment of tapestry border, woven in wool, silk and metal thread, Mortlake, 1630s fragment of tapestry border depicting putto, woven in wool, silk and metal thread; patch from another tapestry in upper right corner.