ShareThisDear Helaine and Joe: I saw your piece on double-weave coverlets and have enclosed a picture of a tapestry from my husband's family that is stamped "France" on the back. Would you have any information on this piece? Thank you. -- J.W.S., Marion, Va.
Dear J.W.S.: Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris -- known to the world as Le Corbusier -- is one of the pioneers of modern architecture and the International Style, and he once called tapestries "nomadic murals." The idea was that the nobles and the very wealthy of days gone by would customarily roll up their tapestries and take them whenever they moved from one residence to another.
That is because these woven textiles were not only beautiful to observe but were also used to cut down on wintertime drafts, hopefully keeping the interior of the residence warmer and cozier than it might have been otherwise. Tapestries have been around for thousands of years, and examples of Greek tapestries have been found that date to the third century B.C.
In medieval Europe, tapestries became popular starting in the early 14th century. Many of these were initially made in Germany and Switzerland, but over time the craft expanded to France and other places in Continental Europe.
Arras, France, became a center of the tapestry industry in the 14th and 15th centuries, and "arras" became something of a synonym for a rich tapestry. A little later on, tapestry centers prospered in Flanders (Belgium), and in the 17th century, Flemish tapestries became important. Another significant 17th-century tapestry maker: the Manufacture des Gobelins in Paris.
William Morris, the famous English architect, artist and textile designer, reinvigorated tapestry making in England in the late 19th century, but by then many tapestries were being manufactured on a mechanical Jacquard loom -- much as many of the double-woven coverlets we discussed in an earlier column were.
The tapestry in today's question was probably manufactured on an updated Jacquard loom in the late 19th or early 20th century. We believe it is circa 1910. Mass-produced tapestries (such as this one) were popular at the turn of the 20th century, and apart from its manufacture in France, similar items were made in Italy and Belgium.
Some of these were meant to be piano scarves -- decorative pieces that were draped across a grand piano -- while others were meant to be wall hangings. These latter pieces were often hung on decorative rods, and some of these could be quite large with interior scenes of people in 18th-century dress.
Because this example has fringe all around the edge, it was not meant to be a wall hanging, but was probably designed to be some sort of piano adornment or possibly even a decorative floor covering. The scene of four young women dancing in the woods is charming and somewhat influenced by the Art Nouveau movement.
There are vast quantities of these out there, and their value is not great as a general rule. Because we do not know the size of this example, we can only say that if it's approximately 4 feet by 3-1/2 feet, it has an insurance value of $150 to $175.
(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of "Price It Yourself" (HarperResource, $19.95). Contact them at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 27540, Knoxville, TN 37927. E-mail them at treasures(at)knology.net.)
TREASURES IN YOUR ATTIC
