What is a tapestry?

A tapestry is a woven picture - a piece of art, made of threads. It can be two-dimensional or 3-D. Any thread can be used: human hair, wire, glass, grass... More usually it's wool, silk, linen or cotton. To make a tapestry, the artist usually weaves separate threads together, building up an image or pattern. This is unlike cloth weaving, which uses continuous threads to form a blanket, or a fabric, like the denim in your jeans.

Tapestry doesn't add stitched designs on top of a fabric, as in embroidery. (Fun fact: the famous Bayeux 'Tapestry' is actually an embroidery!) In tapestry, the coloured threads are woven horizontally in and out of vertical threads to create the fabric itself. The horizontal threads (the 'weft') completely cover the vertical ones (the 'warp'). The weaver works by hand, often on a simple frame, or 'loom', guiding each coloured thread in and out to build up the picture. (Click illustration to view complete mural of techniques, by Ibukun Baldwin.) The weaving process can take months - even years - for a single piece.

Western tapestry probably originated in Egypt and came to Europe with traders and pillaging crusaders. Tapestries have always been expensive, due to the labour-intensive weaving process, so were used as wall-hangings and status symbols by the very wealthy.

A tapestry isn’t just a picture - it’s sometimes described as a conversation between the weaver, the threads, and the loom, slowly brought to life by hand. It’s art that’s woven, not painted!

Below, you can see some of the processes involved in weaving: the design, which may be a drawing or a watercolour draft; the selection of colours and materials; and the lengthy process of creating the weaving on the loom - before the fateful day of the 'cutting off'. See if you can spot any of our exhibits in preparation.