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My Sole Desire from The Lady and the
Unicorn Tapestries from Royal ParisNewsletter Spring 2008
(Our apologies if you have received this newsletter in error. To be removed from our mailing list, please click here.)
(In this issue: European discoveries, Tapestries, Arts and Crafts Movement in Great Britain)
Dear Fellow Stitchers:
NeedlepointUS.com is the culmination of many years of developing relationships with European needlepoint companies, and one of the perks of this work is that I have a chance to go to England and Europe from time to time on buying and educational trips. I have just recently returned from such a trip to England and France, and I would like to share some information you may find interesting and helpful. I will continue this series throughout the year.
Tapestries are much more than interior decoration for the homes and castles of the rich. While they serve other purposes, such as helping to warm cold stone rooms, and damping the sound in them, they also preserve history, and especially the history of the materials used and the people who made them. The roll played by this medium of wool, silk and cotton is as important as that of design and color in the overall world of art.
Material’s irresistible charm reached special heights in the Middle Ages, due to the diversity of techniques that came available, the means of distribution of the finished product and the desire to acquire works. From a simple question of the warp and weft evolved a vast field abounding in potential. The creation of fabric resulted from both technical advances and artistic imagination: Brocaded silk, brocade, brocatelle, damask, lampas and velvet were just a few. The beauty of these new fabrics makes for a richer presentation of the artwork on them when the material submits to movement, and can present the object deep in shadow or resplendent in the light. This also describes the uniqueness of needlepoint materials now available for our stitching pleasure.
The tapestries of La Dame a’ la Licorne (The Lady with the Unicorn) series hung for nearly two hundred years in the Chateau de Boussac. The tapestry was commissioned between 1484 and 1500. The series has 6 tapestries which are now on display at the Cluny Museum in Paris (where it was my great pleasure to see them on this recent trip):
“Sight” ~ the unicorn gazes at itself in a mirror held by the young woman
“Hearing” ~ the Lady plays a portable organ while her maidservant pumps the bellows
“Taste” ~ the young woman chooses a sweet from a dish, while the parakeet holds one in its claws and a monkey below takes one to its mouth
“Smell” ~ the Lady makes a garland of carnations while a monkey presses one he has stolen from the basket to his nose;
“Touch” ~ with her left hand, the young woman delicately holds the horn of the unicorn
“A Mon Seul Desir (My Sole Desire)” ~ Depicts the Lady standing in front of a majestic tent with open flaps depositing the necklace into the casket held by her maidservant, and holding it in a cloth, after having taken it off.
The Lady with the Unicorn owes its fame to its harmonious color scheme. A limited number of shading tones were used to render the many different elements of the composition. The restrained colors help to create the feeling of poetic enchantment. The young woman, who appears in different attitudes and costumes further enhances the great beauty of this work.
The Margot de Paris Company has a splendid selection of these pieces for you to needlepoint. These pieces are a part of history that your family and friends will treasure forever. They can be stitched with wool to closely resemble the original tapestries in France, or they can be stitched with perle cotton to enhance the colors, or cotton floss to give a satin finish, or silk for the ultimate finish. Or combine several materials including gold or silver metallics to make your own masterpiece.
The pieces by Margot vary in size to accommodate any area, from the ultimate wall hanging, to a small pillow, or table accent.
The Royal Paris Company also has a very outstanding tapestry piece highly detailed of “Mon Seul Desir”.
The SEG de Paris Company also has a marvelous tapestry piece of “Hearing” It is very detailed with great colors.
The Arts and Crafts Movement in Great Britain:
The Arts and Crafts Movement started as a gentle rebellion by a group of artists, designers and architects concerned by the poor standard of design they saw in the buildings and furnishings of Victorian England.
William Morris’s inability to find what he wanted in ready-made designs and materials for his home caused him to set up his own company in London in 1861. He worked closely with other leading Victorian designers, among them William de Morgan, whose Persian-colored ceramic tiles depict fabulous beasts, sailing ships, and exotic floral and bird designs.
The Arts and Crafts Movement slowly became worldwide and later developed into the style now recognized as Art Nouveau.
The Beth Russell collection is truly exquisite. Beth takes her designs from the William Morris and William de Morgan pieces and creates outstanding needlepoint long treasured by society for its beauty. The Beth Russell needlepoint pieces are a wonderful addition to any home. After all they are shown in some of the finest National Trust homes in the UK. She uses the finest of materials in her kits; sometimes it is tapestry wool, crewel wool or a combination of both. When using the crewel wool her designs sometimes call for using two or three different colors at once to create the most wonderful shading and definition of the design. She also uses a combination of stitches for further enhancement. These kits are a wonderful way to take your stitching beyond the ordinary.
We encourage you to browse the Beth Russell collection. You will be delighted by the design and quality. We also encourage you to consider the kit, versus just the canvas, because of the wonderful thread collection Beth includes with her kits. The threads are selected for color and quality, they are manufactured in England, and sometimes difficult to obtain in the USA.
Happily, there is not a machine for needlepoint so we can take great pleasure in it as we choose our projects and add our individual artistic touches.
We will be adding new pieces to our collection in the next few weeks; please check back for the latest designs available.
Janice Lindsey and the Needlepointus.com Family
